Of time kept frozen by Hairann

Of time kept frozen

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.

Special thanks to my betas PockyThief, Kiyota and Ethereal Siren.

My name is Kagome and I am 18 years old. All of my life people have always told me that your life can change in an instant and I've never truly understood this. There always had to be some clue along the way to warn you that a change was coming. All you had to do was look for the signs. Winter break of my last year in high school proved to me just how wrong my assumption was. There were no warnings and I need not look back to know this for a fact. There could have been no signs, for nothing could have seen this coming.

And in an instant, one single moment in time, my life changed forever. As I have said, it was winter break and my archery club was going on a three day field trip. Every year Edaya-sensei took the club for training and each year the location differed. Last year it was the ocean, the year before that the forest. This year it was the snow covered mountains. The schedule was pretty simple. The first day we practiced from dawn 'til lunch, then from after lunch 'til dinner.

The second day we began our survival training. Edaya-sensei believes that we should be self reliant because we never know when we might need to be. We leave the camp with a bow, a quiver full of arrows, a small knife and a book of matches. The object is to find some way to feed and keep ourselves warm through the night. The next day we return and head back down the mountain. Last person back to camp had clean up duty after archery club for the rest of the year.

And just because Edaya-sensei was a stickler for 'better safe than sorry' we each carried with us a small tracking device in case anything went wrong and rescue needed to find us. Thankfully our uniforms were rather warm or I am sure we would all freeze to death before the night ended. Our hakama and haori were made of a very thick wool and were it not for the colors, we would look the part of miko. Instead of the traditional red and white, ours were white and green to match with our school colors.

Having grown up on a shrine, I was already used to the clothing and training. I had joined the archery club while still in primary school even though it was a high school club, my school simply did not offer it and being born expected to become a shrine maiden, my grandfather insisted that I learn of my heritage including archery. I had made this trip every year for as long as I can remember, but it was this single time that made any impact on my life. And it wasn't to turn me more toward what my grandfather wished me to be.

In fact, had it not been for this trip, I would have happily become a shrine maiden after school simply to make my grandfather happy. But this trip changed me in ways that I could never play the part of a shrine maiden and I knew that I would seek more from life. That my destiny lied elsewhere and I would always feel incomplete having taken the path my family wished me to take. And there were no signs, no clues of what was about to come, nothing to prepare me for all I found, I learned and I experienced on that trip.

Friday and the archery practice went by without incident and it wasn't until Saturday morning that my life changed before my very eyes...

Walking away from the camp Edaya-sensei had set up the day before, I watched as the gentle snow flakes made their way to the ground below my feet. Each one swirling on the wind as though doing their part for winter's dance. Winter, one of the most beautiful times of the year. The millions of shimmering flakes of ice fluttering around you, miles upon miles of an endless sea of white land stretching out in every direction.

While it's true that the cold can chill you to the very core, I have always found that the enjoyment you get sitting around a roaring fire with a hot cup of coco or roasting marshmallows makes it all worth it. And while walking against the wind during a storm storm is quite easily one of the most difficult and frustrating of things to do during the winter, the snowball fights, building snowmen and making snow angels makes the hard days of winter all the more bearable. With winter comes Christmas and all the magic it brings.

But then again, none of this means a damn when you are walking on top of a snow covered mountain, up to your knees in snow, the harsh freezing wind blowing into your face. No winter coat, snow clinging to and melting into the thick white socks that covered your feet. Sandals, no matter that they were part of the uniform, did not go well with winter. Already I could feel my toes becoming icicles and wondered, not for the first time, if Edaya-sensei was missing a few screws.

Around me I can feel the winds picking up, sending a cloud of flakes in every direction and reminding me that I would need to find shelter soon if I wished to live through the night. Already I can hear one thought appearing in my mind just as it has in years long past, the race. The seemingly endless race of finding shelter before being buried beneath the snow. Every year, no matter the fact that I have made it through unscathed the year before, it remains foremost in my mind and my biggest worry.

Each year, when I am back at camp and going over what had happened the day before, I always tell myself next time I will remember the good times when I needed to the most, to help me through the night. The fun days of winter you only seem to recall while you are experiencing similar ones or when the summer heat has reached its peak. But when you need to remember these days, these happier times, when you need some small glimmer of hope to hold onto the most, your mind is unable to conjure up the images you need to keep going and instead it makes your situation that much darker. That much more hopeless.

It has been like this every year and no matter how many times I tell myself that next time I will be able to think about these days, I am never able to. It is almost as if they were wiped completely from my mind while away from camp and do not return until I do. But I will leave that train of thought for another day, for now my biggest concerns are finding something to eat and a place to keep warm. The food, I know, will not be that big of a problem. I know where to look and am an excellent shot with my bow.

Weaving my way through the snow covered trees, over ice covered rocks and through the frigid wind blowing snow into my face and hair, I search for the signs that a small animal might be living near and once I find them, I press myself against a tree, ignoring the coldness seeping into my back, and wait for my prey. Hours seem to pass as I wait, making sure to be silent and still, refusing to acknowledge the fact that my foot has began falling asleep or that I have begun getting a cramp in my lower back.

Soon enough my patience had paid off and I begin walking farther up the mountain with my dinner in hand. Unlike years past where I had to find shelter in a forest or near the beach, I am not as worried about finding a place to spend the night. The mountain side was littered with caves, the only problem would be finding one when I couldn't see any further than a few feet in front of me due to the storm. Though I could not see the path in front of me, my feet kept up the pace as if they knew the way all on their own.

Again the wind picked up and I began to worry that I might be blown off of my feet before I was able to find shelter, but alas my fears were unneeded for the moment I looked up, I was barely able to make out an opening in the side of the mountain. Though the storm still raging around me made it almost impossible to see, the stark contrast of the dark cave mouth stood out against the pure whiteness of the surrounding area.

Making my way in just a few feet, I held my breath as I listened for the sound of breathing, praying that no wild animal had decided to seek shelter there as well. Luck seemed to be on my side as I was unable to hear any sounds from within and began venturing further into the cave. The dim light from outside did little to illuminate the cave and I was still unable to see more than a few feet in front of me, but merely being out of the storm began to lift my spirits.

Setting my dinner off to the side, I began searching for anything I could use as firewood seeing as all of the wood currently outside would be far too wet to do me any good. Luck refused to side with me on this one and I found nothing more that another opening within the cave, leading deeper into the mountain side. “Well if nothing else, more of the wind would be blocked back there.” I decided out loud as I reclaimed my dinner and began feeling along the wall as I made my way deeper into the cave.

The smell of the damp cave surrounded me, reminding me of the rainy days I experienced as a child, running around in puddles and through the mud. Mud, that is what the cave smelled like to me. Mud and wet dust. Perhaps even a bit of mildew, but I decided to not dwell on that thought for now and continued feeling my way down the long passage way I had been following. Thankfully most of the wind had been blocked off by the winding path, even if it hadn't been able to shield me from the cold completely.

In front of me the pathway opened up into another room and even though I could not see it, I got the distinct feeling that it was rather large. Passing through the threshold, I felt something pulse through my body. Startled, I glanced over my shoulder, ignoring the fact that I couldn't see anything and doing so would be pointless, but found nothing with my eyes nor my hands when I began searching for what had caused the strange feeling within me.

Shrugging, I turned back and took another step into the room, only to stop again when torches began lighting all on their own, all around the room. I watched as they illuminated one by one, guiding my path to the center of the room. Stepping closer, and shielding my eyes from the suddenly bright light, I found something so out of place that I thought I had been seeing things upon first glance. But neither shaking my head nor rubbing my eyes caused what I was seeing to differ.

Placed in the middle of the room was a coffin. A transparent glass coffin. An occupied coffin. Paying no mind as my dinner dropped from my hands to the floor beneath me, I began making my way slowly over toward the coffin. It was placed upon an elevated platform, three steps leading to it from every direction. Each step I took I could feel my heart pound in my chest in sync and the closer I got, the stronger the pulse got.

Reaching the last step, I paused to take a deep breath before coming to stop mere inches from the coffin and glanced down. What I saw took my breath away and caused my heart to pound for a completely different reason. He was the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and while I may not be entirely sure what he was, I knew without a doubt that he was not human. If the sharp claws and elven ears did not assure me of this, than his long, silky white hair and his ethereal beauty surely did.

“He doesn't even look dead.” I whispered out loud to myself as I raised my hand and placed it on the top of the coffin. “Who are you?” I inquired but a moment before feeling another pulse deep within me and I pulled back my hand as if it were burned as the coffin began to pulse in sync with my own beating heart. “What?” I whispered as the coffin started to shake and a bright light began to illuminate from the center of it. I shielded my face just as it pulsed one last time and shattered into millions of shimmering shards of glass that volleyed across the room in every direction.

