When Kagome arrived home there was a note waiting for her on the kitchen cupboard. Placing the keys on the counter and her purse on the chair, she picked it up to read.

You missed your first meeting with Leola this afternoon. Such behavior is unacceptable.

Sesshomaru's penmanship was flawless, as expected. She frowned and crumpled the note in her hand, shooting it into the garbage. It wasn't like he told me when the meeting was…

As she walked down the hallway to her bedroom, she saw that the door to his room was opened slightly with light flooding out. Pausing outside, she recollected all her feelings and prepared herself for apologizing to Sesshomaru. Kagome wasn't absolutely sure how he would react due to the way he'd been so offended by her secret, but she was positive on one thing: it wasn't going to be pretty.

Knocking lightly on the door, she stepped in. "Sesshomaru?"

He was sitting in a chair by his bed, reading, and didn't bother to look up when she entered. Kagome cleared her throat once in a second attempt to gain his attention. When he remained silent, she took action.

"I'm sorry."

He turned the page of his book and resumed reading.

For the love of—she stilled her anger. One more time. I'll try once more. "I shouldn't have kept something so important from you, and I regret it. I apologize."

When he blatantly ignored her, she narrowed her eyes at him. Approaching his with a steady glare, one that she was sure he could feel because of the daggers she was shooting, Kagome ripped the book out of his hands.

"Excuse me, where I come from people look at each other when they talk!"

His eyes lazily shifted over to meet hers. "Silence yourself."

"Oh, give me a break!" She threw her hands up in an exasperated motion. "You're being childish. It was one secret."

"One secret can change fate. The importance of such things aren't weighed upon the quantity, but the quality." He hissed back.

"So suddenly you treat me like dirt because of this one thing?" She didn't attempt to hide her frown.

"People have been killed for lesser offenses to my person."

"Well then, thank you, Lord Sesshomaru, for sparing This Kagome," she sneered.

"Honesty is important to me." His gaze met her squarely, and she found her heart stinging a bit. She valued honesty too… how could she have forgotten something so vital?

"And I'm really sorry," she said softly after a moment, her anger briefly subsiding.

"About not being honest? Or that you were found out?" He raised an aloof eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she ground out, "but I did try, several times."

"Enlighten me," his patronizing tone was more than she could handle.

"You're not exactly approachable, Sesshomaru," she snapped. "You're rude, arrogant and downright snobbish sometimes, so it's obvious to anyone with eyes why I wouldn't want to tell you!"

They glared some more until Kagome added, "And you're reaction to my secret proves my worries were justified. It's not like you've made this easy for me!"

Her powers electrified the air, battling with his youki, which had been uncharacteristically out of control the entire evening.

"You haven't made life easy for this one either," he said dryly. She narrowed her eyes, and he elaborated.

"You promised to be beneficial to my life—yet you have caused me many troubles. Explaining that your wife is the shikon miko that you have been searching for to uncivilized youkai is not an advantageous aspect for this one's life."

She grimaced but didn't answer, so he advanced. "I want answers, miko."

She pursed her lips together. "On why I didn't tell you?" Turning her back to him so she wouldn't have to see his face, she crossed her arms.

"Correct."

"Well, obviously because I knew you'd react badly. Exactly how you did."

"There are other reasons that you do not wish to tell this Sesshomaru." He growled, his anger rendering him weak to his old-fashioned speech. She dully noted how he had been switching between his modern speech and traditional the whole night, which was evidence enough to testify how deeply their fight meant to him.

Kagome bit her lip, and sighed, deflating a bit. Baring her heart, she whispered, "You don't know what it's like, Sesshomaru. To be compared to someone…"

She turned around to search for his eyes. When she met them, they were filled with unguarded interest, and maybe, just maybe, a fraction of the warmth they had held before. "I'm not Kikyo's reincarnation—I'm someone completely different, but it's not the easiest relationship to understand. Was it so selfish of me to want you to get to know me as Kagome Higurashi, regular girl instead of Kagome, the amazing shikon miko Kikyo's quirky replacement?"

Sesshomaru watched his wife's azure eyes study him, trying to gauge his next action. When he said nothing, but continued to contemplate what she had said, she sighed again.

"I was wrong, I know, but remember, you're not perfect either."

That caught his attention. "Your facts are not correct. This one is perfect."

She shook her head. "Not even sort of. Let's not mention the flaws in your personality, but Sesshomaru, I'd like to ask you a few questions on your meeting with the other youkai. What was so important that I couldn't listen in on?"

Sesshomaru had been slowly approaching her as she spoke, but stilled what she finished her sentence. Briefly reining in his emotions, he straightened and moved over to her. "Nothing of your concern."

His hand lifted to touch her face, but she leaned away, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that? I'm the shikon miko—the one we've been searching for. Why shouldn't I be in on all the important meetings?"

Rubbing her lips together, she found more unanswered questions. "And why did you even want the shikon miko in the first place? I thought it was for information, but you seem to know as much, if not more, information than I do… So why the fascination?"

She stepped away from him, more confusion clouding her eyes. "Yeah, yeah that's right," she nodded, ideas blossoming and connecting together in her mind. "Why wasn't I in that meeting the other day? I should've been helping you guys plot something, helping you out as much as I could because I'm the shikon miko. This doesn't add up! And what was the change in plan that you were talking about?!"

Sesshomaru blinked, seemingly stunned, but then frowned.

"While you rant, this Sesshomaru would like to point out that he still has unanswered questions about your meeting with Kaede." He avoided her questions with a poised statement.

"For your information," Kagome switched her focus, "she was warning me about you."

"Hn." Sesshomaru couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing.

"That's right! I'll have you know," her glare rivaled his in intensity, "many people have told me you'd be no good to me. They all said I should get away… but I didn't run. No, I stayed to fight. And look where that got me."

His silence only fueled her anger once again. "I think—"

A phone vibrated on Sesshomaru's desk. Without a glance behind, Sesshomaru's poison whip disintegrated it mid-buzz. His eyes were burning bright when he called for her attention.

"Continue."

Kagome's dumbfounded expression was refreshing after her passionate anger. "Why?"

"I would like to hear."

"My complaints?"

"Hn."

She stopped herself from asking for his motives once more. "I just wish you would…" She sighed. Sesshomaru was Sesshomaru, and while she might be able to change small parts of him, his personality was like steel. And she liked him for that. I wouldn't dream of transforming Sesshomaru, but I think development is a possibility.

Taking him for a turn, she softly asked, "Why were you so mad at me?"

His response was not immediate, but it was worth so much to her. "This one supposes… I suppose it was not only that you had been false, but also that I was deceived."

Sunlight touched the treetops close to their house but Kagome barely noticed. All that mattered to her was the man standing across from her, looking at her as if he'd never trusted another person as much as he trusted her, uncertainty of their future together rolling off each other in waves… and it was all perfect.

"Thank you." And suddenly, Seshomaru found her smile to be a reward far greater than all the power and prestige he'd earned over his years.

So they made up, and now we can get on to the plot! Hope you enjoyed ~Gracie

All Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi