…From the Ashes the Phoenix Rises

By Danyealle

(FanFiction/Angst)

Chapter 10

It was after breakfast the next morning that Kougas’ scroll reached Sesshomarus’ hands.  Confused about why the ookami prince would send him anything he made it his first priority to read when he settled down to work.

After spending some time in the gardens with Kagome, watching the children play, he made his way to the study.  Today would be the last of the work he had to catch up on.  Then he could spend a couple days relaxing and working on Naraku, strategizing on how to deal with him before he and Kagome rejoined the rest of the pack.

Settling down behind his desk, he grabbed Kougas’ scroll and began to read.  It took him reading the missive twice for him to believe his eyes.  Then he felt his temper rise.  If he had the boy there he would have killed him then revived him so he could do it again!  What was he thinking?!?  Obviously he wasn’t, that was the problem.  It appeared that the whelp never learned.

As mad as he was at Inuyasha he found the bit about Kikyos’ waning powers most interesting.  Like Kouga, he wasn’t sure what it meant or why it was happening.  Nor did he have any good theories as to why.  But he did know one thing; Kikyo needed to go!  The longer she stayed in this plane the more problems she was going cause.  It was also apparent that as long as she walked Kagome was in danger.  For what ever reason the dead miko was bound and determined to get rid of the live one.  She also seemed to want Inuyasha involved for some reason.  Revenge maybe?

Eyes hardening, he vowed to himself that he would get rid of the walking dead bitch personally.  And in front of Inuyasha.  That was only fitting justice was his thought.  Something like that might finally wake the baka up and finally set him on the right track.  But he wasn’t counting on it.  Inuyasha wasn’t known for learning lessons no matter how often he was taught.

As much as he wanted to rip the message to shreds then light it on fire as a way to assuage his temper he didn’t.  He felt that Kagome needed to see it so she was aware what was going on.  He knew it would upset her but she needed to know.  Putting it aside he went to work on the other things that required his attention.  He would wait until he was finished until he talked to her.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

Seated on the balcony of her room, Kagome was eating her lunch while she worked on homework.  If she finished it early then she could do whatever she wanted the rest of the day.  When she felt Sesshomarus’ unmistakable aura she put aside her text book and looked at him.  “Come to join me for lunch?”  She asked as she picked up her chopsticks.

“No.  But I’ll sit with you while you eat.  There’s something we need to discuss.”  He said, sitting down across from her.

Brow creased, she looked at him, “Is there something wrong?”

Nodding, he said nothing then handed her the scroll.

Putting down her chopsticks, she took it.  Unrolling it, she quickly read the message.  When she finished she handed it back to him.  “Inuyasha is such a baka!  He never learns, does he?”  She said, sighing and shaking her head then resumed eating.

This calm wasn’t what he had expected.  He had anticipated some kind of negative reaction from her but there was none in her expression or aura.  Relaxing, he leaned back in the chair and shrugged.  “No, the half-breed isn’t known for easily learning lessons.  He’s about as dense as a rock.”

 Rolling her eyes, she nodded, “That sounds about like him.”

“Tell me Kagome…  Can you explain why it appears that Kikyos’ powers are diminishing.”

Looking down at her plate, she thought for a minute, brow furrowed, then looked back at him.  “I haven’t a clue.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before.  Even if a miko becomes evil they don’t seem to lose their powers in any way, they just change is all.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that unless it they have gotten close to the end of their life and their powers fade.  But I don’t think that would be the case with Kikyo so it doesn’t make much sense to me.  Maybe Kaede would know or at least have a clue.  If not she might know where to look to find out.  We’ll have to ask her when we go back to Edo.”

He hadn’t thought of the old miko but it sounded like a good suggestion to him.  She was very wise and knew many things.  “Excellent suggestion, we’ll do that.” 

Once the business end of the visit was attended to, he relaxed a bit and they slipped into conversation easily, like they always seemed to.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day, for him, was spent taking care of things that were needed around the fortress its’ self, such as what was needed, staffing problems and the like.  Nothing hard but it needed his attention or approval.

It was early evening when he finally finished.  After dinner he did is usual walk around the grounds to ensure everything was as it should be.  As always, it was.  Once done with that he did a quick walk through of the fortress to make sure everything was as he liked things.

