I do not own Inuyasha. Not mine. Never will be.

Working in These Walls of Time

(From "The Day is Done)

… … … … …

A feeling of sadness and longing,

That is not akin to pain,

And resembles sorrow only

As the mist resembles the rain.

… … … … …

Not from the grand old masters,

Not from the bards sublime,

Whose distant footsteps echo

Through the corridors of Time.

For, like the strains of martial music,

Their mighty thoughts suggest

Life's endless toil and endeavor;

And to-night I long for rest.

… … … … …

Who, through long days of labor,

And nights devoid of ease

Still heard in his soul the music

Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet

The restless pulse of care,

And come like the benediction

That follows after prayer.

… … … … …

And the night shall be filled with music,

And the cares, that infest the day,

Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,

And as silently steal away.

Longfellow

She looked at the last three rungs of the ladder set into the well so she could pull herself out easier when she came home. She'd made it so far up and then simply run out of energy. She felt hot tears slip down her cheeks, joining the fine sheen of sweat in a salty cascade into her clothing until the material was almost soaked through at her collar. "Please… Just a few more rungs, feet… Please just a little more." She whimpered and sobbed almost painfully. "I just want Momma and a bath and bed… Please, don't give out legs, just get me out of this well and into the house…"

Her feet wouldn't move so she leaned herself against the ladder and wept. She felt like a helpless little girl lost only a block away from home. Things were familiar, but not enough for her to find her house. She was almost nineteen years old and she couldn't have felt more like a child clutching at anything safe she could find.

"Kagome? Did I hear you in… Kagome!" It was her mother's voice. She looked up and saw her mother's worried gaze from the entrance to the well house. Mrs. Higurashi rushed down to her daughter and helped her up out of the well. "Kagome, baby… You look so weak, what happened to you? What happened to my little girl?"

"Momma…" She whispered and clung as tightly as she could to her mother, burring her face into her shoulder, crying in relief. "I'm so tired."

"We'll get you into the house…" She turned her head to the door. "Souta! Souta come here now! I need your help!"

"What's the matter Mom? Shit, Kagome!" He rushed down and helped his mother with his sister. She was so light as he pulled her arm up over his shoulder. At thirteen, he was almost as tall as she was, still, she was so light.

Mrs. Higurashi didn't even bother chiding her son for his language. A similar exclamation had almost escaped her when she'd seen the state of her daughter only a few moments earlier.

As quickly as they could, Kagome was brought up to her room. Little had changed in its décor, however her small twin bed was now a larger full size and was adorned in a pale pink silk comforter that had been a birthday present two years before. Souta laid her on her bed while his mother went to draw his sister a bath. He looked at her and frowned, pushing her hair away from her face. Or what was left of her hair. It had been chopped off and was at odd, butchered lengths, though a few longer strands had survived. He met her sleepy eyes. She was fighting to stay awake long enough to bathe.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" He asked her softly with great concern in his voice.

"Naraku… Sesshou saved me." She whispered and managed a weak smile. "I'm ok, I'm just tired, Souta."

"Sesshou? Whose he?"

"My… My friend." She murmured. Her mother entered the room and helped her to the bathroom. "I'm sorry for being such a bother… I'm just so tired."

"Baby, its ok. I just want you to get cleaned up and into bed so you can sleep, all right? Were you in a fight? There's some blood on your legs."

She shook her head softly and managed a wan smile. "I'm alright… I'll tell you the story later."

Mrs. Higurashi helped her daughter out of the ancient, musty smelling haori and into the bath that she'd drawn and added mineral oil and salts to. Once Kagome was settled, she gave her daughter a meaningful look. "You will tell me later. I'm going to leave you to bathe, but I'll be back every ten minutes to check on you. You look like you might pass out and drown if I don't."

"Maybe every five." She said softly without any jest in her tone. "I might fall asleep in only a few moments."

"What… What are we going to do about your hair?" Mrs. Higurashi asked softly. "Do you want me to cut it into at least a functional style?"

Kagome nodded. "Once I'm done with my bath, maybe. It shouldn't take all that long. Just make it all the same length or something."

Her mother nodded, then leaned forward and kissed her daughter's head. "I'll be back in a few moments."

