XXI.

Like The Morning Moon

Sesshomaru spent the morning calming his temper after a night made long by Kinawai's whispered worries. Despite them, he was still not as distressed as Kinawai insisted he should be. The answers to the messages he had sent through his friend began to arrive while the morning was still fresh; answers and affirmation from west and north and east, from the lords he needed as witnesses to the Rite, the highest lords of Council. There was word, too, from the few that he had summoned separately, and it was with the thought of his kin and how he might introduce Kagome to them that he occupied himself, ignoring the clamor of the opening and closing Gate.

Kagome, however, was interested in even these simple proceedings. She had never seen youkai like these messengers before, but they seemed disconcerted to be met by silence at the gate, to find invisible hands taking messages from their fingers, and they did not stay longer than necessary. Early in the day, Sesshomaru slipped out of her sight, but she waited, loitering near the gate where she could see but not be seen. Last to be received, just before noon, were a pair of Wolves, tall but trembling.

Kagome saw them coming, around the corner of the path from the Gate to the main doors, and her eyes went wide. She knew those faces - Ginta and Hakkaku! It had been a long time since she had seen them, and they had always been kind to her, but...

With a darting speed that had once been incomprehensible to her, Kagome disappeared from their sight. Seeing them made her think of something that she had not considered previously, and which made her feel suddenly queasy.

Kouga!

She could not even imagine what his reaction would be to finding her like this, changed as she was now and in Sesshomaru's...hands.

Inuyasha had been one thing; the two of them, Kouga and Inuyasha, were alike and roughly equals, in power and in stubbornness. But Sesshomaru -

I'll just have to hope Kouga doesn't do anything stupid if he comes here. He'll see me when he does, there's no need for Ginta and Hakkaku to get beaten up for bringing bad news earlier than that. I wonder...should I - tell Sesshomaru, should I say something?

But she could not think of anything to say, or how she would say it even if she found the words.

Maybe I should go inside...just...just in case -

Her caution was well-founded, but came much too late, and her methods were utterly ineffective. She had forgotten, or just had not considered, that she could not hide her scent - and both Ginta and Hakkaku were Wolves, and knew her well. She missed their momentary pause as they were leaving; a breeze from the inside of the fortress taunted their noses with both the memory of her human scent and the evolution of that scent which was her self now.

"Hakkaku, do you smell what I smell?"

They had been walking towards the gate, but Ginta stopped and turned, looked around. Hakkaku blinked thoughtfully and took deep breaths, and then shrugged.

"I dunno, what do you smell?"

Ginta swallowed heavily; this was not good!

"Kagome-nee-san..."

"Kagome-nee-san!"

The two wolves stared at each other for a moment, and then Ginta shivered as if a winter wind had caught him off guard. Hakkaku looked genuinely confused.

"But if...if she's here -"

Ginta frowned, looked around quickly.

"I know! I know, but...but that rumor, what if it was true?"

They had caught wind of the supposed nature of Sesshomaru's new mate on their journey here, but neither of them had dared to believe it. Sesshomaru, that cold one - with a human mate?

Hakkaku was staring at Ginta as if he had grown a second head, but even he couldn't deny the possibility. After all, it had been known for seasons, if not years, that the young Inu no Taisho had been amusing himself by allowing a human girl-child to follow him. So - what if - what if?

"Ginta...if Kagome-nee-san is - then - then -"

"D-d-don't even think it! And when we get back, not a word to Kouga-sama!"

"Huh?"

Hakkaku was almost startled out of his fear.

"What? Of course we have to -"

"No! If we do, what do you think will happen to us?"

Hakkaku swallowed sharply and let out a little moan of fear.

"Yeah, but - "

"And after that, what do you think will happen to Kouga-sama?"

"We better...we better run, then, so he doesn't ask any questions!"

"Yes, we better!"

The Gate closed with a crash behind them, and stayed shut.

Not only Kagome was concerned with Kouga; Sesshomaru, too, was thinking of the Wolf lord, but with a different emphasis. He held the formal acceptance of invitation that Kouga had sent in his hands, and stared at the closed gate from his library windows. If he had heard Ginta and Hakkaku speaking Kagome's name, he might have had an entirely different set of things to think about, but he did not, and his thoughts skipped fluidly from one possibility to another.

