Chapter Thirty-One: Wings

"Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy. Even love unreturned has it's rainbow."

-J.M. Barrie

"Isn't it a little cold for this?" Kagome complained as she looked around, rubbing her hands together. Despite the chill weather she wasn't actually that cold. Her hands were more a nervous reaction the prospect of flying – she assumed she would do more falling. "Besides, if we're gonna change my body back to normal then I don't need to learn anything cause I won't have wings."

"That's A: Assuming they're capable of finding a way to reverse the process that Lezard put into place. And B: That you wouldn't enjoy it once you have the hang of it." Sephiroth replied. He wasn't going to back down – she could tell that much. He was someone used to having his way – and Kagome was only frowning at him as she glanced at the rooftop where he'd set up the ladder for them to climb up.

"Shouldn't I start from the ground? Small things? I don't even know how to get my wings...out I guess? No idea what I should even call that." Kagome replied, still none too pleased with the idea of just hopping off her rooftop in hopes they would 'activate' before she broke a leg.

"It's easier to glide from a higher position." Sephiroth answered, gesturing at the ladder and waiting to hold it for her as she went up. Kagome sighed to herself, did her life become the whims of the many men interested in her? With a defeated expression she climbed up the ladder.

"Come to visit me shivers?" The voice frightened her and Kagome jumped, flailing her arms as she still teetering on the edge of the rooftop when a hand caught her and pulled her further onto the slanted tile. "Idiot."

Albel had caught her before she fell from the ledge, his red eyes considering her curiously as she glanced up to him. She could hear Sephiroth climbing up after her and she withdrew her hand once she was balanced. Kagome was about to snap at the rudest of her would-be paramours when her thought was interrupted by her teacher.

"Seems you figured out how to bring out your wings easily enough." Sephiroth's observation spurred her to glanced at her back instead of snap at Albel. Her eyes widened, platinum feathers were extending from her back – so pale they seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. She could feel slightly more weight on her shoulders but it was so light she hadn't even noticed they were there until Sephiroth had pointed out their arrival.

"Welcome to our freak show, stay a while." Albel muttered, leaning back on a part of the roof where he'd been before they climbed up. He had a cigarette in one hand, the end a spark of orange cinders as he took a draw from it. Letting the smoke out as he spoke. "Why's litter boy here?"

"I'm going to teach Kagome to fly, why are you skulking on her rooftop?" Sephiroth's reply held little more kindness than Albel's. The pair of warriors clearly had no intentions of even attempting to get along. Kagome half wished she could get them all shock collars and just zap them whenever they started fighting – like misbehaved dogs with water spray bottles. The modern version of 'sit' just for everybody.

"I was here to escape the lot of you, and you're learning to use those pillow stuffers?" Albel asked Kagome, clearly amused. "Well, I can't say I'm completely opposed to seeing you break that pretty little neck of yours."

"Charming Albel..." Kagome deadpanned, frowning at him. She never knew if he really meant those sorts of comments – but he probably did. Which made her all the more nervous around the aggressive boy. "If you burn a whole in my rooftop smoking up here I'll have everyone string you up."

"You can tie me up anytime you want to shivers – but hopefully litter boy won't be there." Albel replied, grinning as Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and took a step closer. "Don't get jealous just cause she'd prefer to play with me."

"Sephiroth, just leave him. He's not worth our time." Kagome said, putting a hand on the assassin's shoulder. She was fairly sure even if Albel was up for the fight that he'd lose miserably against the highly specialized agent. Teal eyes met hers, and the anger within faded to a warmth that pulled at her heartstrings.

Albel made the sound of a whip snapping.

"He's the jealous one." Kagome whispered as Sephiroth tensed, keeping her hand on his shoulder and offering a light smile. "What should I do?"

"Well, first see how well you can control them." Sephiroth took the girl's request. In the end she was right, such a prattling child was unworthy. A worm even below the soil. "Try and see if you can extend and then flex them – stretch them a little."

Kagome nodded at that, and while she wasn't all that happy with her audience she did as he asked, trying to move the wings. It was slow and awkward, choppy – her body didn't quite understand how to flex or move the new appendages and she had to really think to get them to stretch out and then fold back in. The motion tickled her back where the light feathers touched barely when she folded them up. They came together easily enough but getting them to extend took a lot of thought.

"Good, it'll take time to grow accustomed to having them. I had some difficulty at first when I gained the ability to manifest wings, but before long they will become second nature." Sephiroth remarked, smiling at her as she explored the new experience. "Care to dive right in?"

Albel bit his tongue to keep a remark to himself, but scoffed instead – disliking the fact that he couldn't really help Kagome here he instead pushed himself up and then hopped down from the side of the building. Despite it being two stories he landed on his feet, continuing away from the shrine through the woods surrounding it. He didn't want to deal with watching her learn something from such a second-rate fighter. Why the hell was he hanging out here anyway? They didn't work for the same team – the only reason Albel hadn't attacked him was Kagome was there and might have gotten caught in the crossfire.

