Nightmares and the Almost Kiss

Sesshomaru was awakened abruptly when he felt Kikyo begin to tremble in his arms.

"Priestess? Priestess what's wrong?"

"INUYASHA! PLEASE…DON'T CALL OUT MY NAME!" she cried out. Sesshomaru shook Kikyo lightly until she jerked awake. She rolled over into his arms and started crying. Sesshomaru ran his claws through her hair until she finally calmed down. She sat up off the ground and folded her arms across her chest, staring blankly towards the sky. Sesshomaru sat up as well, a frown wrinkling his brow.

"Priestess?"

"It was…a dream…nightmare rather," she replied softly.

"I take it your nightmare, as you call it, involved my half demon of a brother."

"Yes. I…I was reliving the day that I was resurrected and I remember everything; every word ever spoken and every action that took place. Urasue…she forced me to watch her as she placed my reincarnation into a tub of herbs and then proceeded to suck the life out of her. The whole process was doomed to failure until Kaede and Inuyasha came looking for that girl. I was alert but I had no voice or movement of my own. My body…this wretched body of clay and ashes would not allow me to move. It was too late…when Inuyasha saw me standing there…he spoke my name bringing me back to this world. Of all the nightmares I have had recently, this is by far the worst one. If Inuyasha would not have spoken my name that day then I would not be here forced to live among the living. I am not wanted here nor am I needed. Sometimes I just wish…" but her voice trailed off.

"Wish what priestess?" She turned and glared at him, tears streaming down her face.

"Why did you save me? You should have let me die."

"I am not my brother. If we look at this figuratively, he did in fact let you die by not showing up on time. Since I am not nor will I ever be like my pathetic brother, I could not let you die. Besides, you are needed here."

"Needed? Oh yes…I am needed here to indulge Naraku."

"No, you are needed here because right now, you are the only one that Naraku fears. He laughs at me and rolls around in tears when faced with my brother but you…he goes out of his way trying to rid the world of you. If you give up now, you'll just be doing him a favor. I would have thought that you wouldn't want to give him the satisfaction after what he did to you."

"I don't but it doesn't change anything. I'm still not wanted here. Villagers fear me so I can't live among the living too long. Then there's Inuyasha…"

"What about him?"

"Nothing. He just…I can't fault him for wanting to protect the girl."

"He wants to protect you too."

"But he can't protect us both and whenever I'm around I complicate things. I see the looks that she gives me…and I feel so bad. It's not her fault that Inuyasha is so indecisive."

"But she knows about the past the two of you share. If you ask me I think she's being selfish. She wants him all to herself and it's impossible if you both have the same goal."

"True…but…"

"If you are about to question whether or not you're wanted then there is no doubt in my mind that you are wanted."

"You sound so reassuring. There's something that the two of you have in common."

"Who?"

"You and Inuyasha…silly," she said grinning. "When the two of you speak, you sound so sure of yourselves even when the future looks grim," she said sadly.

"But unlike my brother, I mean everything I say. When I say that you are wanted, I mean it."

"I'll let you win this round simply because I am too tired to continue this argument."

"Let me win huh? If you say so priestess." She turned to him and smiled weakly.

"Thank you…Lord Sesshomaru. It feels good not to be completely alone. I know you're not always one for company but you're putting up with me and I owe you a great debt if I ever get out of this mess alive."

"You will now let's get some sleep. We have a long journey to start in the morning. We can't get to Naraku if we stay here forever." She did as she was told lying back on the ground next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and they both drifted off to sleep.

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For the next few days Inuyasha and his friends traveled from village to village looking for signs of Naraku. They followed a bunch of rumors about giant snake demons. On several occasions they came across Kagra and Naraku's samiyousho but in each instance Kagra got away.

"Dammit! We aren't getting anywhere!" Inuyasha muttered. They were now sitting by a fire under a big oak tree. They had stopped traveling for the night in order to get some rest and patch each other up. They fought a whole slew of Naraku's demons courtesy of Kagra but it was just a random attack and no one had clue what Naraku was up to now.

"Inuyasha calm down. Everything will work out. I'm certain of it," Kagome said softly. She placed her head on Inuyasha's chest and he covered her forehead with his hand.

"I know it will. I'm just ready for this war with Naruku to come to an end before I lose everything."

"We understand Inuyasha but as long as we keep working together, we'll get Naraku. So something Kagra said earlier has me thinking," Miroku said calmly.

"You? Thinking? You mean with your brain and not your penis? Wow. That's a first," Sango said hotly.

"I do that quite often yet people are always surprised. Anyway Inuyasha, Kagra seemed like she was angry about something. Couldn't you sense that while you were fighting? It was as if she was trying to let off some steam. The attack was just too random ya know?"

"Yeah…you're right. She did seem…Hey wait a sec! So if she's upset then it's probably because Naraku has her doing something she's not too happy about doing. If that's the case it shouldn't be too hard to get some info out of her if we do it right."

"Yeah just what I was thinking," Miroku replied. "I have a feeling I know what it's about."

"What?" Sango asked.

"Well…she kept muttering something about an infant and then she said a name…I believe it was Hakudoshi."

"Hakudoshi? You think maybe Naraku has an infant and Hakudoshi is the name?" Shippo asked.

"Quite possibly," Miroku replied. "Still…something doesn't seem right about this."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"Well, Naraku having an infant? Since when has he had time to…you know…and then there's the fact that no one in their right mind would be with Naraku."

"I don't know Miroku. We've seen Naraku's true face and to tell you the truth he's not all that bad looking," Kagome added thoughtfully.