Glancing back, once the light had died down, the first thing I saw was deep, golden eyes glaring at me which such hate that I felt it within my bones. “You will pay for that miko.” he told me, his deep, husky voice sending shivers through me for two different reasons. As he began to rise, I fled back down the steps, careful not to turn my back on him and searched for something to hide behind, even knowing it would do little good.

“I'm sorry I woke you, it wasn't intentional. I didn't know simply touching the coffin would wake you up or bring you back to life, I'm not even sure what it was I did.” I insisted as I gave up trying to find some place to hide, considering the room was empty save for the platform he was still on, and raised my hands in a surrendering gesture.

“Wake me?” he questioned, looking at me strangely for a moment before some realization dawned in his eyes. “You are not the one that trapped me here, who are you?” he demanded as he stood his full height and I had to strain my neck to see his face. He was tall enough already that I would have to look up, but with him standing on the platform it made him almost gigantic.

“I'm Kagome, Kagome Higurashi. Who are you?” I inquired having nothing better to ask him at that moment and figuring he wouldn't appreciate asking what he was. He looked down his nose as me, slightly raising a single silvery eyebrow, and I couldn't help but feel subconscious beneath his scrutiny.

“Sesshoumaru. Lord of the Western lands. And if you are not the miko that has imprisoned me here, why are you here and where is the miko?” he demanded as he glanced away from me and I suddenly felt cold again. His eyes drifted around the room, seemingly taking in everything for the first time, or at the very least, the first time in a long time.

“I don't know anything about a miko and I am on survival training with my archery club and came here seeking shelter. You called yourself lord of the western lands, what lands do you speak of? I have never heard of you.” I told him, deciding after the fact, that it probably wasn't a good idea to say something like that to him, but there was nothing I could do to change it and so I decided to not dwell on it.

“What nonsense do you speak of human? There are none alive today that have not heard of my name. Though, judging by your expression, perhaps today is not the day I think it to be. Tell me human, what is the year?” he questioned after a moment, once again glancing around the cave. I began to wonder if he just didn't want to be looking at me and simply chose to look anywhere else. This too I decided to not dwell on.

“2008.” I replied and watched as he dropped to his knees looking more shocked than I have ever seen anyone look in my entire life. I watched as his lips began moving, though I could hear no sound coming from him, and it took me a minute to realize he was repeating the year over and over again. I wasn't sure if I should feel sorry for him since he had obviously lost quite a bit of time or run while he was distracted thinking he might take it out on me. Before I had the chance to decide, he glanced back up at me.

“500 years.” he said, though if he was talking to me or himself I am unsure, causing my knees to buckle slightly and I had to fight to keep my balance. He had been trapped here for 500 years? Who would do such a thing to him and why? What could he have possibly done that were deserve a punishment like that?

“What did you do?” I asked before I could stop myself and I swear I heard a deep growl resonating through the room and his eyes took on the slightest of red tints. I began backing up further, even as I knew it wouldn't do any good, but before I could get more than a few steps he had leaped off of the platform and landed behind me in one graceful movement. I quickly turned to face him as I felt my heart beat begin to pound wildly in my chest, so much so, that I thought it sure to burst at any moment.

“Do? I am a demon, what more of a crime would your kind have needed to imprison me in here?” he demanded, the tone of his voice becoming almost a growl as he pinned me with vicious glare, one that promised pain to come.

“They would need a better reason than that!” I insisted, for a moment seemingly startling him, but he quickly got his shocked expression under control and went back to glaring at me. “Simply being different is never enough reason to harm or dislike anyone, no matter if it's a difference of race, religion, color of skin or even their species. Though you do not seem like one who is completely innocent, shame on whoever it was that imprisoned you if their reason was simply that you were a demon.

“And please refrain from grouping me with other humans that are prejudice as I am nothing like them and do not appreciate the implication that I am.” I demanded as I pinned him with my own darkest glare, though it didn't have even a fraction of the effect on him that it always had on my little brother.

“I'm the most powerful demon in the world, I am quite far from innocent, but it wasn't my past actions that had me imprisoned. You miko never need to know more than that I have demon blood to want my life forfeit, the humans just run away in fear. I was not grouping your with humans, but your own kind, miko.”

