My dearest readers, I'm back:) I sincerely apologize for the length of time since my last update... life's been confusing and hard lately. My husband and I ended up getting a divorce and it was a long agonizing process that unfortunately isn't quite over yet, but things are looking up for me and I'm not as depressed and down as I was before. I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews and uplifting words. You have no idea how amazing it was to check my messages and see how much you all care. THANK YOU!

Please be gentle... it's been a while since I've written, but DEFINITELY give reviews! I need feedback if I'm to keep the story up to the same level I had before. Let me know if you see anything lacking or any discrepancies. Thanks again for all your support!

Chapter 34

BOOM! "YEOOOOOOOOOW!"

A massive tremor shook the palace as the deafening explosion rocked everyone on their feet and knocked various loose decorations from their intended resting place, a few crashing as they met the hard wood floor. Kagome's head snapped up from her discussion with the head servant temporarily replacing Akiko before bolting off in the direction of the disturbance.

The little miko was met in the hallway with other worried staff rushing in the same direction: Totosai's make-shift forge. Smoke billowed along the ceiling in thick black clouds as she hurried through the halls following the flow as it thickened. Finally she rounded the corner and sighed at what she saw.

The screen door was completely shattered, bits and pieces hung pathetically from the door frame, the paper scraps still clinging desperately to the wood fluttered in the heavy smoke laden breeze still exhaling from the room.

Massive amounts of coughing and sputtering heralded the eventual exit of Totosai and Akiko. The pair literally crawled out of the black wall of smoke covered from head to toe in thick flat black soot. Not a feature or spot of color was visible until they finally cracked their eyes, the stark white standing out vividly in contrast to their utterly black faces, the rings of color in their iris's looking oddly out of place.

The sword smith collapsed on his back on the floor wheezing, his bulging eyes looking like golf balls glued onto a black mannequin. Totosai blinked his eyes a few times before taking a deep breath and shutting them, in relief and stilling his breathing slightly. Upon opening his eyes, his newly regulated breath froze in his throat at the sight of a very irritated and deadly demon lord looking down his nose from his stance directly above him.

"Yeee!" he screeched scuttling across the floor leaving a black streak and clouds of soot across the gleaming wood to hide behind Kagome's legs who in turn grabbed her robes frantically and pulled them up in a manner that showed her legs indecently to keep them out of the dirty demon's way.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sesshomaru's cold voice rang out and Totosai 'eeped' and cowered further behind the priestess. Kagome scrunched her nose and moved forward a step, watching the demon like a hawk in case the dirty demon tried to grab her skirt or leg in his flight from the taiyoukai. The sword smith stuttered and curled into a ball before finally spitting a response out.

"T-the metals become volatile during the process of preparing them for soul transferal!" he squeaked. "I-it's easy for a similar reaction to occur if conditions aren't entirely perfect and these aren't my normal tools! Unfortunately, it's not something I can entirely predict, the sword undergoes dramatic changes to the metal slightly before and during the transferal…" he said scratching his head and letting his eyes glaze over slightly in his consideration of the problem, his body language slightly relaxing showing his feeling of security behind the priestess.

Suddenly silver and gold filled his vision and he tensed so hard he thought he would faint.

"Do not let it happen again." With that the lord was gone leaving an irritated Kagome pinching the bridge of her nose with an oncoming headache and an unconscious Totosai behind her. Akiko just sat off to the side staring into the distance looking dazed as the servants began cleaning up the mess of soot and soji screen pieces.

Kagome rolled her eyes as she went off in search of her mean fiancé; she really needed to give him lessons on the subject of being nice to one's underlings. The little priestess quickly lost track of him in the winding halls of the palace before realizing she hadn't been entirely sure where he had been heading.

Stopping briefly she concentrated and sent out her aura to see if she could feel him or learn at least in which direction he had gone so she could catch up. As she stood concentrating with her eyes lightly closed she felt silk clad arms snake around her waist and pull her back against a hard chest.

"Honestly, you'd think a student of mine would at least be able to feel me coming. Looks like more training is in order for you, little one." Kagome leaned her head back against his shoulder and pouted up at him, her cerulean eyes glittering with mischief, convinced she could find ways to worm out of any evil training he had in mind for her. With a chuckle he leaned down and their eyes slid closed…

"Ahem, f-forgive the intrusion, milord, but there's a group at the gates dressed in holy robes insisting on speaking to the priestess 'imprisoned' within the palace," the servant said with a low bow. Sesshomaru's golden eyes snapped open and Kagome caught the brief worried gleam in their depths before it was schooled to blankness. He simply nodded, looking bored and the servant scuttled away.

"It sounds as if they wish to rescue you from my evil clutches," he glanced down at her boredly but Kagome caught the brief teasing gleam and snickered, "tell me, Priestess, do you wish to be rescued?" he asked, raising a hand to brush against her cheek softly.

The young woman turned in his arms and boldly lifted her hands to his shoulders and ran them down his chest and abs feeling the steel muscles beneath the silk of his white hakama and reveling in the feeling of him tense under his self-control before slipping her arms around his waist and leaning against him, her eyes drifting up the path her hands had taken, past his collarbones and up his lean neck to eventually rest on his porcelain features.

"Being your captive isn't so bad…" one silver eyebrow arched up indignantly before she continued, "there seem to be enough benefits to outweigh any qualms I might have," she finished smiling up at him coyly.

"Oh, little one," he said lifting his hand to the back of her head to tangle his fingers there and trap her only inches from his own face, "you have not seen half of the benefits in store for you…" he said, his voice dropping to a deep rumble and making an adorable blush rise up in her cheeks. "However, my dear, since you are sure, we should not keep our guests waiting," he said mischievously before straightening back up and looking down at her with an I got you this time look in his eyes. Kagome glared up at him and he gave her a cocky smile before leading her in the direction of the courtyard.