When he reached the top floor he found Rins’ nanny leaning up against the doors of the largely unused ballroom.  Her whole body was shaking as tears streamed from her eyes.  Through gasps of air she was laughing.  Arching an eyebrow at her, he asked, “What’s going on?”

“Sorry Lord Sesshomaru!”  She said, bowing then wiped her streaming eyes with the back of her hand, still grinning.  “Lady Kagome was playing her music box for the children.  Because it’s loud she didn’t want to disturb anyone with the music or the noise the children were making I took it upon myself to bring them up here where they wouldn’t bother anyone.  I didn’t think you would mind since they aren’t disturbing anything, just dancing around.”

Once again he was pleased with his choice of her to mind Rin.  She was right, he didn’t mind.  He knew that the youngsters wouldn’t harm anything, especially with Kagome keeping an eye on them, and they had plenty of room for their youthful exuberance.

Suddenly, he heard enthusiastic shouts of ‘Hey Macaroni!” from both children reached his sensitive ears.  Looking at the nanny, who had once again dissolved into gales of laughter.  “Hey macaroni?”

“Oh, this defies description!  You have to see it for yourself!”  She managed to get out through hitched breaths.

“I believe I’ll do just that.”  He replied then opened the door and stepped inside.  “Immediately, his ears were assaulted by the most unusual music he had ever heard being sung in a language he couldn’t identify.  But he had to actually strangle a bark of laughter at the sight of the two children ‘dancing’, if that was what they were calling it.  To him it looked as though they were having a fit of some kind.  Of course Rin saw him and cried out his name with her usual adoration and stopped to wave at him but quickly resumed her spastic movements with Shippo.

Spying Kagome sitting off to the side, along wall, with her laptop, he went over and seated himself beside her.  Watching the two children wiggle and jerk all over the dance floor, he was sure that no one had ever had that much fun in this room before, he asked, “Are you the one responsible for teaching them this ‘dance’ Kagome?”  He asked, usual tone of disdain in place but there was a sparkle of humor in his eyes.

“Yup!”  She said, smiling.  “I’m the one to blame for it.”

“Hn…” was his only response as he watched the two.  Suddenly, both hollered “Hey macaroni!” at the same time loudly.  Looking back at her, he asked, “Hey macaroni?”

Ginning, she shook her head.  “The word is Macarena not macaroni.  It’s Spanish so I haven’t a clue what it means.  But they are having fun as they are so I didn’t see any point in correcting them.”

“Understandable.”  He replied then looked at her.  “Are all dances in your time this exuberant?”

“Uh… no-o-o-o!”  she chuckled.  “This is one that was always more popular with kids.  Rins’ nanny mentioned that the kids are usually too wound up at bedtime so I thought something like this might wear them out.”

Because neither child had contact with other children close to their ages on a regular basis when they got together they were excitable and bedtime could be frustrating.  Lots of physical activity like this just before the appointed time wore them out and made the nannies’ job much easier.  “Wise idea Kagome!”  He admitted, nodding.  He also made a mental note to mention to the staff that the children, as long as they were under adult supervision, were allowed up here. 

About a half an hour later it was the appointed bedtime.  Yes, there were the usual protests but they didn’t go on nearly as long as normal nor was it as loud.  It was clear that the two were tired.  After saying goodnight to him and giving Kagome the usual kiss and hug the children were herded off to bed.

As Kagome was preparing to pack up her laptop, Sesshomaru asked, “Can you show me a different dance from your time?  You said they aren’t all like that one.”

Blushing a bit, she had a sheepish look on her face.  “Well… I suppose I could show you a slow one.  I’m not a very good dancer and don’t get much practice.”  She admitted.

“That’s acceptable.”  He nodded.

“Alright, give me a minute to find a song.”  She told him, turning back to her laptop.

In a couple minutes, something slower and much more melodious filled the air.  Walking to the center of the floor, she had him put one hand on the small of her back then she took his other hand and held it up before putting her hand on one of his shoulder.  After a brief description of the foot work, she began to lead him through it.

This dance was most certainly better than the one the children were doing, was his initial reaction.  Although there was still space between their bodies, the close proximity to her was most pleasant.  He could feel her aura and powers dance across his skin, making it tingle in a most pleasant way. 

