No words could describe the way Sesshomaru felt. The way he didn't want to feel. Nevertheless, the feelings were there, sinking into his heart and making a frenzy of his mind. He felt those feelings very, very strongly.

From birth, he was destined not to mingle with the humans because they were commonly known to be weak, dirty, and below the youkai. It had been obvious that he wouldn't waste time with the inferior race, being he was the Lord of the West, and he had fiercely believed that in his youth. By the time the modern era blew in, he had grown lax with his prejudices and found nothing much interested him anymore, so he was content to find amusement from their petty fights and squabbles.

When he met Kagome Higurashi, he had nearly given up on finding something truly interesting to amuse himself. And, having long since forgotten what had driven him to distance himself from the humans, he decided to give in to a mere whim and help the girl out.

From there, his life had proceeded to become more complex and troublesome than it had ever been, all because of one pesky human. He had conquered various different lands and killed many youkai to maintain his position, but for the life of him, Sesshomaru hadn't known one human girl who was so impossibly weak, naive and fragile could be such a problem.

She waltzed into danger, unaware of her circumstances and the crisis she could stumble upon. And when she had done just that-found a war unfolding in front of her eyes-she wasn't able to fight back. Sesshomaru had figured out the plan shortly after she had texted him, and jumped into action to go save her. He had been calm and collected, as he normally was when going into battle, but when he arrived on scene and seen her doubled over...The way he had felt was something he'd never admit to anyone, not even Kagome herself. He had been so controlled for so long, that he hadn't even registered the fact that his tight grip on his emotions had gained slack. And once he had realized, it was too late.

And after attacking Naraku, but letting him escape so he could tend to Kagome who knocked herself out, he had returned home, mind in disarray. Sesshomaru was, for the first time in his life, unsure as how to proceed. He couldn't figure out how the little slip of a woman had made him feel that way, and he didn't want to continue giving her that power over him. He was not some lap dog meant to be tamed; he was a Taiyoukai, with immense power and prestige, never meant to show or feel emotion in a time of peril. Yet he had.

So, he closed his heart off to her. He had promised to be open with her, but that was suddenly a thing of the past. He couldn't let her interfere with his life, so the most logical thing would be to let her go on her way, back to her old life. However, the great Taiyoukai decided to take another plan of action. He would lock her away in his mansion, keeping such a delicate, precious person away from the harm she could fall right into, as she was known to do.

He would deal with the problem. He would keep her safe, and he would be the one to drive her away from him, to in turn, protect himself.

Kagome patted her little sister's head and rolled over on the bed so she could get a better view of the book Rin was reading. Even a week after the attack, Kagome still hadn't left the house, and she was feeling antsy. She'd taken care of Rin everyday and read a lot, but otherwise the poor miko hadn't done much else to entertain herself. The house was quiet with Jaken out shopping, and Sesshomaru at work. Letting her lids drop, Kagome dozed softly as the young girl next to her remained enthralled by her picture book.

In her brief dreams of memories, Kagome tried to fight of the embarrassment that had been haunting her of late. The shame of forgetting one's own powers in the midst of a fight was a powerful motivator to keep oneself up all night. She'd become quiet the insomniac lately, due her embarrassment, her fears of Naraku, and the fact Sesshomaru was arriving home later and later each night only to leave their room earlier and earlier.

She flushed, awoken from her light doze, and remembered yet again. She'd be fairly close to pathetic while fighting Naraku, forgetting ever single one of Leola's lessons and the fact she had a sizable amount of control over her powers. She'd run, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but was disgraceful because she hadn't needed to. She could've fought him at the very least, or been smart enough to deduce that the coffee shop was closed because there were absolutely no cars in the parking lot, or lights in the shop, for that matter. Kagome had been silly enough to be led to a deserted shop in the middle of nowhere with no bystanders for miles, and still got out of the car instead of driving away.

Hayate, for that matter, had called her constantly apologizing. He'd called after Kagome had woken up the next day to talk to her, only to find out about the turn of events and felt completely guilty. Sesshomaru hadn't commented on her talking to him, only saying she wasn't to meet him for a long time, leaving Kagome utterly confused. She was sure Hayate was working with Naraku, but after his heart-felt apologies... she wasn't so sure anymore.

Giving Rin's head one more pat, she rolled off the little girl's bed and strode over to her room with Sesshomaru. She needed to plan a way to get him to talk to her. He was always pushing her away, silently ignoring her, and she couldn't stand it. He would start acting the way he had before, or Kami help him, Kagome was going to do something drastic.

"Honestly, Sesshomaru," Kagome groaned and rolled over on their bed so she was in a better position to lecture him. His eyes barely flickered to hers before he continued fixing his tie and pulled on a clean vest.

"You can't keep me locked up here forever." She rolled her eyes when he finished dressing himself and completely ignored her.

"I mean it, Sesshomaru!" She yelled after him as he opened their door to glide out into the hallway. "I'll run away if I don't get permission to leave this instant!"

That caught his attention. Deciding to lapse in his silence, he turned around and marched back into the bedroom. "Hn. And then I will personally drag you back to this house, kicking and screaming."

His eyes were lit with fire, but Kagome wasn't in a mood to humor him and back down. "Then I'd simply run away again. I'm not a bird you can put in a gilded cage, no matter how noble your intentions are."