"Hey…just what are you saying?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Oh pipe down Inuyasha. She was only saying what I was thinking," Sango scolded. "Naraku is a good looking demon. He's just…bad but then if he did have relations with a woman, she probably had no idea who he was and what he was up to."

"Either way this could prove troublesome. If Naraku has an infant that means the infant will be just as powerful—if not more powerful than Naraku himself. That means we have to speed things up a bit. We don't need more Narakus lurking about. We can barely handle Naraku himself and with Kikyo out of the picture…" Miroku stopped himself after realizing what he said. He shot Inuyasha a pleading look but Inuyasha just smiled.

"It's ok Miroku. Yeah, she was the only one he ever feared but soon he'll fear all of us as well."

"You guys, we need to get some rest. Shippo is already fast asleep and if we're going to hunt down this rumor about an infant then we need to rest as well. There's no telling what we're going to find," Kagome said softly. They all nodded in agreement before finding places to lie and rest. Sango and Miroku laid down next to Shippo while Kagome curled up next to Inuyasha.

"Get some sleep Inuyasha."

"I have to wait until you're asleep first," he whispered. "I have to protect you."

"Yes but I think I'll be ok for the night. Close your eyes and get some sleep alright?" She kissed his cheek and drifted off to sleep several minutes later. When he was sure that she was asleep, he finally closed his eyes too drifting off to sleep where unpleasant dreams were awaiting him.

"Inuyasha, I love you and always will but you have to do this. I am already dead so use me…"

"I can't…I love you too much to…"

"INUYASHA! YOU ARE WASTING TIME! IF YOU DON'T HURRY THE SPELL WILL NEVER WORK!" Kaede shouted.

"Kill me now Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha woke with a start. His head was hurting and his body was drenched in sweat. Kikyo. He looked around wildly and saw that everyone was asleep soundly and unharmed. He looked down at Kagome who was nestled comfortably next to him sound asleep. She looks so much like Kikyo when she's asleep…Her hair was covering some of her face making Inuyasha chuckle. He reached over and got the hair out of her face staring curiously at the innocent young figure before him. You two are so much alike yet profoundly different…He leaned over and kissed Kagome's cheek before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

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"Kagra, what was the meaning of your attack on Inuyasha today?"

"Huh? How do you know about that?" she asked.

"Hakudoshi would never lie to me." Kagra just glared at Naraku. So the little brat can speak now?

"I needed to vent," she mumbled.

"Well be careful what you say while you're venting. Don't want Inuyasha and the others to find out about my other half. Now take Hakudoshi for some fresh air. Remember what I said Kagra." Naraku handed her the infant and watched her storm out the door. Hmpf. She had better watch herself. I'd hate to kill such a useful servant.Naraku stared out of his window and grinned. With the priestess now out of the way, nothing will stop me. Not even that infuriating Sesshomaru.

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Sesshomaru awoke early the next morning and prepared his vessel for travel. He had no idea where Master Jaken was located and made a note to go looking for him if he didn't catch up within the next day or so. Kikyo awoke just as he was making his way towards her.

"Ahh, you're awake. It's time to get going priestess. I fear we may have stayed in one place too long. I don't like leaving a trail behind and we must beat my brother to Naraku." Kikyo laughed as she sat up and stretched. It was still very early but she had slept pretty good and therefore had no problem being up early. She stood to her feet and started towards Sesshomaru but after taking just a few short steps her body started to fall back towards the earth. Sesshomaru got there in time, catching her in his arms pinning her body to his own. "Still very weak I see."

"I'm…I'm sorry. I don't know why…I should be okay by now. Have you seen my soul collectors?"

"Yes, just this morning they were hovering around you but there were no souls with them. I sent them off…I told them not to return unless they had good news."

"How thoughtful of you," she said softly. "You know, if you keep this up I just might start to believe that you actually care."

"What news it would be if one learned that I actually have a heart." She looked up at him curiously and smiled. Sesshomaru had no idea what had come over him but before he knew it, he was leaning forward brushing his lips against hers. A loud buzzing sound caught his attention snapping him out of his trance. He looked up to see Kagra flying by. She did not look down and he was relieved. Kikyo was still hurt and did not want anyone to know that she was still alive. Right now it was the only leverage that he had against Naraku and he wanted to keep it that way. He looked back at Kikyo who was now resting her head against his chest. I almost kissed her just now…I can't let that happen again. He scooped Kikyo into his arms and placed her on his steed. He stood behind her as they lifted off towards Kagra. Kikyo fell asleep again almost immediately giving Sesshomaru time to think. I almost kissed her…Inuyasha's woman…He looked down at her but closed his eyes almost immediately. Staring at her only made it worst. For some odd reason she was driving him crazy but he didn't know why. He had always been attracted to her but not like this. I have to get a grip. I am not weak like my pathetic brother and I will not let this woman get to me…

AN:Okay. Sorry, so very very sorry about the long delay but I was on Christmas break with no internet. O.O Let me tell you, it was HELL! I was having fanfiction withdrawls…no e-mail; I bet you I had hundreds of e-mails. Gahhh…I was starting to get twitchy—hell I'm twitchy now. I write so much better when I am at school sitting on my bed at 2 in the morning watching Inuyasha reruns on Adult Swim. I hope this chapter didn't bore you to death. Yes, this is still going to eventually be Inu/Kik but right now it's Ses/Kik. If that would have happened on the anime then I would not have been so upset when Inuyasha left with that girl. Okay. I'm off to bed. My head hurts and I'm mad as hell about this whole no internet for 25 days! That's like…TORCHER!