“What are you talking about? I'm not a miko.”

“Surely you jest, how else would you have been able to go through the barrier or break the curse that kept me imprisoned within the coffin? Miko magic can only be broken by the miko that cast it or an even stronger one.” he insisted as he gave me a look that clearly stated he was trying to figure out if I was a complete moron or I was joking.

“Barrier? Is that what I felt when I walked across the threshold? Guess that was the pulse I felt when I touched the coffin as well.” I said more to myself than to him before I glanced back up at him and continued, “Look I probably just have a little power because I grew up on a shrine and since my grandfather is a priest, but I am far from a miko. The spell probably just got weaker in time until the point where someone with the slightest amounts of power could break it.”

His mind seemed to turn inward as he ignored my presence and began walking back toward the platform, his long legs taking graceful strides that I'm sure would have made a ballerina jealous. He sat upon the top step as I stood there unsure if I should stay or run away while he was distracted. Just as I was about to take a step toward the exit, he spoke up again, startling me. “Why can I not feel them?” Glancing up, he must have seen my confused expression because he elaborated. “Demons, why can I not sense other demons?”

I held my breath for a long moment, not wanting to be the one to tell him this, but his eyes refused to leave mine and the look in the clearly promised pain if I did not answer. Taking a deep breath, my eyes pleading with him to not take what I was about to say out on me, I answered. “Before today, I have only know demons to be fantasy. Found in fairy tales and legends parents tell their children to keep them in line.

“Other than my grandfather, who we've always believed to be senile, I have never met a single person who believed in demons. Please do not ask me what happened to them, for I do not have the slightest of clues. I can not begin to image what you are going through and I won't lie to make you feel better. I wish I had better news to tell you, but you seem like one who doesn't like things sugar coated so I will tell you this straight. Now I could be wrong, but I am quite certain you are the last of your kind.”

I waited in silence to see how he would react and once he did, I wished I had closed my eyes. He seemed to shrink slightly under the weight of the news and his expression became so lost, like he had given up. “What is the point of being the strongest, most powerful demon when I am simply the only demon?” he questioned out loud, though I am sure he was speaking to himself, before he took a deep breath and stood up from the step.

Unsure how he would react, I took a step back drawing his attention unintentionally to myself. He stared at me for a long moment, one silvery eyebrow raised slightly, before he began making his way toward me once again. I began fidgeting in my spot and glanced away, no longer able to look him in the eyes. His soft footsteps echoed in the silent room and I couldn't help but be drawn back to him. Glancing up, I found him mere inches from me, just standing there.

“What?” I began, unable to say anything else as his eyes bore into mine and he just stood there silently, unmoving. His golden eyes glanced over me, almost as if he was truly looking at me for the first time, before they settled on my own again. I wasn't sure if I should back away to regain my lost personal space or start blushing since it was quite obvious he had just been checking me out.

“You'll do.” he finally told me after a few long moments of silence before once again turning to walk back toward the platform. I stared after him in shock, my jaw hanging open before closing it and going over his words in my mind. 'I'll do? I'll do for what?' I wondered shaking my head and turning my attention back to him. He had taken a seat where the coffin had once been and was just staring at me. “Well?”

“Well what?” I finally demanded regaining the use of my voice. “What do you mean 'I'll do'? I'll do for what?” I wondered as I stood there, just staring at him, refusing to move from my spot until I knew exactly what he was talking about. Though I couldn't hear it, I saw him sigh before sending me an annoyed look.

“Kagome...” he said though it sounded more like a question and I nodded my head, “I have been trapped in that coffin for 500 years and though I did not realize it had been that long, I was at least semi conscious. Society's rules no longer matter since there is no longer a demon society and underneath it all, I am still male.” he replied and it took me all of two seconds to get his meaning.

“Wait! Just hold on one minute, you don't really think that I would...that I would...do you?!” I demanded, giving up on being able to finish the complete sentence. Between him raising an eyebrow at me once again and the slight warm that was rising in my cheeks, it was not hard to figure out that I was blushing madly.

“Do not think to convince me that it has not crossed your mind, I can see it in yours eyes.” he insisted before pausing for a moment. “Is it because I am demon that you would deny me?” he inquired after a moment and I felt my head shaking before I even had the chance to think about what he had asked. “Then why? Why would you deny me this one request after I've learned I am the last of my kind and can not search out one of them to assist me with this? Why when I have gone 500 years without knowing a woman's touch?”

