AN: Sooo... I'M BACK! This week was a struggle and full of alot of hard work Xp. This chapter was just to get me out of the school writing mode back into my FanFic writing mode, so it was a struggle for me to write. This is also the reason for if you find my style of writing somewhat changed. I have now successful transitioned back and am excited to begin writing for you guys again. I have long since passed my 1,000 view mark and have almost reached 2,000 and feel like I need to reward you guys with lots of chapters for your kindness and intrest! :D

Thank you guys sooo much for your wonderful reviews on this story, I can't tell you how much it means to me! 3

and a special thanks to SnowBirdYoukai for your amazing and wonderful review I agree completely :)

SN:I have been having some trouble uploading my chapters so if anything looks strange please tell me so I can see if i need to try to repost the chapters or not :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters.

Finally giving up on the idea of getting any rest, Sesshomaru rose from his futon and walked out onto his balcony. He was unable to get any sleep last night because his thoughts refused to stray far from the little miko who now resided within his family's castle.

Ever since she had arrived she had been nothing but a source of confusion and frustration for him. None of her actions were the normal actions of women that he came in contact with. He was not used to a woman that was as forward and outspoken as she was, and while it may be true that he found women that just blindly followed his orders to be extremely annoying no matter how beautiful they may be, he knew that he could never deal with a woman that could not control her own emotions such as Lady Kagome. 'That is a lot worse than having someone just blindly following me around like some lost pup' he thought, a frown gracing his features. 'If we were to actually get married I am sure this Sesshomaru would end up strangling the woman to death'

Just thinking about the incident at the dinner table last night made Sesshomaru want to kill something. Not only had the girl had the audacity to insult him, she had made him lose control and show, to all present, just how upset she had managed to make him. In front of his father none-the-less, even his father had showed more control when she all but called him a liar at his own table.

As if his pride had not suffered enough, the woman still had managed to save face after her little farce and come out the victim when, in truth, she was everything but.

Sesshomaru was not stupid, he had noticed the way that, even the miko's face had kept the same emotionless façade, she had been stealthily gathering her purifying powers. He was sure that all in the dining hall had felt the powerful spiritual charge in the air, and while he knew her powers wouldn't be able to kill him, his beast had still roared at the challenge she had unknowingly declared.

He would not have soiled his honor and killed her that night, and his father had truly insulted his pride when he asked aloud if he had any intentions of doing so. Even though he knew his father had only asked the question because he knew of the inner battle Sesshomaru was having with his inner beast to not answer the foolish girl's challenge, being a great dog demon himself.

While it was acceptable for a mated female to contest her husband's decisions at times, but she was expected to submit to her alpha once he had laid down the law, and that was precisely what Kagome had failed to do. 'The longer I spend around the eastern princess the more certain I am that we can never find happiness and acceptance in each other. I was willing to give her a chance, however now that we have met, I know for sure that I must find some way to escape this marriage.'

Suddenly remember his father's words after Lady Kagome left, Sesshomaru quickly reminded himself to schedule an appointment with his father between his morning scouting trip and other duties, to discuss his strange words spoken with regards to their marriage. With renewed determination, Sesshomaru walked into his personal bath to prepare for his day, and the long and tiring conversation that was sure to occur between him and Lord InuTaisho. 'I will receive an answer this day, or this marriage shall move no further than it already has' he declared, finding himself wishing that his days of ruling these lands would come sooner rather than later.

His frown unconsciously deepened as his thoughts unintentionally wandered to thoughts of what the little miko was planning on doing this day, and whether or not their paths would cross. Would she try to avoid him he wondered, a small smirk turning up one corner of his mouth as he thought of any tiny amount of fear or discomfort he might stir in her. Quickly finishing his bath and getting dressed in his traditional red and white traveling hakama, Sesshomaru began to carry out his first tasks of the day.

Kagome stretched like a lazy cat in her futon as she allowed herself to slowly come out of her slumber. She had been allowed to sleep in as late as she pleased today. 'Probably because they thought I needed to recover after the little stand-off between me and Lord Sesshomaru' she thought skeptically. She was not so weak as to let something like that get her down.

"Besides he started it" she said aloud, quite pleased with her actions "I just finished it"

Her actions could only further her goals of being sent from the castle by the time her parents arrived. She now only had four days, and she had to admit that she had made little-to-no progress. I am sure that Sesshomaru is as reluctant as I am to be joined in marriage so she really could not understand why both their parents would be so adamant about the two getting married.