So Kouga comes, without even a sarcastic turn of phrase. It is moving too smoothly, all of it, but I suppose I should not complain. As Kinawai says, I should be grateful they do not take rumor seriously, or I would already be throat-deep in the blood of my Challengers.

With a swift, sure movement, he turned away and followed the lure of Kagome's scent. He found her without any trouble; she was sitting in the Hall, drinking hot tea with Rin and Shippou, watching the two of them whisper together with an expression of soft warmth on her face that pleased him.

He had been feeling an uneasy wariness whenever she was not smiling, as if she might suddenly leap up and leave him without warning. Slowly, each day, that cautiousness had been passing away from him - and then had come Inuyasha. Now, he did not know what to think; he could sense her feelings but he could not always deduce their meaning or their origin. It was like trying to solve a puzzle by feel in the dark, without knowing the original image.

But at this moment, she was happy; she had turned to look at him as soon as he stepped through the door, and that pleased him as much as her motherly expression. He was continually surprised by how pleasant it was to be in her presence, to feel her attention on him. He shook himself free of an abrupt, delirious feeling, and breathed more lightly – there was something new in her scent, a heaviness that was unusual even for her.

He succeeded only partially in trying to restrain himself from the depths, but it was easier when he sat beside her at the table and the sweet and open expression passed away in response to whatever it was she could see on his face.

"Is something wrong, Sesshomaru?"

He shook his head.

"No."

He continued to stare at her, and she reddened slowly under the intensity of his regard.

"Sesshomaru?"

She saw him shake himself, not a large movement but one that sent a quiver through his whole body.

What on earth?

But he gave her no time to contemplate that strange moment.

"Tomorrow night, Kagome, you will meet my kin – my close kin, at least, not all those who can claim a tie through blood...and some others, at Kinawai's insistence. It is important, this first meeting; you must let them learn you a little at a time, very little. Do you understand?"

She smiled obliquely and leaned forward. She had been waiting for him to tell her what was going to happen, what he was planning. She couldn't even guess, although it seemed obvious that something was being plotted. They had been home less than two days, but Kinawai was never far away, always brimming with advice, or warnings that came in hissing whispers and faded in her presence.

I really have no idea what's going on! Sesshomaru is good at keeping secrets, or being mysterious, or…whatever he is trying to do. And Kinawai! Whatever it was I thought I understood, now he's just...normal. For a demon, anyway.

But at the moment she was more interested in her mate and the things he kept insisting were important - and then putting off. Why, even last night, he had - he -

Last night...

She flushed. What kind of shameless female was he turning her into, anyway?

He says I am his, but what does that mean? Does he mean me to be some sort of...some sort of kept woman, someone for his lust?

She looked up suddenly and caught his eye on her, his raised eyebrow, and almost groaned.

Or maybe it's my fault! Can't keep my mind on anything -

"Kagome?"

She shook her head and restored her sideways smile.

"How can I understand? Whatever it is you are intending, you haven't told me very much about it, mate."

It was a gentle reprimand; he acceded to her right to administer it with the barest of growls, and looked away from her and crossed his arms. Suddenly he was trying to look interested in the nothing that was visible through the window.

"What I am intending is not a mystery, Kagome. It is presentation, to show the lords of Council that you are my mate, chosen, marked, bonded – it is to give you the proof of my House, before the eyes of any who might Challenge your place."

"And tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night is only a meeting with those you should technically already know; it is necessary preparation for the Rite. Females of your family should sit with you at this time, introducing you to the highest ranked among your new kin – gently. It is preparation for the presentation, so that you need not be among strangers."

An interesting expression moved across his face, neither pleased nor discomforted. His eyes darted away from the window to her face.

"Still, since you have no kin that can be with you during the Rite, this meeting will act as a test. It is why they are coming."

He stood, and pulled her up with him.

"And that reminds me – it will be an an important day. You will honor my kin by dressing well – the ones that serve me will bring you robes and veils in the morning."

He reached out, touched her lips, that two-finger kiss.

"It is tradition that I had never understood, but now - I do not want them looking at you while I can help it."

His fingers left her lips, traced the smooth line of her jaw, her throat.

"You don't - I -"

There was a moment of distress that tingled between them, and Sesshomaru caught an echo of her upset, felt tightness under his fingers as she swallowed thickly. He frowned.

Shame. She thinks I would hide her from shame. It is almost enough...to make me angry. Who does she think I am?

He asked her this, and she was abashed by his question but fiery enough in her response.