“Well for starters I don't love you, heck I barely know you. I don't know what kind of girls you are used to, and though there are quite a few girls around that would probably jump at the chance to sleep with you, I most certainly am not one of them. And whether it has crossed my mind or not is completely different from whether I would go through with it or not. How dare you insinuate that I am some kind of whore who would just lay with you simply because you said so!

“I may not be a virgin anymore but that in no way implies that I am easy. And I may have had...once before, but I have no intention of experiencing something so incredibly uncomfortable again. So sorry, but you will have to deal with that problem all on your own.” I told him before turning and beginning to make my way back out of the room, at least until his voice stopped me.

“If it was uncomfortable, then your partner was incompetent. If you weren't screaming from the top of your lungs in ecstasy, then he didn't do his job right. Do not forsake the pleasure there is to be had from such an experience simply because he failed in his duty, for I assure you, I will not.” he promised, his deep, husky voice sending a shiver down my spine. “And love has nothing to do with it. It is about the pleasure to be had from the merging of our bodies and energies.

“It's about the raw emotions that course through your veins, that heat your blood as it continues to flow through you. It's about experiencing one of the most carnal, sensuous, most gratifying of encounters there is to partake in. It's about pulling from the depth of your soul a pleasure that is unimaginable to those who have yet to experience it. It is about lust, sensuality, your animalistic desires, the urge to sate your eroticism.

“It's about feeling free and alive if but for a short time. But love and copulation have little to do with each other. Having one doesn't necessary lead to the other and is not needed to fully enjoy either.” his voice was barely above a whisper now and he had at some point moved so he was standing right behind me, his hot breath cascading over the shell of my ear. I knew not if I should faint, start stuttering incoherently as the blush grew deeper and darker on my cheeks or run away before his words could fully take effect on my body.

“However, it was not my intention to insult you, Kagome. I have had few interactions with humans in my life and forget that you do not see things the way demons do. Love means very little to us, if anything, but we freely express and give in to our desires of the flesh. There is a world of pleasure just waiting for you, you need but ask for it.”

“I take it you've never been with a human.” I commented more than asked once I was finally able to get my heart beat under control and regain the use of my voice.

“Just as you would not lie to me, I shall not lie to you. I have never had the desire to do so. Humans are beneath me, not worth my time. And had there still been other demons, I would be seeking them out instead.” he replied truthfully and I fought the single tear that was fighting its way out into existence. I had already figured as much, but hearing you were the last choice still hurt.

“You expect that to make me want to agree? Knowing that you would want to sleep with me simply because there is no one else? Because I'm convenient? Way to make a girl feel special, Sesshoumaru.” I replied sarcastically as I shrugged his hand off from where he'd placed it on my shoulder.

“No, it is simply the truth and you are not the last option Kagome. I am sure there are many I would never even consider copulating with. But do not think too badly of what I have said, I was the most powerful demon and the lord of the western lands, there were few if any that were above me. And I assure you, the making you feel special is still yet to come.” he whispered into my ear and I couldn't stop the shiver no matter how hard I fought.

Before I could respond he was placing feather light kisses along my neck, paving a heated trail toward my shoulder as he pulled back the top of my haori and exposed the flesh underneath. “I haven't said yes you know.” I reminded him as I fought the urge to moan as he set my skin on fire with his lips.

“I do not hear you saying no either.” he countered as he wrapped his arms around my waist and began pulling me back toward the platform, his lips never stilling. My mind became lost in the sensations he was sending through me as he continued to pull me backward. I know not if I was simply too overwhelmed by emotions to stop what was about to happen or I merely did not wish to.

Instead of seeking the answer, I just allowed him to pull me down so I was lying on the platform, staring up into his deep, golden eyes. The look in them could be described as nothing less than animalistic, the hunger for the pleasures of the flesh, a hunger for me. They say our eyes are the gateway to our souls, and I don't know if that's true or not, but I believe they are a gateway to our emotions. I could see all that he was feeling swirling in their depths.

His lust was prominent of course, but it was so much more than just a desire for sex. His eyes held a deep longing, as though he craved me, not just my body. And though he had already told me that I would not have been his first choice, the look in his eyes seemed to contradict that. Whether it was the truth or he was merely a good actor, he held true to his word. He made me feel special. And we had just begun.