Kagome had not forgotten the way that Lord InuTaisho had tried to avoid answering her questions at the dinner last night. Lord InuTaisho's actions last night had inadvertently given her a greater cause for concern other than just the issue with regards to her room placement. Now she was almost sure that there was more to the entire marriage arrangement that neither she nor Sesshomaru knew about. Although judging from Sesshomaru's interest in the conversation between her and InuTaisho, 'Before he so rudely interrupted' she thought scowling, he had the same suspicions as she now had.

"If Lord Iciness had just kept his mouth shut maybe I would have been able to finally get some answers for the both of us" she said thoroughly frustrated with the western prince.

"My Lady, are you awake?" She heard Sango call from outside of her door.

Eyes widening to enormous proportions and heart skipping a beat "Yes, come in Sango" She quickly replied.

'I have to be more careful' Kagome thought admonishing herself 'The walls are thin, what if someone other than Sango were to hear me' Immediately thinking of that certain someone who she really didn't desire to overhear, Kagome couldn't help but to feel a little quake of nervousness at the imagined scenario that quickly unfolded in her mind. She was no fool she knew that there were many demons in this kingdom that could possibly very easily kill her, although she hadn't really met many of them so far, one of them though, being Lord Sesshomaru.

Kagome finally rose out of the futon as Sango slid the door closed behind her. "I heard your voice and I thought I would come and see if you needed my help with anything before I continued my duties" Sango said smiling at her.

"Just how loud was I?" Kagome asked, unable to shake the fear of someone having overheard her.

"Not loud at all my Lady, the only reason I was able to hear you was because I was close to your door" Sango then started blushing hard and waving her hands as she saw Kagome's amused and questioning face.

"Why my dear Sango, were you eavesdropping on me?" Kagome asked, barely able to keep back her laughter as Sango's face grew redder and redder.

"No! my Lady I swear! I merely happened to be passing by I would never…"

"It's okay Sango I was only kidding" Kagome said laughing "Besides what did I say about calling me 'My Lady' when alone" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Kagome" she replied, smiling at the floor.

"Much better"

"Is there anything in particular you wanted to do today" Sango asked, looking at Kagome again.

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is." she started "First I was thinking I would walk around the inner garden for a bit and then…"

"Yes, what is it" she asked, at seeing Kagome's thoughtful look.

"Well…I was wondering if you could find a way to schedule me an appointment to meet with Lord InuTaisho today" Kagome finished, looking hopefully at Sango.

Her eyes widening at Kagome's request "Well, Lord InuTaisho might be busy..." she started "but seeing how the request would be coming from you, I might be able to see what I can do"

"Oh thank you Sango" Kagome exclaimed happily.

She would have waited to see him at dinner, that was if they were having dinner together again, but she did not wish to be interrupted the next time she tried to find answers. Plus Lord InuTaisho might be more inclined to answer her if they were alone.

After bathing and allowing Sango to help her get dressed, Kagome left her room and started to walk towards the guest's gardens with Sango following behind her. No longer hearing Sango's footsteps behind her, Kagome stopped to look behind her only to find Sango looking at her with a question in her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked slightly concerned, think that maybe she had accidently went the wrong way and was headed to some forbidden part of the castle or something.

"Oh nothing" she began "I was just wondering why you were going to the guest garden when you could go to the family garden. It's much prettier."

"Oh, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to go to the royal family's side of the castle before the wedding" Kagome said thoughtfully, placing a delicate finger on her lip.

"Of course you are" Sango said "You are under no castle restrictions"

So she wasn't under castle restrictions and could move about freely as long as she stayed inside, but she noticed that Sango hadn't said that she was under no restrictions.

"So am I under any other restrictions" Kagome asked her.

"I'm sorry, I thought Lord InuTaisho had told you." she said, her eyebrows drawing together "He must have forgot"

"Forgot what?" Kagome asked.

"I am sorry but it is not my place to tell you My Lady I'm sure that he will have remembered by the time you see him and will take it upon himself to explain to you" Sango quickly replied.

Seeing that Sango's expression had completely changed into 'that's all I have to say' face, Kagome knew that she would get no more information from her, and decided to follow her along to the family garden in silence. She was not mad at her however, as a matter of fact she felt nothing but respect for her loyalty to the royal family, she had just decided to put the matter off until she could discuss it with Lord InuTaisho herself.

