Inuyasha Well met by Moonlight

Well met by Moonlight

The Taiyoukai stood by the edge of a clearing, his molten gold eyes staring far away into the horizon. It was a beautiful night; the full moon gleamed on every blade of grass in the meadow, and once in a while a stiff wind would move through the reeds, making them ripple as though they were the waves of the very sea. His hands fell on the hilt of Tokijin long before he even caught her scent, and when he did a low growl emanated from between his closed lips. Lord Sesshoumaru wasn't interested in company of any sort tonight, and especially not hers.

Kagome knew he'd sensed her long before she even came within range, and she also knew he would make no hesitation to whip out his sword. But tonight it didn't matter, any other night it would, but not tonight.

"Hello Lord Sesshomaru"

He didn't even register her presence, didn't show any sign of hearing her. His eyes continued to gaze out across the clearing, his posture was as stiff and solid as rock.

Kagome folded her arms against the cool wind and came abreast of him, leaning against a tree as she too stared out to the landscape. They both stood in silence for several long moments, and then the ventured forth.

"A beautiful night, isn't it?"

The Youkai still didn't as much as glance at her.

"What do you want?"

Kagome looked up at his profile, his finely chiseled face that was only a sharper version of one that was so familiar to her.

"I'd like to talk"

Sesshomaru finally turned to face her, a sardonic lift to his eyebrow

"I have nothing to say to you"

She chuckled softly and turned back to the clearing.

"Fine, I don't expect you to, but I do expect you to listen"

Her eyes caught the almost imperceptible clenching of his hand around Tokijin, but Kagome was well past the stage of worrying.

"Of course Lord Sesshomaru has cares little in the thoughts of lowly humans, after all the mere whisper of your name sends them scurrying for safety. But this Miko has something to say and you will listen"

There was an edge of defiance in her voice and for the first time since she approached him, Sesshomaru sensed the fiery spirit she was famous for. He turned and looked her straight in the eye, his expression beyond glacial.

"Say what you have to say, and then get lost"

His face was an inscrutable blank wall and even after he'd expressed permission to speak Kagome continued to study his face. The Youkai was beginning to think this human had nothing worthwhile to say when she opened her mouth. The words came out almost as if she was making a casual observation of the weather.

"You know, it's so typical of you. The great and powerful prince of the western lands, strongest of the Taiyoukai, master of all you survey. Your reputation as a ruthless, cold-blooded monster is, dare I say it, well earned. Everything you say or do is calculated to have only one effect, to instill deep fear into the hearts of all, human and demons alike."

Still there was hardly any reaction from the demon; in fact he looked at her with an expression that was steadily becoming bored. Kagome smiled faintly at his nonchalance, whether or not he showed it she knew he was listening to every word she said.

"Yet when I look at you, I realize that it's quite the opposite of that and you're the one who is really afraid."

She felt a tremor at the sudden jerk of his sword hand but continued without revealing any sign of apprehension, her voice taking a jocular tone.

"You say humans are beneath your notice, we're weak and lowly, nature has cursed us to forever be the prey of your kind. And yet you fear us even though we are weak and useless, helpless to whatever comes our way and unable to defend ourselves from even the weakest of your kind. You fear everything that makes us so weak. Our emotions, tears and joy, our pain and laughter. Our need to feel wanted and welcome, our ties of friendship that last longer than even death."

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and turned away from her casually.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"No, I've barely begun. It took me a long time to understand how you who hate humans so much could bring yourself to continually be in the company of a human child. At first I thought you'd finally discovered the shriveled lump that should be your heart. But then I realized you were only trying to find out why _she_ stuck with you even when it was the biggest risk the child could take. Why would any sane human align herself with a demon, much less you? And then when I continued to see her in your train and you didn't kill her from the first day, it became clear"

The Taiyoukai finally reacted to all her speeches. He turned around to glare at Kagome and muttered almost inaudibly.

"The only reason I spared Rin is because it is beneath me to hurt a weakling child, human or no. Other demons may enjoy preying upon innocents but this Sesshomaru will not stoop that low"

Kagome nodded and a faint smile appeared briefly on her face.

"At first maybe, but soon you got yourself attached to her. Kids have a way of getting under our skins, and I should know, it's only human"

"Hold your tongue wench"

A sharp growl emanated from him at that but she paid him little heed.

" It was then I realized how much you must envy we humans. Our intense and often melodramatic displays of emotion, our appallingly low threshold for pain, our ridiculous fear of death or dying. You look at us and though our lives are short, we live every moment as if it were the last we'd get- and sometimes it is- but it a lot more than any of your kind can say"

The western prince ground his teeth in barely suppressed irritation. This little wench was beginning to get on his nerves, but he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing her words got to him at all.

"I really don't care what goes on in your insignificant existences, spare me the details of your homily"

"You Youkai lead a contradictory life; endlessly long, blazingly powerful, and yet so empty. No wonder your father left you and your mother for a human woman"

His sword whipped out faster than she could react and before she could even blink, Tokijin's edge rested against her throat.

"That is enough from you human"

His voice had gone several pitches lower, and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. Kagome looked straight into the twin beams of gold and continued quite calmly.

