XXXVIII

Sub Divo

Kouga brings Kagome back to the den, and the victorious wolves come howling after him, crying out their victory for all to hear. Celebration is inevitable; though many were wounded, only a few have died, and now the pack is safe. Under the light of the growing moon, the sound of the pack takes on an eerie fullness that Kagome has heard before, even in her time, but only in recordings that pale beside the truth.

One after another the high, clear voices rise up and mingle, creating harmonies that fade and then resume, over and over, without ever falling into silence. While the fighters were with Kouga, destroying the harpies, some of the wolves left behind had gone hunting, and now their kills are meat for the feast that celebrates the victory of the pack. Males and females, pups and elders, wolf-shaped and human-shaped and some in-between, Kagome watches as the feast becomes a great dance, a dance without steps or with steps that everyone knows and yet never learned.

An overturned bowl becomes a drum, beating a hollow, thudding staccato into the night. From somewhere, a flute is produced that wails over the drums, clear and high and lovely. A female sings, her voice half howl and half words, all beautiful; midnight comes, and passes, and still the dance winds on.

In the midst of the pack, Kagome moves, lightened by wolf-wine and the wildness of this night and the battle that preceded it. She dances with Ginta and Hakkaku, laughing at the silliness of some of their movements; she dances with the pups, which is more of a test of how well she can keep from tripping over them than a dance.

Finally, she dances with Kouga. She is too drawn in by his eyes, the fire flashing in them, the red reflections in the blue, to notice the way a space clears around them. He pulls her toward him and holds her flush against his body, his hands on her arms, their arms outstretched together.

For the celebration, he has forgone his armor; he is dressed in white fur, not brown, and his hair is down around his shoulders, soft as ebony silk where it brushes Kagome's skin. She, too, is dressed in fur, a skirt and bandeau beaded with amber and ivory – Sho's mother had given it to her, one of many gifts of clothing that had come from the females of the pack.

Kouga draws his fingers up her arms and makes her shiver, bends to her ear and speaks for only her to hear him.

"Do as I do, Kagome."

She nods, smiling, and mimics the movements he makes when he steps away from her. She becomes his mirror, and Kouga is impressed with the flow of her movements, the elegance of them, soft as shadow. His lifted arm and hers are as an echo; when he steps forward, so does she. They turn together, cheek to cheek; Kouga's fingers run over her scalp through her unbound hair, across her shoulders, and she does not hesitate to do the same to him.

It is his turn to shiver. His hands continue down her arms, over her wrists, until they are standing palm to palm, still now, only their hearts moving with a beat that matches the speed of the thudding drums. Flicker of fire, flicker of eyes. Skin against skin, and the heat of the fire dancing in waves to match their turns, the pounding of their feet in the dust, their spinning; head thrown back, eyes glowing, skin shining, dressed like one of them and laughing like a wild thing, Kagome might have been mistaken for a wolf herself.

Teasing, Kouga called out a flare of power and sent it outward to lick at Kagome's skin. It brushed her with heat, but did not burn; that was not his intention. Kagome laughed, and as if it were natural to her, something she had known all along, she continued her mimicry even with this, and made her power dance.

The sight was strange and lovely; youki the color of glacial ice flowing back and forth, and through it, weaving, blending, beautiful, the soft pink glow of Kagome's power flowed too. Murmurs and whispers arose among the watching wolves. Many stopped dancing just to stare, and so it was that almost all of them saw when Kagome and Kouga drew close together again, eyes flashing, breath heaving, and Kouga bent and kissed her.

As he did so, the streaming light became one great river. Kagome let out a breath, and then reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers through his hair.

This was different, very different, from that first, momentary kiss. She felt a fire within him, a fire that burned her lips and tongue where his mouth touched her. There was an answering fire inside her, just as raw, just as powerful, and for a moment, just a moment, when his tongue stroked her tongue and she felt the near, sweltering heat of his body, she was afraid it would overwhelm her.

Then he stepped back and looked down at her, and his eyes were dark as the sea.

"You dance well, Kagome."

He held out a hand to her, and she took it, and he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed them against the center of her palm, and then her wrist.

"Very well."

A/N: As promised, the chapter flood continues with this second chapter of the deluge. The tile, "Sub Divo" means "under the wide open sky"; bit of celebrating, a bit of closeness, and some kisses, cause...well, wouldn't you? XD Continuing onward, to chapter 39, at this very moment! So I shall cut this short so I may continue writing onward with greater speed!

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