When he felt confident that he had the basics down, he took over leading.  The first thing he did was pull her flush against his body and held her there.  Feeling her body pressed against his unleashed a riot of sensations through out his body, seeming to set it on fire and make his blood boil.

From Kagomes’ end it was much the same.  Being that close to him did things to her that she had never before felt.  Her heartbeat quickened and a deep throb was unleashed in her lower belly that shot hot sparks throughout the rest of it.  Without thinking about it she rested her head on his chest and shut her eyes, a small smile crossing her lips.

Shutting his eyes, he rested his cheek against her head.  Slipping his hand from hers, he slid his arm around her shoulders and held her.  To him, it felt wonderful.  He couldn’t remember touching someone ever feeling this good, this arousing.

They danced for quite a while, the song repeating several times.  Finally, he broke away.  No, not because he wanted to but because if they had kept going there would be no way to hide his growing arousal from her.  Before releasing her from his arms, he leaned down and kissed her softly, hearing his beast growl lustily.

Finally, he pulled away.  Taking her hand, he told her quietly, “I think, perhaps, it’s best we stop.”

All she could do was nod dumbly as she tried to catch her breath.

“Come, let’s go for a walk in the gardens.”  He said.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

With a frustrated groan, Sesshomaru shifted around to another position.  It was two hours since he had laid down, two damn hours, and sleep was just not coming.  Rubbing his shut eyes with his palms, he growled.  After getting as comfortable as possible he started taking deep breaths trying to relax.  When he was breathing in light whiffs of Kagomes’ scent filtered in as well.  Because of their close proximity, really-more like touching, earlier her scent clung to him.  As he breathed in her smell filled his nose   It make his beast all but purr and did seem to relax him.

Even though he was relaxed more than he had been, sleep still wasn’t coming.  At that point his beast offered up a suggestion that it said would help him sleep then produced a picture of Kagome curled up to his chest, asleep, while he held her.

Growling softly, he clenched his teeth.  That was not a vision he needed to see!  It wasn’t that he found the vision or even the idea of holding her while they slept repugnant or even distasteful, in fact it was just opposite, it had more to do with just how much he wanted that and that he wasn’t sure how she would react to it.  Yes, he knew her reaction had been favorable when they kissed but there was a big difference between kissing and sleeping with him at night.  There was also the fact that he wasn’t sure where he was going with her and to progress to that level this quickly made him trepidatious.  Once he made that step he knew he couldn’t reverse and go back.  Sighing deeply, he tried once again to will himself to sleep. 

An hour later, and after another flash of an image of him sleeping with her wrapped in his arms his beast had provided, he gave up.  Sliding out of bed, he let himself into her room.  For several minutes he just stood there and looked down at her.  Curled up, she had her arms wrapped around the pillow her head was resting on, sleeping.  She had kicked the covers off and they laid all tangled up at the foot of the bed.  It appeared that he wasn’t the only one who had trouble falling asleep, he thought wryly. 

After another prod from his beast, he extracted the pillow from her grasp.  Then, gently, he scooped her into his arms and carried her into his room.  Gently,, he laid her on the bed then slid in behind her.  Ever so easily, he pulled her to him until her cheek was resting on his chest.  Wrapping his arms around her and resting his cheek on top of her head, he softly rubbed her back.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of her sleep fogged mind the close proximity of another body registered and it prodded her to wake.  Shifting around a bit, she opened her eyes and pushed away slightly.  From the aura and the smell, she knew who it was.  “Sesshomaru?”  She asked in a bit of a sleep-muzzy voice.

“Yes Kagome.”  He said quietly.

“Is something wrong?  That was the only thing her fuzzy thought process could come up with to explain why he would be holding her like this.

“Everything’s fine.”  He told her in a soothing voice.  “I just wished to hold you.”

“Oh, OK.”  She replied, snuggling back up to his chest as if they did it all the time.  Slipping an arm over his side, she gave him a gentle squeeze.  “Feels good.”  Was all she said in a slightly uneven voice as she slid back to sleep.

