Rockefeller Center

New York City

Last Year

She felt like an out of place princess out among the crowds. And her handsome, although out of place as well, prince was at her side. Today had been the Taisho Christmas charity banquet, and as company president and CEO, Sesshoumaru was obligated to attend, which meant she was obligated to attend with him. There were many social obligations she was becoming used to, but why they had to schedule the banquet late afternoon on the day of the tree lighting, she didn't know. It was like some conspiracy or something to keep her from attending. Well both of them showed the organizers. Just after the dinner, speeches, and the required social mingling, they had ducked out to come to the plaza.

In formal wear and all.

So while everybody else was decked out in jeans, sweaters and heavy jackets, scarves, mittens and hats, she was wearing a deep wine red sleeveless evening gown, her hair in loose curls pinned up with jeweled poinsettia clips, and four-inch open toe heels. What she wouldn't give to wear a pair of Uggs right now. By the end of the night she wouldn't be able to walk because her toes would be frozen. At least she had the foresight to grab a warm wrap on her way out.

But she didn't want to miss the lights, and neither did he. She fingered the crescent shaped moon pendent around her neck. Much like he wore the scarf she gave him all winter, she had never taken the pendent off once she put it on after last Christmas.

"Hurry," she called to him as she tried to push her way through the crowds to get a good spot. This was why she liked to arrive early, but thankfully people were moving out of her way. Maybe it was because she was dressed so nicely. Maybe she looked like some sort of celebrity, or that she was part of the ceremony. She didn't care, as long as she didn't have to stand at the back.

She stopped when she found a spot spacious enough for the two of them almost halfway to the tree, and she could feel him wrap himself around her from behind, his arms lightly resting on her mid-section.

"I'm glad I talked you into this," she said as she leaned back into him.

"Hn, and I bet you thought I'd say no."

"Well you are a stick in the mud when it comes to your work, so I'm surprised you actually agreed."

He chuckled lightly. "Tonight was not work. It was an appearance and a speech."

"And you're telling me that when we were mingling you weren't working the room to see what your next business move would be."

He laughed outright this time, a sound she would never tire of hearing. "You know me so well."

They stood in companionable silence as they listened to the different speeches and some of the entertainment that coincided with the tree lighting. Each year they were different, yet each year the same message was held behind the words. She smiled, it was so predictable, but she enjoyed the predictability. She enjoyed the stability.

"I am glad you talked me into this," he whispered in his ear, low enough for just her to hear.

"Of course you are. Very rarely throughout the year do we do something you don't like and I do. I don't like making you do things you don't want to do."

"You made me come out to your faculty formal last year. I did not enjoy being amongst so many youth, and not a single one of them with a good mind for business."

She gave a very unladylike snort. "They're history majors, not business majors, what do you expect? Besides, you wouldn't have gone if you didn't want to." She rolled her eyes. "The great Sesshoumaru does nothing he doesn't want to do."

"I went for you," he said simply.

She smiled again. "I know."

"Only you could drag me to something so mundane."

She turned in his arms and looked up at him. It was now or never, she thought. The atmosphere was right, the mood was right, and she felt as if she had waited her whole life for this moment. Nothing she had ever felt with Inuyasha compared to what she was feeling now.

The snow was starting to fall lightly around them and despite her lack of heavy clothes, she didn't feel cold. She actually felt kind of warm

"What is it?" he murmured, mistaking her silence for something else.

"I love you," she said rapidly, wanting to get it out in the open, wanting to be free of the burden she had been carrying for the past year.

However, the way he looked at her made her heart stop. Instead of the soft looks or quiet amusement she was used to, she saw something else, like he had hardened up again, like he was the old Sesshoumaru she had known five hundred years ago in feudal Japan, the one who never let any one in.

"Don't speak such nonsense," he spat out and turned her around to face the stage again.

This time he didn't put his arms around her.

This time he didn't pull her tight against him.

This time he didn't even try to hold her hand.

She felt very cold all of a sudden.

And when she turned around, he was gone.

AN: One more chapter after this. It's the one I scrapped, so hopefully it'll be out soon. I have to rewrite it, but I have it outlined in detail as to what will happen so it shouldn't be too bad.

Disclaimer: They're not mine. The honour belongs to Rumiko Takahashi