"Well - well, if that isn't why, then tell me!"

He blinked thoughtfully for a moment; he could not lie, but the truth...he did not know if the truth would be good for her.

Or for me.

"I don't think I should, Kagome."

"Well, I think you should tell me. I think -"

He turned her face with one hand, bent down so they were eye to eye.

"Since you ask twice, I will answer - if you promise you will not protest."

Slowly, her eyes not moving from his face, she nodded. Sesshomaru chose his words carefully, intent on avoiding any misunderstanding.

"You are mine, Kagome - so why should they look on you, unless I have given a part of you to them? That will not happen until the night of no moon, not until you are mine in the sight of Council, not until they see that the Blood in you rises only for me."

Her eyes widened slightly at the twitch of his smile; the more he talked, the more she was beginning to be suspicious of the things that were going to happen to her, but at the same time she could not help but be overwhelmed by how strongly he claimed her.

"And Kagome - you are beautiful, too beautiful to share. I would hide that from them, and keep it for myself as long as I can."

She stared at him; her smile became shy.

"If it is for that reason, I will wear your veils, Sesshomaru. For your reason."

He smiled, suddenly and without restraint, and she was shocked breathless. He was - it was - it changed him, that expression on his face! It was like looking at a totally different person.

She had no idea that it was her own warmth that brought such a response out of him; if someone had tried to tell her that, she probably would have laughed.

But her reaction was obvious to Sesshomaru, the slow disappearance of her flush, an honest, open smile that washed the lingering remains of grief out of her face completely. Sesshomaru found himself wondering what else he could do to get such a reaction out of her, but he said nothing more for a long moment, contenting himself with her sideways, questioning glance.

It was the same question he had seen in her before; the what is that? directed at his caring for her, the feeling he knew she would not dare to suspect. No one would; he had spent careful centuries crafting himself for the world, exploiting his early-formed reputation for cold cruelty, expanding on it.

But her!

Just by being his mate, she was closer to him than anyone else could ever be... and he blamed Kinawai for that, even while blame no longer seemed the appropriate term. How could he blame someone for something...he had begun to cherish?

And since that is so, does it matter? Does it matter if she knows?

"Kagome..."

She turned her face up to him, waiting, and he found himself unable to continue, shunted himself along an entirely different track of conversation.

"Today I have put aside some of the Record for you to read, the History of the Days of Darkness and the Songs of the Beginning."

"Songs of the...is there really time to start from the beginning? You said there were a thousand things yesterday, when -"

He shrugged.

"We will skip a good deal of the intervening history; there are only a few things that you must know, references you cannot be ignorant of. I do not want them to question your origin, Kagome - especially with the...with what you have shared with me."

She grinned, and he was once again astonished at how generous she was with her happiness.

"That's probably a good idea."

Sesshomaru fell silent again after that, and Kagome watched him almost breathlessly for a few moments, as if she was waiting for something else...and then as if she had suddenly had an idea that she could not let go of, even though it was probably very bad.

"Sesshomaru..."

He eyed her expectantly.

Are you going to ask it, Kagome, the question I am avoiding? I will answer it, and I will not lie to you; but do you really want to know? Will you listen; will you believe me?

But she had said she trusted him.

"Sesshomaru, I wanted - no, I need to know -"

She swallowed, took a deep breath. He could see, with some amusement, that Rin and Shippou were watching from their end of the table with more trepidation than he felt himself. As she looked at him, he overcame his fear, knew she was not going to run away, that she was not going to leave him. He could see in her face that she had never even considered it, and as he realized that, as he thought it, he knew how he would answer her.

If she actually finishes the question.

Kagome looked up at him and saw that he was smiling - and suddenly she could read in his eyes that he knew exactly what she was going to ask - that he was waiting for it. The words escaped her in a rush.

"I need to know why you want me, Sesshomaru. I need to know why you say 'you are mine'. I know you wouldn't say it if you didn't mean it, but so little time - "

"So little?"

"Since I woke, it's only been - "

He cut her off easily, caught her up in his eyes.

"Since you woke, it has been long enough that you gave yourself to me. Since you woke, it has been long enough that you are smiling for me, Kagome. For me - "

She drew in a sharp breath, flushed dark.

"I should have known - I should have known you would not really answer me!"