When her mother had gone, Kagome began washing slowly. She scrubbed the whole surface of her skin until it was red, removing the dead skin and what was left of the traces of her blood. She washed her hair and conditioned it, then let herself soak in the water for a while. Her mother came to check on her every five minutes as promised, though mostly she opened the door a crack and called out to her daughter to make sure she was awake. After several checks, Kagome began to catch the scent of her favorite meal cooking downstairs. She smiled faintly and slowly drew herself out of the bath. She dried herself and put lotion on her skin, then an extra leave in conditioner in her hair before slipping into the nightgown and robe her mother had left in the bathroom for her. Once she stepped out of the door, Souta was at her side to help her down the stairs. Once she was seated at the kitchen table, her mother put a large plate of food in front of her, which she ate slowly, savoring every bite and allowing the food to nourish her body before taking the next mouthful. She could actually feel her body using the nourishment from the food. It was a strange sort of awareness. It reminded her of when she was a child and when, on the hottest summer days, she would take slow drinks from the garden hose. The water would slide down her tongue and into her throat. The parched feeling that seemed to go through her whole body faded with a slow soft ache. It was the same as she was eating.

Once she had finished, her mother fussed with her hair, deciding what she could possibly do to make it reasonably acceptable. She was able to cut it in an a-line cut that had her longest length in the front, kissing her collarbone and the shortest at the nape of her neck. She layered her daughter's bangs slightly so they would grow into the rest of her hair in time. When she finished, Kagome smiled at her reflection. She was still horribly pale and weak looking, but there was faint color in her cheeks now and her eyes were sparkling again. "It's perfect, Momma." She said softly and leaned against her mother.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and smiled. "Come on, let's get you into bed now. Tomorrow, when you wake, you can tell us what happened."

Once Souta and her mother had gotten her upstairs and into bed, Kagome frowned deeply. "Momma, where's Grandpa?"

Her mother sighed and kissed her brow. "He's alright, but his heart was giving him some trouble. We took him to the hospital for observation overnight yesterday. They want to keep him one more night before they decide what to do."

"What do they think is wrong?" Kagome asked, fighting back the sleep that was threatening to claim her.

"They don't know, but, frankly, it's probably that he's very old and he works himself too hard. At least that's what his doctor thinks. But we'll see. If we have to, we'll hire another person on to help him and Souta keep this place up."

She nodded to her mother, allowing her explanation to calm the fear that was pulsing through her. "I'm… I'm gonna sleep now, Mom."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded and kissed her daughter's brow. Taking care of Kagome would take her mind off her worry about Grandpa. She hadn't lied to Kagome, but her heart felt there was something more that was going on with him that they hadn't found yet. She only hoped that her fears were not based on anything more than a daughter's concern.

Even before her light had been turned out, Kagome had been claimed by her dreams. First there was only the peaceful blackness of repose that calmed and cradled her. Then the blackness became the shadows of another room caught up in the night's dimness. She sighed and curled against the warmth beside her. She could feel the softness of skin and smiled when her fingers found long strands of silken hair that she began to twine her fingers in. An arm wrapped around her tightly and she melted against the strong form that held her so close and so very protectively. Something weighty and warm curled over her on top of the covers, cuddling against her form blanketed by the fine sheets. She could smell the soft musk of his scent and she knew she was safe in her dreams. She knew she was home.

"Sesshou…" She breathed in her sleep and pressed further into her bedding and pillows. Her bed was empty, but her dream was so real that it didn't matter. A smile touched her lips and she gently gripped her pillow as, in her dream she held gently to his side. "I love you."

She lived in her dream as, in the world of the waking, life went on without pause. Souta left and went to school. Mrs. Higurashi tended the shrine in the morning, then set out food for her daughter with a note letting her know she'd gone to the hospital, then to work and would return in the late evening. Night came and Kagome slipped from her dreaming only long enough to dash to the bathroom to relieve herself, then eat the meal that had been left out for her earlier that day. She lay back down and was instantly returned to the embrace of her beloved, if only in her dream.

Her mother and brother returned shortly after she had drifted off to sleep. Work had gone late and Souta had gone to a study session. Seeing that she had eaten, they did not wake her, however Mrs. Higurashi set out some dried fruit, sweets and a pitcher of water in case her daughter woke and needed anything in the night. She paused and looked at her sleeping daughter and brushed her hair from her face. The shortened locks had begun to curl in loose ringlets as it never had before. Her mother almost smiled, considering how much Kagome had envied people with curling hair as a child.

