Title: Snow of the Moon, Ice of the Sun

World: Inuyasha

Challenge: Dokuga Twisted Fairytale Challenge

Chapter Five

Rating: M

An eerie, foreboding silence overtook the camp at Rin's exclamation. Inuyasha, it seemed, had gone into catatonic shock, finger pointed at Rin in astonishment and mouth wide open, he was barely breathing. Miroku gently led him away to the other side of the camp and sat him down, far away from Sesshomaru. Odd strangled sounds were faintly heard coming from him. Everyone's eyes were locked on Sesshomaru, to see how he would…react.

As soon as the words had left Rin's mouth, Shippo attached himself to Kagome's side, glaring at the Daiyoukai. Kagome had her head cocked to one side, normally, her mouth would have been hanging open in shock and she would have been sweating profusely, but life was anything but normal right now.

"It doesn't work like that, Sesshomaru-sama may be a prince, but I don't need his kiss, I need love, only then I'll be free." A small smile crept on her face while she spoke, amused slightly by Rin's logic and touched by Shippo's protectiveness. There was no need for her to tell Rin that the curse would most likely consume her, it didn't matter. She petted his ruffled tail and made a soothing sound in the back of her throat, telling him that everything was fine. Kagome caught sight of the moon as she placed her son on the ground and a growl escaped her. Tomorrow night would be the full moon. "Sesshomaru-sama, you are welcome to join our group for the night, but I warn you, the night after tomorrow, a certain spider will come visit. Excuse me, I must have a talk with Inuyasha."

Kagome stood up and dropped the shards into Kikyo's hand. When she passed where the hanyou was sitting, she dragged him by the collar of his haori, ignoring the spluttering sounds that began to escape from him. When they were out of view of the group, she threw up a barrier that prevented anyone from hearing their words.

"What the hell Kagome?!" Once his brother was out of sight, the bodily function of speaking seemed to return to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, listen to me, I want you to be happy. Kikyo's clay body is strengthening, she will not die nor will it fail her. You have a chance at happiness with her." Sesshomaru's arrival had ruined her plan, now she had to tell him quickly, before the rest of the curse settled and before the spider came the next day, or even sooner due to the state that the moon was in. She had to let him know before it was too late and she lost all sense of reason.

"Kagome, I-" A stricken look covered his face. He loved Kikyo, but he also loved Kagome. He just wasn't sure in what way. Inuyasha wanted Kagome to be happy. He'd already ruined most of her life, she deserved to be happy.

"I love you Inuyasha, but you are not mine. You will never be able to find happiness with me." Kagome smiled at her hanyou friend, knowing what he must be thinking. It was his promise to both of them, Kikyo and her, that had prevented him from acting. But she could give them her blessing. "You are my brother, Inuyasha, I love you, and I give you my blessing."

Inuyasha ignored the ice that emanated from Kagome's hands as she cupped his face. In her eyes that were slowly freezing over, he saw what she planned to do. The worst of it was that he could do nothing to stop her. "Thank you Kagome…but I wish…I wish I could have saved you…saved you and Kikyo."

She smiled at him and it hurt to look at her. She had been pretty when human but was now beautiful as a youkai…but her beauty was a chilling one. Kagome, now, was as beautiful and as deadly as ice. And it was with icy lips that she pressed a kiss to his forehead, leaving a barrier of purity that would protect him for years to come.

"Dear, dear Inuyasha…this was going to happen all along. Even if Naraku hadn't…I still was going to give you two my blessing. I was never meant for a happily ever after. Kikyo is the princess in this fairy tale. Not me."

Kagome stayed there after Inuyasha left for the camp. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. The ice that was surrounding her fragile heart had protected her from the pain of lost dreams and disappointed hopes. Yet still, tears fell down her cheeks, crystallizing into little gems as they left her skin and fell to the forest ground. When she looked at the grass, there were little pearls and tiny diamonds at her feet, and surrounding them was the beginnings of ice and snow. A cold laugh escaped her as the discomfort that had been in the back of her mind all day flared up and her vision blacked out for a moment. When she came to, she had several fluffy, furry appendages. On the top of her head were a pair of black fox ears rimmed in white fur and behind her waved six ebony tails with ivory tips.

" Who are you? I know you are there, little spy." The oddness that had been present in her voice and would disappear at times returned in full force, darker and harsher than ever before. It was something primordial that caressed her every word. It was something much more…primal. She wasn't sure even to who she was anymore, only that she was full of power and that she was being spied upon.

From behind a tree stepped out a figure in white. She recognized him as a Daiyoukai but knew nothing else of him, nor did she care. Yet a small voice inside of him told her who he was, she figured that the voice inside of her had been her Beast. But how could her Beast know something that she did not?

"What is your purpose, Lord of the West, in being here?" She tilted her head to one side as she inspected her claws and clacked them together. Already she had gotten bored with the stoic Lord and he had yet to speak a single word! Well, it wasn't like she really cared if she was being spied upon, she was fully clothed and her spy was a handsome male.

Sesshomaru took a step forward to the miko turned youkai. Her appearance had changed yet again and his senses led him to believe that it had been a part of the dark magic cast upon her that had caused it. Her voice was colder than he had ever heard it be and a dark sort of amusement lurked underneath it.

"What is it that you plan to do, vixen?"

"Me?" At his words, she stood at attention and surprise flitted across her features and then a bloodthirsty smirk crossed her face. "Stomp on a spider."

At her words, he looked up at the moon, shocked to see that it had already come full circle and rested full in the night sky. The full moon had come quicker than anticipated and he knew who would come with it.

"Oh, itsy bitsy spider, won't you come out?" Kagome called out to Naraku in a sing song voice, they were far enough from the camp that her Pack would be safe. She would get to play with her spider all that she wanted. Even if it wasn't in the way that he had wanted. Another laugh escaped her, and as she laughed, the earth surrounding her began to freeze and become covered in a layer of ice and snow. She wasn't worried about getting hurt or all the power that Naraku held. All in all, all she wanted, like any regular kitsune, was a little bit of fun.