There was a hint of anger in her, rising over her embarrassment just the tiniest bit. He was pleased by it; there was no fear in her, this brazen female, his mate! He gave her a growl that expressed his pleasure, and watched her subsequent collapse into confusion with some amusement.

"Yes, Kagome; I like your anger. And your smiles, and your wanton ways."

He smiled, and again it did more than take the sting out of his words; it captured her.

"Before you were wounded and I brought you to this place, you saw what your scent did to me, how it worked on me with no subtlety. You should have known, Kagome, that I watched you after I was forced to save you; that I listened to you breathe, that I suffered while you slept."

"Suffered -"

"I lived on your scent and the fragrance of your dreams, listened to your screams and the wild panic of your nightmares. I - I comforted you."

He was no longer looking at her; Kagome was breathing fast, her fingers tight on the cushion of her chair. He had comforted her? She had, not quite a flashback, but a moment of sharpened memory; his hands, on her forehead, her cheeks...but he was still speaking, continuing onwards and dragging her with his words.

"I sat with you, protected you; do you think I do not know you, mate? I have heard your troubles spill out of your mouth in fever and in sleep, and after a while you do not know how much I longed to kill Inuyasha...just for you. For what he had done to you."

He closed his eyes; he could see her in his thoughts as she had been at the very last, when anti-venom and fever medicine had not been enough, when he had been afraid that Tenseiga would be the only thing that could save her. How pale her skin had been, how shallow her breath!

"You made me afraid, Kagome, and in my fear I ran from this place, left for three days, and returned certain I would kill you; I brought Rin away from here, to my hidden den, and came back with that intent...and instead, instead, I looked at you, and saw death approaching without my hand...and I gave you my blood. My blood - "

She stopped him at those words, hearing his strained emphasis and shaking her head just at little, her eyes wide and bewildered.

"But you are forgetting again, Sesshomaru. I don't know - I don't know what that means."

He stared down at her and his face became dark, intense.

"The blood of a youkai lord can heal the wounds of humans, even if they are on the brink of death, but it is the greatest taboo among us. It is not done!"

His voice was harsh, as if to impress upon her how serious this was, and he succeeded - but the impact of his words was not focused in the direction he intended.

"And you - you did that for me, Sesshomaru?"

Her voice had become small, not much more than a whisper. He let out a shaky breath.

"Yes. Because -"

His eyes dilated, seemed to open, wide and dark, and pull her in.

"Because at first you intrigued me, with your power and your scent, the thing I could not deny. And then...learning you, watching you, I began to care for you; like Rin, you have been - just as confusing, just as...sneaky."

Kagome watched his eyebrows draw together, his features wrinkling suddenly.

"But this feeling I have for you, mate, this care that is coming over me...it is not like what I feel for Rin - not at all. It is not like anything I have felt before."

He shook his head slowly, and began to push himself up from the table, but Kagome's voice, its slowness and the fragile hopes outlined in the sound, paused him.

"Are you - are you trying to tell me that you love me, Sesshomaru? I - I can't even - "

"Love. Love..."

He frowned suddenly, and his face became almost solemn, quiet and dark and full of serious thoughts.

"Yes. I think - I think that is it. But I do not...I do not know. How do I know, Kagome?"

For a moment, Kagome thought she was going to faint. What was her life becoming? Was it really - her life?

Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru is saying he loves me. No - he is asking me if he loves me. How - how do I answer that? What do I say?

But he removed the necessity for her to say anything at all; as far as she could see, it did not seem as if the words had had the slightest effect on him at all, no matter how they had torn her assumptions to shreds.

"No - do not try to answer that, Kagome. Finish your tea, and then go up to the library. Scrolls are laid out for you there, but there is...something I have to see to with your kit, before I can join you."

More than dazed, almost completely incoherent, Kagome nodded, and Shippou stood under Sesshomaru's stare and marched smartly down the Hall to stand beside him.

"You want...you want me, Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Yes. Come, Shippou."

It was the same sharp-warm mixture of tone he used on Rin, and Shippou noted that with happiness. He followed Sesshomaru swiftly out of the Hall and down a long corridor, and tried to keep his eyes from wandering and his feet from slowing. He wanted to look around, to explore and find out secret things, strange rooms, hidden doorways – he could already tell that in many ways this fortress was a house of locks and keys. But Sesshomaru was hurried in his movements, direct and quick, and Shippou had no desire to upset him and risk being sent away.