Somewhere, deep in the night on the cusp of dawn, Kagome shuddered as a pulse of pain shot through her chest. She did not wake until the pain returned even sharper. She cried out breathlessly as she woke, clutching her chest. Grandpa… She tried to focus on his life force and found it easily, several miles away in the hospital. It was waning. She tried to send him healing energies, but his aura and soul pushed it away. Confusion over took her and she tried to force more energy to her grandfather so he might live and heal. Again, the energy was shrugged away. Why? Why won't it work? What am I doing wrong? What good are my gifts if I can't save the people I love? She tried once more and again, her power could not reach him. She began to weep silently as she felt her grandfather pass. She covered her face and drew her knees to her chest. Was this Kami's way of showing her the limitations of her powers? That she cannot go against the will of nature? That she cannot stop fate? What cruel force in the universe would give her so much power and purpose to use it only to make her power impotent when she really needed to use it?

Twenty minutes later, the phone rang. She heard her mother answer it, then the soft click of the receiver as it was set back in place. Then her mother began to weep. She heard Souta go to their mother and try to comfort her. Kagome stood shakily and went to join them. She hugged them both and wept with them. Kagome did not return to her bed that night. She dressed and accompanied her mother and brother to claim Grandpa's body. Over the next few days, funeral arrangements were made. Kagome slept only as long as she needed to in order to keep going. She had been told to return so that she could relax and rest and that was the last thing she was doing.

The funeral came and went. Her mother hired two of Souta's school friends to help out at the shrine. Kagome helped her mother set up a schedule for the shrine's care and upkeep and, along with Souta and his friends, did several months worth of repairs to the shrine and the grounds that Grandpa had neglected in his waning health. By the end of the first week she was home, Kagome had worn herself so thin, she fell ill with fever and extreme exhaustion. Mrs. Higurashi rushed her to the hospital when her fever spiked to one hundred and four and, for the next two days, Kagome lay in a hospital bed hanging between sleep, awake and delirium. Half way through the second week, Kagome was brought home and put to bed with orders that she was not allowed to leave her room except to use the restroom for at least the rest of the week. Most of it she spent deeply asleep, waking only to use the restroom and to eat. Her dreams became fitful by the end of the second week. She could think of nothing but Sesshomaru and her friends on the other side of the well. If she'd been gone this long before, Inuyasha would have come to check on her. Why hadn't he come? Had Sesshomaru forbidden him, or had something else happened?

Two weeks to the day that she had returned, Kagome walked down the stairs to join her mother in the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi was pouring over an accounting book, enrapt.

"What are you doing, Momma?"

"Oh, Kagome! You look so much better, Sweetheart!" Her mother met her eyes, practically glowing. "At the moment I'm looking at the books for the shrine… Did you realize that Grandpa had been more than just a little frugal with our finances?"

"I don't think I understand…" Kagome said and sat across from her mother.

"Well, since he took over the shrine from his father, Grandpa had ensured that he put in ten percent of the profits from the shrine into an account in the Higurashi family's name. Some months were better than others, but, essentially, over the last thirty years he was able to save up enough money that… Well, to put it lightly, if you and Souta decided you wanted to go to college, it would be entirely paid for and I still could quit my job and not have to work for the rest of my life."

Kagome's eyes widened and she felt a great weight lift off her shoulders. "Are you serious?"

Mrs. Higurashi nodded and almost laughed. Her eyes shimmered with tears. "I miss your grandfather, but it seems that he's still looking after us, even from the afterlife."

"Yes… I only wish that I could have told him how much I loved him before he died…" Her hands were captured by her mother's and squeezed gently. "But at least now that I know this I don't feel so bad about leaving again."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded. She'd known this had been coming. When she'd brought her daughter food while Kagome slept, often she had heard her daughter whispering love to someone in her dreams. It had warmed her heart, but still, she knew that it meant she would have to let her go. Maybe forever this time. "When will you go?"

"I… As soon as possible, really. I'm worried that no one has come to check on me."

Her mother nodded. "Then lets get you packed, baby. You get your clothing and bag together and I need to go and find some things that I want you to have…"

"Momma, you're talking like you don't expect me to come back again."

Mrs. Higurashi paused. She'd been halfway to the door already. She turned and met her daughter's gaze. "When you were just a newborn, I had a dream about you as a woman. It was more of a feeling than a vision of the future, but I knew you were bound for great things. I knew that one day you would be lost to your destiny. That, while you would be happy on your path and well loved, I would lose you and it might be that I would never see you again. I don't know if you will make it back to me, Kagome, but I know that there are things that I should give you before you take this trip. We haven't had time to talk about what happened to you before you made it back, but it had to have been hard… Hard and rewarding from the sound of your voice when you sleep and call out to this Sesshou…"

Kagome blushed and smiled with shimmering eyes. "He's… He's so wonderful. I always thought I knew what I wanted and then there he was. He's nothing that I thought I wanted, but he's… I couldn't imagine loving anyone else."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled and nodded slowly. "Love isn't about getting what we want, Kagome. It's about being given what we need and we don't get to put a face on what we need." She chuckled as her daughter jumped up and nearly tackled her in a tight hug. She ran her fingers through Kagome's short spiraling locks. "Just promise me that, if you can't come back you'll tell my grandchildren about me and your father, Souta and Grandpa."

