Finally by Kitori Megami

Meeting in the Forest

' ' - thoughts

" " - talking

Finally by Kitori Megami

It was a nice, rainy fall day and Kagome was glad; glad that, finally, Inuyasha was giving them a break. She left their camp for a while to take a walk, Kami knows she needed to get away from Inuyasha.

So there she was, walking with her head down, her soft raven tresses cascading over her shoulders in elegant waves as she was thinking. Her eyes firmly set with a seriousness in them, her full rose lips somewhat pursed as she began biting her lower lip in thought. She stood no higher than five feet off the ground so she didn't have to worry about hitting any low branches. The forest is usually calming but this day she couldn't help but find herself uneasy with troubling thoughts.

'Why of all places did he have to choose to stop here? Does Inuyasha know we're in his brother's lands, the Western Lands? His all-powerful brother, Lord Sesshoumaru, the almighty demon Lord of the Western Lands!? Kami knows it's bad enough that I can't stop thinking about him. If he saved Rin, there must be a heart underneath that frosty, stoic exterior,' she thought, all the while following her feet with her deep blue eyes as they took her to some unknown place.

As her thoughts stirred up again, Kagome, unknowingly, picked up her pace, 'I'm sure he's not as dense as Inuyasha, I thought I had loved Inuyasha, but I was wrong,' the tears were flowing in narrow rivulets down her cheeks quite freely now, ' even when I was "in love" with him, he shattered my heart just the same. I should-----'

Getting carried away with herself, Kagome didn't realize someone was in front of her until she bumped into them, unfortunately this made her fall back. She braced herself for the painful collision with the ground but it never came, instead she felt two strong arms wrap around her and set her upright again.

Opening her eyes, she jumped as she was not two inches from the Great Lord Sesshoumaru himself.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome started.

"Young Miko, why do you cry for him if he only brings you pain? My brother does not realize anything; even if it smacks him in the face," his voice shockingly gentle and curiously inquiring with a humorous lilt in the last sentence.

For a moment, Kagome just stood there, shocked, she had never seen Sesshoumaru being kind to anyone except for Rin. As she gained her bearings, she didn't trust her voice for she was trembling from the cold rain, so she did the one thing that seemed totally right to her. She hugged him.

At first, he stiffened, but soon hugged her back fiercely, as if he was afraid she'd disappear.

He didn't know why or how but he was drawn to this girl. He always felt so alone but she made him feel complete. Then they parted

"I have kept my eyes on you. I see what that hanyou, that half-breed brother of mine, does to you. You shouldn't take it. Over the time I have watched you, I have grown to care for you. Everytime my brother touches you I want to tear him limb from limb," he leaned forward after this and pressed his soft lips to her lush ones in a chaste kiss.

When they parted he said, " Come away with me, Kagome, and you'll never have to worry again. We can be together forever."

Kagome was shocked to sat the lease, her one wish was actually coming true. She had long since realized her lust for the demon lord had become a hopeless, longing love.

Kagome brought her gaze slowly up to his amber eyes, then in one swift glidng movement, he pulled her to him in a gentle embrace. They stood there, quiet, for a few minutes, both trying to memorize every single detail of that exact moment.

Sesshoumaru lightly pressed his lips to her forehead in a chaste kiss then sank down to her lips and claimed them in a passionately devouring kiss.

They were both thinking one thing, 'Finally.'