While I had been lost within his eyes, his hand had begun caressing a path down my side, leaving a tingly feeling wherever he had touched. His lips continued to leave a burning trail of flesh in their wake as he made his way down to where my haori parted before he began to remove it. The chilled night air touched my skin but for a moment before he was setting it ablaze once again with his kisses and feather-light touches.

This time, I was unable to prevent the soft moan that escaped through my parted lips and watched as a slight smirk formed on his. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes at his arrogance, I decided instead to let go of my reservations and enjoy what he was offering so freely. As he began removing his own haori, I decided to take the lead for a moment and began placing my own feather-light kisses across his chest.

I smirked in satisfaction at my own small victory when the softest of moans escaped from his own lips before he was able to stop it. His flesh was cooled and I knew my lips must have felt as though they were on fire against his skin, just as his did mine. He growled at me then and as I glanced up, I hadn't the time to worry if I had angered him before his lips were on mine. As our lips battled for dominance feverishly, he relieved me of my hakama before I had the chance to realize what he had been doing.

Before I knew what happened, not a single piece of clothing remained between us as he was once again burning a trail across my stomach. My back arched off of the ground of it's own accord the moment he reached my center and I couldn't prevent the gasp from escaping. Nor the moan when he began osculating my center. And most certainly not the scream that echoed in the room around us the moment he closed his lips around me and sucked greedily.

I could feel him smirk around me and this time I didn't stop myself from rolling my eyes at him. He raised a silvery eyebrow as he gazed up at me before he pulled me in deeper into his warm mouth and I bit down on my lower lip to stop the next scream threatening to come into existence. Releasing me, he began moving back up my body and once his face was mere inches from my own, his locked eyes with me as he licked his lips.

His lips crashed onto to my own again and I could taste my essence still on him. Before I had the chance to figure out what I thought about my own unique flavor, I felt him begin to join with me. I sucked in a deep breath as he pulled back from the kiss and after releasing it, I began panting slightly at the feeling he was causing deep within me. The slightly dazed look in his eyes assured me that I wasn't the only one feeling the pleasure he sent coursing through me.

Once we were completely connected, his golden eyes rolled back in his head, a sure sign of just how much he was enjoying this before he began to withdraw. Our rhythm started out slowly and gradually began to pick up speed until we found a pace that suited both of us. As we danced to the ageless waltz I couldn't help but think that this was how it was supposed to be. This was how my first time should have been.

While I supposed it was unfair to compare a barely mature and inexperienced human to an at least 500 year old, and most likely from the way he talks, very experienced demon, in my mind I saw no harm in it. And he was right. If this was how it was really supposed to feel, than he hadn't done his job right. And to think I wanted to pass up on this opportunity.

I noticed Sesshoumaru begin to pick up the pace a bit and pushed my speed to match his as I wrapped my hands around his head and brought his lips to my own. Pulling back, he bared his fangs at me before latching onto one of my breasts with his lips and the other with his hand. I tried to hold on as the new sensations forced their way through me, but I could do little more than dig my blunt nails into his shoulders as I threw my head back and cry out toward the heavens.

He growled at me again, but this time I could tell from the tone that it was not in anger but in satisfaction. I held onto him tightly as he began to pick up the pace once again, pulling from my lips breathless moans and causing himself to pant. I could think of nothing I had seen in my life that was sexier than the sight of him above me. A light sheen of perspiration covering his forehead, his heavy panting a roar in my ears, the passion is his eyes as they bore into my own.

The vision that was before me set my body ablaze once again and I found it difficult to breath. I am quite sure that if we hadn't already been engaged in such an activity that the look in his eyes would have very well led to it. I forgot how to breath completely as he pulled me tight against his chest and I felt him still above me. He let out a long howl that echoed around the room and forced the air from my lungs, drawing with it a scream from my lips.

I panted as I opened my eyes, that I hadn't even realized I had closed, and gaze up at him. He stared down at me as he too tried to get his breathing back under control before leaning down to lightly brush his lips across my own. As he pulled back, I licked my lips and just watched him, unable to do anything else at that moment.

He stared down at me for a brief moment before finally un-joining us and rolling over so he was laying pressed against my side. “Sleep, Kagome.” he told me and it was easy to tell by his tone that it was not a suggestion, but more of a command. Even still I was afraid to sleep.