"Idiot." He repeated as he moved away.

Back on the roof Kagome frowned a little after him before shaking her head and smiling at Sephiroth. "Okay, so, uh...I dunno if I'm ready to just leap off a building. That seems sort of...stupid."

"Much like swimming, you have to get used to just diving in. I'll be here though, and make sure to look after you. Would you prefer a higher building so you have more time to get your bearings?" Sephiroth asked, his certainty was only a small comfort. She'd seen him do some amazing things but fear of falling was a natural thing for most people. Most didn't just jump from perfectly good, not-on-fire buildings. Then...most didn't have a set of wings given to them by a madman that thought they were in love with her.

"Well, do you think it'd be easier?" Kagome had to admit while it was probably just going to be scarier higher up, having a little more room in case she screwed up wasn't a bad thing. "But how are we going to find someplace high enough without being seen? Don't you think just flying around the city that someone will spot us?"

"Well, I can use Vanish on you, it'll make you effectively invisible – but I'd rather wait til you are comfortable before being unable to see you while you fly. The other solution is to go somewhere remote. If you are willing we can practice off of Lezard's mansion – it has more height in places and is separate enough from the city not to gain you attention." Sephiroth suggested. "If you are all right with that of course."

"Yeah...that's fine." Kagome replied. She couldn't really control what had happened to her at Lezard's but she knew there were a few other agents there still cleaning up his place. She doubted he would return – and being with Sephiroth made her comfortable enough to agree to the idea.

"Well, first let's see how you do, care to try one take off from here?" He asked when she glanced at the ladder. She frowned at the suggestion.

"If I break my leg now then I won't be doing anymore practice at Lezard's." She remarked, really hoping she could escape to the normal people way of getting down.

"If you break your leg here then perhaps you should give up before we get started." Sephiroth replied. "It's a short hop down, just try to glide toward the shrine there, the tree is a decent target for such a short period in the air."

"Okay sure, yeah, just hop off the roof and glide to the tree – that sounds super easy. Do it all the time." Kagome reverted to sarcasm to try to deal with her nervousness. Flapping her wings a few more times before getting a few fast steps in before letting them leave her building. She floundered a moment, faultering in the air and afraid she was about to fall when her wings caught an updraft and she was able to linger a moment before starting a slower decent across the shrine. She nearly lost balance twice before coming to a harder landing than she would have liked but nothing felt fractured.

"Good. You are a natural." Sephiroth remarked, landing next to her, his own black wings reminding her of the madman that did this to her. She only nodded at him, forcing herself to remember that Sephiroth was definitely not Lezard. He was actually trying to help her deal with the psychopath's fall out. He didn't notice her self-reflection. "How was that?"

"Terrifying." Kagome answered honestly, then smiled despite herself. "I think it was fun too though. Does that make me nuts?"

"No, flying is an enjoyable ability to have, just not particularly common outside of magic." Sephiroth answered, returning her smile. "Shall we go and practice at Lezard's mansion? If it is too soon we can continue here. The wards are already in place so people will not see you as long as you remain near the shrine's grounds."

"I guess...staying here makes more sense." Kagome agreed. Maybe Sephiroth had noticed more than he immediately let on. She had to be careful around her suitors. "Thank you Sephiroth, I really appreciate the help."

"Anytime Kagome." Sephiroth replied, "I would only ask you not practice alone, given you are new to it I'd like you to have someone there to support you if something goes awry."

"Of course, then again I doubt I'll be doing it on my own much since I have to climb the ladder every time." Kagome stated, a little regretful about this as she began going back to the rooftop.

End Chapter

Took a while but I got this chapter up! It is dedicated to my friend Setsuna who is a huge fan of Albel – so I tried to make sure he had a part in the chapter. It's her birthday soon and I'm too poor to buy a gift so I thought I could do something by continuing her favorite fic I write.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Thanks for all the kind words. You guys really rock. I love hearing back on theories and just a quick remark. It makes me get warm fuzzies.

Sexykitsune-hime – Counter point should be coming up soonish (I want to do a counterpoint for their Christmas celebration), happy to hear we have some common character's we really like : ) Always nice to meet fellow fans.

Amu4ever – Sometimes I have to go back and look at things when I write a new chapter. Try to at least skim previous chapters. There are a lot of guys in the mix now aren't there? Man, oh so many. There are even more I'd like to add but then I sort of wanna tackle what I already have at least through Christmas in the fic. I appreciate your suggestion but I don't know Ranma very well so I wouldn't be comfortable writing for him.

WhiteRose-Kurama – I have yet to decide what (if anything) will happen with the Shikon jewel. As it is not really the center of attention for the fic. Perhaps if they jump to the past again someday in a various storyarc it will be included but I have no plans for it at the moment (at least not in the near future).