Finally arriving at the family garden Kagome could not keep her jaw from dropping. She felt as if she had walked into another world and she knew that she could stay in that garden forever and be happy. There were so many plants and the garden was so big that she could not see the far end from where she was standing. There were plants and flowers that weren't even native to Japan, and birds and other small animals that she had never seen before. There was also a stream that ran straight through the middle of the garden for as far as the eye could see. The area looked more like a forest than an actual garden, and in fact because the area was open to the sky, there were actual trees that grew up past the roof of the castle.

From what Kagome could see, the garden seemed to be sectioned off into groups of some type. For example, in one group there were pants that were native to Japan and in another group were plants native to Indonesia. Kagome had always loved and studied plants and flowers since she was a little girl, partly because of her miko training and partly just out of love for them. 'If I do end up staying here at least I will be able to learn and study these plants some more' Kagome thought, reaching out with one hand to touch one of the strange plants.

"Please refrain from killing anything while you are in here. We would appreciate it if you left things as you found them"

Gasping, Kagome quickly turned around to look at the person who had snuck up on her. Narrowing her eyes immediately upon seeing the smug look in his eyes, she threw all lady like decorum out the window and thought thoroughly frustrated with herself, 'Dammit how could I allow him to sneak up on me so easily.' She did not miss the evil glint in Lord Sesshomaru's eyes, nor his venom laced smirk, and couldn't help the eerie chill that traveled down her back as she thought 'What could he possibly be up to now?' She did not know, but she mentally prepared herself for anything that he might throw at her, automatically squaring her shoulders and holding her head higher.

Sesshomaru had gone to the garden to gather his thoughts for the upcoming meeting with his father, when he had seen Sango enter the gardens with the eastern priestess following behind her. He took advantage of the miko's ignorance of his presence, to study the woman who was causing him so much confusion and strife.

She was wearing a light pink and black kimono with two koi fish, one female and one male, circling each other printed on the back. Sesshomaru found her style of dress interesting as he instantly recognized the meaning behind the image. The symbol was a representation of the yin-yang symbol and the koi fish were synonymous with harmony and happiness. The two yin and yang koi complete each other and create a perfect balance of the negative and positive energies of chi energy, which is the life-force of all things on earth.

Her sleeves were completely black, as was her collar ,and her midnight black hair was hanging in waves down her back unhindered. Sesshomaru had to admit once again that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She wore no make-up, something that was uncommon for a princess to do, but Sesshomaru couldn't help but believe that make-up would only mar her natural beauty.

He watched, transfixed by her appearance, as she reached out her hand to take a closer look at one of the strange imported flowers in the garden. Her mouth was slightly parted and the sunrays were making her appear almost as if she were glowing from some unseen inner light. Sesshomaru could not help it as his feet began to move him towards the miko of their own accord.

He did not know what the purpose of his actions was but he did know that he didn't want this girl in his castle anymore. He did not like the way she made him feel like he wasn't in control of his actions anymore, and made him do things that were out of character for him. So eyes narrowing, he tried to find some way to abruptly yank the woman from the inner peace it was clear she was feeling. 'I will make this woman disgrace herself with her own actions. I will make her feel one hundred fold the embarrassment that she brought upon me last night.'

He would make sure that the eastern princess never forgot the time she spent in the western castle far long after she was sent back to her own lands. 'This Sesshomaru is not one to be messed and trifled with.' He thought maliciously, a smirk laced with pure evil on his lips. It was rare for Sesshomaru to allow anything resembling a smile to show on his face, but many servants knew that a smiling Sesshomaru was even more dangerous than an angry Sesshomaru.

"Please refrain from killing anything while you are in here. We would appreciate it if you left things as you found them" he said, smirk growing as he watched Kagome spin around eyes narrowing and shoulders squaring in preparation for their impending and unavoidable argument.

'And so begins the first stages of my plans' he thought, hold her gaze. ' My father has made it clear that nothing I do will make him send her away, but what if I make the little princess disgrace herself? My father would never allow the western people fall under the leadership of someone who is unworthy of the honor, no matter what the circumstance..."

AN: Oh Sesshy how evil you are :( Sorry if you thought I was going to allow Sess start having feelings for Kags so soon but I think the most beautiful love is the love that you have to work hard for and struggle to acheive.

I would have put the meeting with InuPapa in this chapter but, seeing as how I just couldn't seem to get my mind into the story until the very end and how much important information the meeting will have, I decided to put it into Chapter 7. But do not worry CHAPTER 7 IS COMING SOON!