"There's no way I couldn't, Momma." She breathed and clung to her a moment longer. "I love you. I want you to know, though, that you're the only reason I turned out well at all. I only hope that I can be half the person you are someday."

She couldn't hold back her tears. She held her daughter tighter and kissed her cheek. "I love you, baby girl. You and Souta are my whole world and I feel honored to have been blessed with you as my children. I couldn't have chosen better souls to have been my daughter and son."

Kagome blushed and smiled. Several moments later they broke their embrace and went about gathering things for Kagome's return. By the time she had everything, Kagome's bag was full to the seams. She even had a small suitcase she would be taking with her. Souta helped her drag her things to the well house and, once there, hugged his sister as tightly as he could without hurting her.

"You be careful, ok?" He said softly.

She nodded and smiled. "You too. Take care of Mom."

"I promise." He replied softly and then pulled away.

Mrs. Higurashi approached with two articles in her hands. "This first is for you, Kagome. It was given to me by my mother when I left home to make my life." She slipped a white gold ruby ring onto her daughter's delicate finger. She smiled and held out the other article. "I gave this to your father on our wedding day. It is used to guide one's self by the stars and to determine the passage of time through the movements of the heavens." She slipped an intricate necklace with several rotating disks and an arrow that spun into her daughter's hands. "It's called an astrolabe. Give it to this Sesshou so that he can always find his way to you."

She blushed and nodded, hugging her mother fiercely. She held the astrolabe tightly in her hand. "Thank you, Momma… I love you so much and I promise, if it's possible, I'll come back and tell you how it all turned out."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded and slowly, reluctantly, released her little girl. "Please be careful, Kagome. And try to be happy."

Kagome nodded and grabbed her two bags. She slipped the astrolabe around her neck and then balanced on the edge of the well. Closing her eyes, no longer afraid, she jumped down into the Bone Eater's Well to return to her friends and her beloved to continue their quest to the end.

It is difficult to know at what moment love begins;

It is less difficult to know that it has begun.

Longfellow

The brothers were at it again. Kouga sighed and leaned against the God Tree and watched as they drew swords for the third time that day. This time it was over Inuyasha's tone when addressing Rin. What it's really over is Sesshomaru refusing to allow Inuyasha to go and check on Kagome. Even when the bastard is as worried as any of us about her delay. But then I wouldn't want Inuyasha to go and check on my woman either, knowing the mood he's been in lately. Kouga winced as Inyuasha was propelled several hundred yards away with a blast from Tokijin. The hanyou fell hard and didn't move for a moment. Then he groaned and rolled slightly to his side.

Sesshomaru snarled and sheathed his sword, then turned toward the well. He was never far away from the well since Kagome had left. Within hearing distance. Once he reached the ancient yet timeless structure, he sat and leaned against the boards. He crossed his legs in lotus position and laid his swords across his knees. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. Or at least try to meditate. Kagome had been gone two weeks. He had begun worrying but not enough to allow his bastard brother the chance to be alone with her. He sighed faintly and tried to imagine her face. As he formed the lines and contours of her jaw and cheekbones he focused on the feel of her skin under his fingertips. A soft smile began to touch his lips. It wasn't one of malice or sadistic intent, it was simply a serene, gentle expression as the form of his beloved came into view behind his eyelids. Next he focused on her scent and the gentle undertones of the European lavender and chamomile that laced her pleasing, natural, feminine smell. Finally he focused on the sound of her voice in the attempt of bringing his vision to life.

"You know, when you smile like that you're even more handsome than I could have imagined possible."

His eyes flashed open and focused on the beautiful girl who had somehow materialized before him. Her hair had been cut so that it didn't look so butchered. It was far too short, but the shape of it complimented her face and would grow out in time. He reached out and cradled her cheek gently, caressing her lips with his thumb. "Am I?"

She nodded and slipped into his lap, caressing his face tenderly. "Why were you smiling?"

His hand slipped around her waist and, in one quick, elegant movement, laid her down on the soft, tall grass. He leaned over her and, again the smile touched his lips. He lowered his brow to hers and breathed her in deeply. "I was thinking of you." He breathed and then captured her lips in a tender, loving kiss. His arm held her gently under her neck, his hand tangled in her short hair. His left knee was pressed into the ground next to her side so he did not crush her while his right leg nestled gently between her thighs.