When he said nothing, she bit her lip in frustration. A week of careful planning and performing had got her fifteen words max, and he was still stubborn about her near solitary confinement. She'd tried almost everything she could think of, and was quickly running out of ideas.

A few days previous, she had been so sourly tempted to give him the cold shoulder that she had, and even made a point to pile so much junk on their bed there wasn't any room for him in it. When she woke up to find her husband eating breakfast like nothing had happened, the bed clean and straightened so it didn't even look like she had slept in it, she didn't know what to think. Her will had run out far more swiftly than his, and she changed tactics.

Three dags ago, Kagome had tried to nag him out of his mind, incessantly asking him questions and talking, but found herself more bothered than he, and couldn't continue. That morning, she had attempted to make threats, which earned her a few responses, but not enough to merit a victory. She hated feeling so helpless, and it fueled her determination to get him talking to her again. Sesshomaru had a will of steel and centuries to practice holding grudges, and she just didn't know how to get his attention.

Dragging herself out of bed, she entered the hallway just in time to see his back vanish into the kitchen. He would be going to work, and it felt like if she didn't get him to talk to her now, then she never would. Desperation drove her mind into overdrive, and she sighed.

"Only one last thing to do," she mumbled to herself, and broke into a sprint down the hallway. When she saw his back, she rocketed herself onto him and latched her legs around his midsection. Her powers at the forefront of her instincts, she burned her hands on his shoulders as he stumbled from the surprise of her jump.

"Talk to me you idiot!"

Hair flew everywhere, limbs tumbling into a giant pile of human, and she rolled on top of him, her body pinning him to the ground. They both knew full well he could overpower her at any moment, but he let the woman scream her frustrations at him.

"We can do this easy, or we can do this hard, but either way, Sesshomaru, you're going to stop ignoring me!" she pounded a fist on his chest and he caught her hand.

His eyes were cold, so cold, but she didn't miss the underlying layer of warmth. Something he had spent the week no doubt trying to bury, but hadn't succeeded. Kagome let her head drop, stilling her powers which had been filling the room at an alarming rate. The pink light faded and she looked away from him, able to clearly see her failures with her powers. She was out of control, mentally, physically and spiritually.

"Why do you do this," she whispered, her voice lilting on the last word. "We were so happy, why are you so... afraid of that?"

He didn't respond, but she knew he was listening. "I know it was all my fault, and you have every right to be mad at me because I didn't defend myself, but still. Sesshomaru, I'm sorry. Can't we just get over this?"

He rose up and leaned forward in an instant, his face inches from hers. "You never learn. Fighting won't get you a response," he ground out, and pushed her aside.

She watched him walk away and with the barest, hint of a turn, she saw him check back at her before heading out the door. A small smile tugged at her lips and she sprung up, content that though Sesshomaru had said she wouldn't get a response from him, she had in fact, received one nonetheless.

That night, she waited up for him in bed. He was late, as usual, and she dozed lightly but stirred when he opened the door. Her bright blue eyes followed him as he paced about the room before deciding to undress. She watched, in rapt attention as he slowly undid his tie and removed his shirt, seemingly unaware of her unfaltering gaze. Kagome blushed involuntarily at the sight of his bare chest, and warmer, passionate memories resurfaced in her mind. He cleared his throat, able to smell her thickening scent and found much to his displeasure, he couldn't ignore her. Not when she smelled like that, not when she was lying in their bed.

Mentally, he cursed himself. Where had his cold resolve disappeared to? Avoiding her had proved to be far more difficult, and he could feel his famous control slipping, yet again.

"Calm down, Sesshomaru," her voice held no soft tones, for she had seen how he had reacted in that brief moment. He met her eyes and was amazed by the small woman who could see past his defenses and account for how he would act.

Chastising himself, he remembered he didn't want a woman like that, because she brought too much trouble with her.

Kagome relaxed back into bed, watching him carefully. When he shucked his pants and pulled on sweats for sleeping she rolled over, allowing him some space. He matched her steady gaze and the couple sat in bed, simply staring at the other, waiting for one to make the first move.

Kagome sighed first, and pulled the covers up around her body. "Just letting you know, I'm going to be attending a meeting with the youkai council tomorrow. I believe you're attending too?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Hn."

"Good. Then we'll go together."

He frowned, but remained silent. She smiled, glad he was atleast acting similar to how he had before.

"You can't stop me because it's my duty, but I appreciate that you're not objecting anyways," she mused out loud.

He said nothing, and she closed her eyes, ready to sleep. As she felt her mind slipping into a haze, she whispered, "Don't worry so much. We'll work out these problems just like we have in the past. I'm only asking for my freedom, Sesshomaru. You need to stop avoiding talking to me about it."

He watched her fall asleep and brushed a hand over her soft, dark hair. She was so beautiful, so strong, but so fragile. So breakable. She saw through his control, and that confused him. But most of all, the Great Taiyoukai of the West worried that if he let this delicate, charming young woman with a heart so big out into the world, would she return back to him shattered beyond repair... or would she even return at all?

Okay, sorry about the delay. Here's my apology for the past and future delays. I will try hard to get a chapter out every week but... I am pretty slow sometimes. Hope you enjoyed this one! ~Gracie

All Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.