Kagome was a capable women, as far as humans were concerned. But as all humans do, she had her limitations. Deceit was one of them. The girl bore her heart on her sleeve for the world to witness; no malice, no deception. She was like a child that never learned to lie properly. And so, Sesshomaru surmised, seeing her sincerity, she must be truly ignorant of her role in their current circumstance.
The chunk of Shikon jewel she kept was clearly reacting to her subconscious will. A fraction of clarity had now shone over previous events. For one, that mysterious light had in fact been the jewel.
There was a battle. She had seen him as a threat, so the jewel transformed him to an nonthreatening human. When he addressed her by her name, part of her had seen him as agreeable, granting him a piece of his previous appearance, but not restoring him fully just yet.
Something else in that battle had scared her. It stirred her so deeply that she felt her only means of survival was to flea, and that urge must have been strong indeed to send them so far that even Sesshomaru could not navigate these lands.
And yet as one question was solved, new queries presented themselves. When she fled, why had her mind wished to bring him? If she was so threatened of him that she accidentally turned him human, why save him? Why bother to heal him... or accompany him, for that matter. Of course she wished to return to her friends, but if she felt she was in danger, surely she could have just left him to die. Myoga, no doubt, would have still chosen to guide her.
And if this entire ordeal was in fact not one of his mother's petty schemes, why had she been present? What were they battling, and for what purpose?
His conclusion from before still stood; his mother, having bore witness, would have answers. They will continue on their current path.
He pondered over this as Kagome sat beside him, in front of their small fire that cooked even smaller fish, entangled in her own thoughts.
She missed her darling little Shippo and her dear friend, Sango. She even missed that lecherous Monk. And Inuyasha... Oh he must be furious. She vanished without a trace and no doubt he was driving himself mad trying to track her.
She was his best friend. There was no way he would abandon her. Still, Naraku was closing in. He had to be defeated; that was the priority. And she wasn't the only jewel sensing priestess in the feudal era. It was entirely possible that she had already been replaced by... by... by...
"Stop that," Sesshomaru said.
"Stop what," she hissed.
"Crying."
She scoffed. Crying? She wasn't crying. Kagome brought a hand to swipe away her bangs, only to feel a hot dampness as it brushed against her cheek. Oh.
"Sorry."
She stoked the fire, noting the fish were almost done, when she notice Sesshomaru fidgeting. Strange. She couldn't recall a time she'd ever seen the great western lord fidget. Kagome gave him a questioning look.
"My arm... it feels... cold." He said.
"So grab a blanket."
He stared at her as if she had drooled on herself.
"What?" She asked.
"It's not supposed to feel anything."
Oh. His arm. She meekly crawled to his side, placing an apprehensive hand on his limbless shoulder, waiting for permission to continue. He allowed it.
"That's called phantom limb. It's something that sometimes happens to humans."
"It's unnerving," he said.
"Hold still." Kagome pressed her index and middle finger together on both hands, positioning them before striking his shoulder once, twice, three times. He winced at the sudden loss of sensation, but was grateful.
"What did you do?"
"Manipulated your pressure points. Though it's not a permanent fix, so you need to tell me when it starts happening again."
She left his side, only to return with two plates of cooked fish. Raw meat had suddenly lost it's appeal to him.
As he ate, he mulled over his theory that the more she found him acceptable, the more of his previous form would be granted to him. Now was as good a time as any to test this hypothesis, so Sesshomaru leaned into her and in Kagome's ear he whispered softly "Thank you".
The sharp edge to her gaze softened and she smiled warmly at him. So instantaneous and so sincere was the change in her demeanor that it almost caught him off guard.
Kagome's heart fluttered in her chest. 'What did he say? He thanked me...'
Warm light radiated once again from the Shikon Jewel, it's aura sending both of their hair into a frenzied flight around them. It seemed to caress him before dissipating.
Slate black eyes had transform back into spheres of gold as they regarded her, both of them momentarily stunned. And for the first time, Kagome looked into that cold abyss he called a glance, and she saw depth.
A:N/ sorry this chapter was fairly short. Also sorry for grammatical or spelling errors; yes I am aware of them but no I don't plan to fix them anytime soon. Perhaps when I finish the story I'll go back an tinker with it. Thank you for reading 3