She shuddered and slipped her hands along his sides and up his back where she clung to him gently. She sighed and melted into his kiss, savoring the sensation of his lips and tongue as he deepened their contact. The kiss seemed to last forever before he began to trail his kisses from her lips along her jaw to her ear and throat intermittently with gentle nips. Her eyes flashed open, then closed half way in a dreamy, hooded position as she arched softly to where his lips touched. She ran a hand through his hair, her hand grasping gently to the silk of his haori. "I missed you." She breathed, then gasped as his nips worked their way along her collarbone.

He kissed the fragile skin that covered the space between where her collarbones ended and her breastbone began, feeling a surge of delight course through him as she sighed and clung to him even tighter, her left leg curling around his right hip. "I missed you too." He whispered and let himself settle against her form with his head resting to the side against her chest. "I was beginning to worry."

"You had reason to worry…" She whispered, then smoothed his cheek as a soft grumbling growl made his chest rumble. She ran her fingers through mokomokosama to calm his beast as well. "My grandfather died the night after I got home. I was so caught up helping my mother with the shrine, I didn't take care of myself and I became terribly ill. Mom had to put me in the hospital for a few days until my fever went down…" She trembled as his arm wrapped around her tightly and he turned his head so his brow was resting between her breasts. "I was in bed the rest of the second week I was gone. I'm all right now, Love. I know that I shouldn't have pushed myself. My mother scolded me nearly every day because of it… But I couldn't just lay there and do nothing."

He nodded and raised his head, meeting her azure eyes with his smoldering gold. He kissed her brow and slipped his hand to the nape of her neck. "Then you don't need me to say the same things to you. You cannot put yourself in such danger, Kagome."

"I know… I have a quest to fulfill and…"

"No." He interjected. His eyes began to warm. There was a great vulnerability in his gaze suddenly. And Kagome, for a moment, could have sworn she saw fear. "You are more important than any quest for me." He traced her lips with his eyes and then captured her gaze again. She blushed and he leaned to kiss her brow, letting their auras flare together momentarily. "You are more than pack. I would abandon the fight with Naraku in a moment if I thought it would keep you from danger, but it will not. I cannot and will not lose you, Higurashi Kagome. Somehow you have become… Everything to me and I cannot imagine what it would be not to have you near me. I had to fight myself not to simply steal you away to my castle after I resurrected you. Watching you return to your home, while the right thing to do, was the hardest thing I've ever done. Until you came into my soul and learned what made me into who I am, I was severed into two creatures inhabiting the same space and now… You are there bridging the gap between my heart and mind and I… I need you to understand in this moment how much… How deeply I love you."

She felt like her breath had been stolen from her. And her voice. And her heartbeat. He had them all caged in the fathomless amber pools that were his eyes. Her eyes pooled with tears that slipped into her waving ebony locks and her fingers went to his lips, tracing them as if she could feel his words still holding to them. After several moments of his lips drinking away her tears with kisses and her breath and heart slipping back into their proper places, she found her voice. She leaned to his ear and kissed the delicate angular line of it before whispering to him. "I am yours forever."

Mokomokosama wrapped around her waist and he gripped her neck gently. In the same graceful manner, he sat up and cradled her against his chest, kissing her with a loving, possessive need. She clung to him and moaned softly. So softly it barely touched his hearing. He heard her heart speed softly and felt it where his thumb touched her pulse point. He broke their kiss and caressed his lips and cheeks over her face softly, breathing her in again deeply. "And I am yours."

She smiled and slipped her hand into her pocket, producing the astrolabe. "This is for you… My mother gave it to my father when they promised themselves to each other. She said that it is used to measure time and space by the position of the stars and spheres… So that you could always find your way to me."

He looked at the bronze and silver device and felt the same, placid smile form on his lips as she clasped the silver chain around his neck. She caressed his chest around where the necklace fell and smiled. "Thank you. I will not remove it."

She blushed and curled against his chest, gently gripping the silk at his collar. "I love you, Sesshou."

"I love you, Kagome." He breathed and held her tightly to him. He reveled in her presence and continued to ignore the two who were watching at a distance enviously and with hatred coursing through their auras. He knew who they were. He knew exactly what would be the result of their observing his intimate moments with Kagome and still he couldn't bring himself to care. She was his. She would always be his. For the first time in centuries, there was only Sesshomaru in his mind. Sesshomaru who loves Kagome.