“Indeed it does.”  He told her quietly.  Although he thought ‘good’ was a huge understatement.  Not only did it feel great it felt ‘right’.  It was as though she fit perfectly to his body.  Her curves molded perfectly to him.  Between her soft, deep breaths and the contented, almost purr-like rumble of his beast he relaxed and felt himself start to finally slide towards sleep, cheek resting on top of her head, arms wrapped around her and something that looked very much like a smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome woke the next morning to a soft rumble that reminded her of a contented cat.  Then she felt the arms around her and that what she was pressed against was breathing.  Suddenly the ‘dream; of Sesshomaru letting her he wanted to hold her returned.  Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up.  When her eyes met the golden ones of the taiyoukai she felt her heart skip a beat then speed up.  “So, it wasn’t a dream.”  She muttered softly.

“No Kagome.”  He said gently, gazing down into her eyes.

Not pulling away, quite frankly she liked how being held by him felt, she continued to gaze into his eyes but asked, quietly, “Why?”

Sensing the calmness in her aura, he knew she wasn’t frightened or stressed out, just curious.  “I wanted to hold you.”  He stated simply.

Smiling a bit, she rested her head back on his chest.  “That means we can stay like this for a while.”  Was her response.  She almost grinned when that purr-like rumble grew louder.

Smirking, he rested his cheek back on top of her head.  “As long as you wish Kagome.”  He said softly.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting on the sill in her room, Kagome rested her head on her folded arms that were propped on her knees and slit her eyes, feeling the gentle breeze blow through her still damp hair.  It was mid-afternoon and this was the first chance she had all day where she was alone so she could do some serious thinking.  Rin and Shippo were in their rooms taking a nap and Sesshomaru had left to attend to something or other.

She sighed and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she thought about the demon lord.  The couple of kisses they had shared then waking up to being held by him had felt so good.  So right.  In the past the only ‘man’ she had ever longed for was Inuyasha now she felt a stronger pull towards Sesshomaru.  Just merely remembering his lips against hers and how his arms felt around her made her shiver and goose bumps race down her spine as well as a lightning bold of liquid heat ignite between her legs.  Inuyasha had never inspired this kind of reaction in her.

At the thought of the hanyou she gave a mental sigh.  She really had just gotten over him and the hurt he had caused so was she really ready to set herself up for that again?  No, Sesshomaru wasn’t his half-brother and wouldn’t do something like that her rational mind told her.  But that small, insecure voice that seemed to have been born from the pain left by Inuyashas’ betrayal expressed doubts.  She couldn’t help the insecurity, really she couldn’t.

Sighing deeply, she began the mental debate she hoped would silence the insecurities and doubts she was having and allow herself the freedom to explore what was happening.

When Sesshomaru quietly stepped into her room a little over an hour later he found her in much the same position.  Although she looked to be asleep the anxiety twisting in her aura told him otherwise.

Walking over, he sat down behind then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.  Females, be they youkai or ningen, were mysterious creatures that were, sometimes, hard to figure out.  They just didn’t seem to think the same way the male of the species did.  But with Kagome this time he thought he might have a bit of a clue where the anxiety was coming from.  Gently, he shifted her around to where she was sitting sideways in his lap.  Looking down at her, he asked, voice softly, “What’s wrong Kagome?”  Although he had a very good idea what was bothering her, he wanted to hear her say it so he could be sure.

“I’m just being insecure is all and doubting myself is all.  Maybe just a bit scared too.”  She told him quietly.  Although when he was holding her some of it did seem to vanish and she felt better.

“Hn...”  He replied.  Even he could understand why.  To have doubts and insecurities after that nightmare with Inuyasha would be normal.  “What’s bothering you most about it then?”  He asked gently.

Leaning against his broad chest, she rested her head on his shoulder.  “I’m not sure where you and I are going.  But I like the direction it’s headed.  I’m just worried about getting hurt again is what it boils down to I guess.”  She told him quietly then sighed.

Yes, it was what he thought the problem might be.  It was also something he could partially alleviate.  “Know this Kagome… I give you my word of honor that I won’t do to you what the half-breed did.”  He told her gently.  “I won’t treat you like he did either.  I gave you and your mother my word I wouldn’t hurt you and I will plan on keeping that!” 

Relaxing, what he had said made her feel much better.  “Thanks Sesshomaru.”  She said, smiling. 

Feeling her relax, he felt a bit of pride puff up a bit, knowing he had hit the nail on the head.  “You’re welcome.”  He told her, resting his head against hers.