He was more than happy with the way things had turned out so far; just by telling Kagome that he cared, that maybe he even loved her, Sesshomaru had outstripped Inuyasha in Shippou's estimation - and it could not be denied that Sesshomaru was far more imposing than the adolescent hanyou had been.

And Kagome is youkai now; I'm not ever going to lose her!

When Shippou looked up a second time, it was to find that Sesshomaru had stopped outside a sliding door and he was at risk of running past him. Sesshomaru opened the door and stood to one side.

"This is your place now, Shippou. You should be at home here, and that means you need your own rooms."

Shippou shuffled past Sesshomaru to stand in the open doorway and couldn't believe his eyes. The chamber in front of him was almost square; a low desk spread with brushes and paper stood across one corner. The ink-stone was a soft and shining black, and the practice manual that lay open on the desk showed a page of old poems in the Dragon-letters and in regular characters, too. There was a screen in front of the window and a wardrobe against the wall; there were no chairs but plenty of soft cushions scattered across the floor and piled in corners.

"This – this is my place? Mine?"

Shippou's voice was almost a squeak. Sesshomaru, standing beside him, could not restrain a smile.

"Yes, yours."

Sesshomaru looked around and took a few swift steps into the room, turned in place. The kit was distracting him from awkward thoughts of Kagome, and that was good.

"When I was still a pup, many many years ago, these were my rooms; they have not changed much."

Shippou lifted one eyebrow in a passable Sesshomaru imitation and took a few steps forward, leaned to one side so he could peer through another doorway that was heavily curtained. He saw a bed, carved and polished, and a rug of shaggy fur, the whole pelt of a black wolf glistening before an unlit hearth.

Mine?

He still couldn't believe it.

"Come here, Shippou."

Sesshomaru was standing by the wall in the first room, his eyes bright.

"There is still one more room in these chambers, Shippou. For privacy's sake, the door is hidden – tell me, can you see where you would open it from?"

It was a question with a sharp, testing tone but Shippou grinned, sure he could answer the challenge. He let his fingers slide along the overlapping lines of stonework, tracing the joints in the wall; quickly, almost too easily, he found the pattern that was the nearly invisible outline of a door. Part of the stone wall was not stone. With careless precision, he reached out and pressed his hands against the door. A small piece of it gave way and pushed in.

There was a long, low squeal of hinges; the smell of dust rolled up at them from the sudden opening where there had been a wall, and Shippou's grin widened.

"There."

He was quite pleased with himself, and Sesshomaru could not deny that he should be. The long darkness before them was not really that long, but neither of them ventured inside. The air was stale, and Sesshomaru watched Shippou peering down into the depths, ready to pull him back if necessary.

"It should stay open for a while, before you go down there – and someone will have to bring torches, if you want to see it today. There is only one window in that room, and it is covered over. Perhaps late this evening, while your mother is busy."

"But what is it?"

Shippou couldn't restrain his curiosity; nothing that wasn't worth it would be hidden behind such a door.

"It is a training room, a weapons hall…and also a good place to go if you want no one to find you."

Shippou grinned, and Sesshomaru watched him thoughtfully, attempting an educated guess and giving up almost immediately. It was impossible to tell age with kitsune.

"How many years do you have, Shippou?"

Shippou looked away from the darkness, distracted.

"I'm only ten, Sesshomaru-sama - almost eleven, though!"

"And what is your line, kit? Who were your parents?"

Shippou sighed.

"My father was Tamotsu, and my mother was Takara; we lived in the south, until..."

"Until they were killed."

Shippou nodded, but he did not turn to meet Sesshomaru's gaze.

"Yes. My parents raised me, until my mother was slain...and then my father. Then Kagome came, and now she is like my mother."

Sesshomaru was silent for a long minute, holding his thoughts close, examining them carefully.

"I do not know the line of your blood, or the names of your parents, Shippou; if I find anything of interest, I will tell you, but -"

"Please don't go looking, Sesshomaru-sama. I don't want Kagome to think I'm not happy being hers...and I don't think I'd really want to go live with other kitsune, strangers, even if they are technically my kin. If - if - "

Sesshomaru laughed very quietly, and Shippou stared at him with wide eyes, and could not move.

"I would not have told you you could stay here, I would not have made these rooms ready for you, if I did not intend for you to stay. But I am glad you think of Kagome; you honor her as a son should honor his mother, Shippou. Why do you call her by name, and not okaa-san?"