"No wonder you were so jealous of Inuyasha, he was the lucky one of the bunch of you. He succeeded where your father failed, and you haven't even dared to try"

Sesshomaru took a threatening step closer and Tokijin bit deeper into her throat.

"I said enough witch, you will speak no more of that diseased half-breed or I'll kill you before you can say 'purify'"

Kagome continued to look steadily into his eyes, a sly smile peeping in the corner of her mouth. At last she'd managed to get the right kind of response from the ice prince. Even in death his brother held so much sway over the Youkai.

"Witch or healer, which am I? Make up your mind Sesshomaru"

His eyes narrowed into slits, and she added in after thought.

"…Sama"

Sesshomaru was surprised when she broke his gaze and stared past him, into the moonlit night behind. Her warm brown eyes had a hardness to them he'd never noticed before.

"Perhaps I am both, witch and healer, not falling completely to either side. You know, we humans aren't all that great. We are always so afraid of things we don't understand. And what we fear we want to destroy. We start wars over the most insignificant of things and kill each other over petty issues. Siblings fight each other and we find it so hard to trust one another. Most of the time we end up standing alone."

She chuckled softly and gestured toward the western lord.

"Sound's familiar, Youkai?"

A chocked gasp came out of her as Tokijin bit harder into her flesh.

"Keep testing my patience, and I will kill you"

Instinct warned Kagome that it wouldn't be wise to push him any further but she wasn't done yet.

"I know you can but before you do, this Sesshomaru will listen"

"Even the few times my party and yours crossed path, you keep your distance. We are not worthy of your presence and so you keep aloof, your sword a formidable deterrent to any of us that would've dared approached you. We both know the truth though; that you don't abhor human company as much as you fear finding out that your father was right"

Her words became a taunting chanting in Sesshomaru's ears, he grit his teeth even harder in a bid not to lose his cool but it was getting more and more difficult as Kagome continued to hit close to home. And that surprised him even more, that she alone was able to do what no one else had, this puny female was getting to him. Of course Tokujin's presence on her throat was making her jittery but it was her eyes that betrayed that fact, not her voice.

"Listen you little witch, you know nothing about me, don't even dare to think you can comprehend the way my mind works. You may have managed to confound the mongrel with your miko ways but your little tricks do not work on me."

Kagome reached up and slowly pushed away the sword point from her throat. There was a thin sliver of blood where he had applied too much pressure on the blade, but she ignored it. Her eyes were squarely on Sesshomaru because she knew that if she as much as blinked, he would not hesitate to make good his word.

"There were no tricks to work on Inuyasha, all he did he did of his own will. The half-breed mongrel was not afraid to be called weak for his attachment to humans."

He twitched at that and she took a step closer in challenge.

"How is Rin?"

The Youkai was immediately put on guard by her seeming innocuous question.

"The girl is back with her kind"

"You see what I mean? Once someone skirts too close for comfort you cut them off."

Sesshomaru gave a long sigh and sheathed his sword.

"Is there an end to all of this?"

Kagome laughed lightly and leaned back on the tree.

"Not really, I suppose I'm just rambling. I do that often these days. The battle is over, Inuyasha is dead, Sango and Miroku have that look in their eyes and I find myself more of a third wheel"

He turned slightly at the bleakness in her voice.

"You can always return to your own world, your own time"

Kagome shrugged slightly and folded her arms once more.

"Can I? Witch, healer, schoolgirl, where do I fall in? I'm afraid I've gone for too long on both sides to fit in comfortably either way. I've seen far too much of the darkness of this side to just cross the well and expect to live a normal life in my world. With each journey I took here I distanced myself from the rest of my life, my friends…my family. I guess I've killed too many demons to begin to respect the lives of humans who act so much like them, and that is what my world is about. Humans who act as if they were Youkai- no offence intended here."

They stood in contemplative silence for another long while, and then she continued humorously.

"It seems then that you and I are almost the same. Strong Youkai who can never really fit in with the rest because he has been given the dream of another way, and a weak miko who has seen too much of reality to believe in one"

He heard the sound of a teardrop hitting her cheek and turned around with surprise. This miko was hurting in more ways than one.

" There isn't another way miko, your kind and mine will always continue to be at war until one side destroys the other. That is how it has been and that is how it will continue to be"

"Must it?"

It came out as a plaintive whisper and Sesshomaru felt his final wall shatter. Kagome blinked at the sudden vulnerability she read in the Youkai's eyes but it was quickly replaced by anger, his last defense.

"Give it up Kagome, this is one quest you can't succeed in. I am not my brother"

She smiled faintly and shook her head, daring to come another inch closer to him.

"That I know because if you were, I'd be dead a long time ago"

He narrowed his eyes at her steady approach, but his hand didn't reach for Tokujin.

"Is that why you gave up so easily, because you thought only a half breed was capable of succeeding where your father failed? Give yourself a little more credit Sesshomaru"

Right then they were standing toe to toe, her head barely reaching his shoulder. Sesshomaru felt a flash of apprehension when she closed the final gap and laid her head on his chest. There was a tense silence for several minutes as the lord of the western lands found himself taken by the miko's tricks. Kagome tucked her head underneath his chin and slowly wrapped an arm around him.

"Because if you give up so easily, then what is to become of us?"


End file.