“I do not want to sleep. I'm afraid I will wake up and learn this was all nothing but a dream. I'd rather just lay here and keep dreaming.” I told him as I glanced over my shoulder and found him staring at me with that ever raised eyebrow present.

“It is not a dream, now sleep.” he insisted as he rolled me onto my side and pulled me tight against his chest. It's strange how I have just met him and yet his words of assurance, though I am not even sure that is what they were meant to be rather than just speaking the truth, filled me with such confidence that he would indeed be there in the morning and that this wouldn't all end as some dream.

I breathed in deeply, taking in his masculine scent, as I wrapped my arms around his. I do not understand why, but I felt the need to be as close to him as I could and gave into the longing. I could feel his hot breath cascading over my neck and I felt it begin to lull me to sleep. There is something indescribable about falling asleep wrapped up in his warm arms and I took it with me as I faded off into slumber.

Sometime before dawn the next morning I felt myself being drawn into the land of the living and felt if something were missing. Reaching up to wipe the sleep from my eyes, I glanced behind me to the spot that had gone cold and tried to remember what was missing. This early in the morning, my mind was still rather foggy, just as it had been every morning for as long as I could remember as I woke up to help my grandfather around the shrine before school.

Moving to sit up, I realized a deep part of me was slightly sore and the events from the night before came rushing back and I couldn't help but smile at the memory. Realizing exactly what was missing from the spot behind me, I glanced around the room to find Sesshoumaru sitting off to the side near the entrance to the room. Something seemed to be slightly off with his posture. “Is something wrong, Sesshoumaru?” I inquired as I pulled the blanket up farther.

Not remembering having had a blanket the night before, I glanced down to find that the 'blanket' was in fact Sesshoumaru's haori. “This is not the world I remember. I do not care for it.” he replied after a few moments of silence. “There is something wrong with what it has become.” he told me as he glanced over his shoulder to look at me.

“You left while I was asleep?” I questioned as I stood, wrapping his haori around me, considering I had yet to get dressed, and began making my way over to where he was sitting. He gave me a slight nod while waiting for me to get comfortable, a slight smirk playing across his lips when he noticed what I was wearing.

“I went exploring.” he told me as he turned his gaze back out toward the dark hallway that led to the room. “I want to go back, I no longer have a place in this world.” I gasped when what he was referring registered in my mind and I prayed that I had misunderstood him. He just couldn't mean what I had thought he did.

“You don't mean being frozen in that coffin again do you?” I wondered, hoping against all odds that he would shoot me an 'are you stupid' look and shake his head, instead he nodded without even looking over at me. “But why? Why would you want to voluntarily go through that again?” I demanded, giving him a look that clearly stated that I thought he was crazy, ignoring the fact that he couldn't see it with his eyes turned away.

“I no longer belong in this world. I would be better of asleep. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the people are no longer what I knew and I feel as though I am stuck. Though I remain in the past while the rest of the world changes around me.”

“Give yourself some time Sesshoumaru, you just woke up last night after 500 years. Of course everything is going to be different. And I don't even have the first idea how to put you back in the coffin or if it's even possible. Sesshoumaru think about this before you make a descion like this. The world you wake up to next time probably won't be any better for you and that's if you woke up again. It took 500 years for someone who was able to break the curse to come in here the first time, there's no telling how long it could take this time.

“Stay here. Stay here with me. Give this time a chance before you shut yourself back up and miss out on so much more.” I pleaded with him and I placed my hands on his cheeks and turned him so he would have to look me in the eye.

“Be careful Kagome, you're starting to sound like you have fallen in love with me.” he replied with a slight smirk and I rolled my eyes at him.

“No I have not known you long enough to be in love with you. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I do care about you. Look I'll make you a deal Sesshoumaru. One year. Stay with me for one year to give this world a chance. After I finish up this year of school we can travel and see if there really aren't any other demons in the world. After that if you still want to go back into that coffin than I will do everything in my power to help you.

“Heck I'll even set it up on my family's shrine so I can keep it dusted if you want. Please Sesshoumaru.” I practically begged as I held his gaze with my own. After a few moments, he finally nodded his head and I couldn't help but smile at him. “Good now come back to bed. There is still time before dawn.” I told him as I stood and began making my way back to the platform.