Shippou's eyes opened very, very wide.

"You don't - you don't think she would mind?"

"No. I think she would be - very happy."

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama!"

Pleased and smiling, Shippou turned away and wandered across the room; he opened a wardrobe and found it empty, except for a polished steel mirror that reflected his own face back at him.

"I will leave you here, now, Shippou. There are a great many things I must teach your okaa-san - in fact, starting tomorrow, I may ask you to help me. She doesn't know what it means to be youkai; we must show her."

Shippou nodded, accepting his new responsibility with a hand over his heart.

"I can help, Sesshomaru-sama; I'll do whatever you say!"

Sesshomaru nodded shortly, and closed the door behind him on his way out. In the hallway, he looked back at the door and shook his head in amusement; he could hear Shippou running around, his paws light and quick on the floor.

So, your kit is my ally, Kagome.

He smiled at the thought, and made his way quickly to the library. He paused outside the door, and peeked through the crack; he could see Kagome quite clearly, sitting at his desk, leaned over a scroll so long that it had rolled off onto the floor and unwound itself for several feet. Her tongue was poking out from between her teeth, and she had pushed her hair haphazardly out of the way.

Amused, Sesshomaru stood still for a moment to watch her, and felt the warm feeling that had brought out his earlier words return full force.

A/N: Chapter 21, phew! Sesshomaru getting a clue, Kagome getting the same clue, and Shippou, picking sides with glee! Well, not really sides...but ha! Coming Soon: Some Youkai Who Think Kagome Is A Human, (Ahhhhahaha!) and Subsequently, Kagome Kicking Some Ass (that she doesn't have to regret kicking afterwards - also ha!) Also, Shippou and Rin: a play date (since everyone seems to like them; yay!)

Also, a note on Shippou's parents - I'm well aware that they don't have names in the series, that's why I chose names for them. Constantly having to call people "Shippou's Dad" and "Shippou's Mom" would be annoying. So, his dad has become Tamotsu, which means protector, or defender, and his mom has become Takara, which means treasure. Woo!

And now, Reviews!

Lunarcat12: I've always wanted to see Shippou caught up by Sesshomaru - it's such an intimidating moment of cuteness. And your review reminded me that I have to write Kasuka's approach of Kouga! That would be bad to forget! Much thanks as always!

Raksha65: An update! An update! Ah, aren't the rewards for reviews totally awesome? :D

Kouga's Older Woman: Rin and Shippou soon, I promise! I just had to get Sesshomaru over his "no one can know I care even though everyone knows" hump first - and Shippou needed a room! But you have anticipated the future, because those siblings...HAHA. I'll give you this to think about - Rin and Shippou, alone with Sango who is being harassed by Jaken, for four days. Does she live - do they live? Ha - reality TV, step aside!

Amutolover09: Ah, the presentation! I'm having fun working on that, all sorts of fun things coming together. Kagome, a bunch of youkai, Sesshomaru's remaining family (which, in cast no one has figured that out, is mostly his mother - ha!), and a certain surprise guest all in the same room - fun and games! And Kinawai totally deserves better - thanks for loving my OC! :D Don't worry too much; he's only partially tragic, and Kasuka is SO gonna get hers... Thanks for the excellent review!

Ichirei: Smelling salts! They're those things they hold under your nose when you faint to wake you up, like in old movies and the 1800's and stuff...and 2000 books a year? Not bad! I approve strongly! And don't feel bad; Kinawai and Kasuka shouldn't be boring, if they are I'm messing up! Maybe it's cause nothing...eventful has happened yet to them? (and cause S'homaru is way more fun to play with :D) But I made it to facebook? Wow, Now I'm Really Famous! (:P)

Kinetic Addiction: Awesome review, thank you so much! I get all warm and fuzzy when I'm complimented! (and my story loves you too!) I'll try to keep the updates coming relatively quickly, despite my Schedule of Death...writing this stuff keeps me sane, you see!

Drugged Sympathy/Little Miss Morphine: Much thanks! If I get a chance, I'll take a look and see what you have posted!

Phew! Hopefully I didn't forget anyone; thanks to all readers, but Please Review! I type faster with Review Power! :D

Final Revisions, Complete! Ah, I forgot how much I like this chapter; S'homaru is such a cutie when he's confused about his feelings...R&R!