Blood Stained: Chapter 37: Second Chances

Blood Stained

Chapter 37: Second Chances

Planes were taking off, people were rushing out, employees made announcements and the world was moving at a rushing pace as Kagome and Sesshomaru finally resumed their traveling ways.

After many delays and unplanned events, they were finally able to make their way to their second location, which was Australia. Now that nobody could locate her, that problem had harshly been taken care of by Sesshomaru, there was no harm in traveling the world once again. Although Kagome could still not purify the jewel yet, it was still safer complete with her, than broken, with shards hidden in the world.

Currently, they were heading for their plane in complete silence. It was how things had mostly been since Sesshomaru had come back in his youkai form. After the small talk they shared where she told him he would have one chance to prove he was different, they had not spoken. Kagome had assumed that after what she had said, he didn't know how to break the ice. It did not bother her much, though. Even thou she was a social person, right now his silence was much welcomed. Kagome knew what she had agreed to, but it was still difficult.

For the next little while, she would have to forget everything she knew about him. She needed to allow him to show his new self.

Deep inside, there was still a part of her which refused to believe he had changed, nonetheless, she would make the effort. She had said something, and she would stick to it, no matter how difficult it would be. Plus, something else would be keeping her busy. If they succeeded in doing it right again.

The other day Sesshomaru and her had apparently managed to form a perfect connection, but she had no idea how it had happened since she had been unconscious. They needed to do it again, explore that world, until she was ready to remember what the other her had forgotten. Of course, they would not be able to do so until they reached their next destination, which was supposed to be Melbourne. She knew it because Sesshomaru had told her during the brief two seconds he had spoken to her.

At least he had told her their plans. But Melbourne was as far as she knew. He didn't inform her of the location of the shard, nor how to obtain it. But at this point, Kagome was pretty much ready for anything.

As they got on board the plane, Kagome felt some people stare at her, unaware of what was going through their minds. Why was such a heavily pregnant woman doing traveling? They had remained in India for over a week and during that time period, her body had kept on changing. She realized that every day, her belly grew bigger. In a way it worried her, because from what Sesshomaru had said, she was months away from her due date, yet, she looked a month away at the most. None of it made sense.

As per usual, Kagome ignored the stares, as she followed Sesshomaru to their seats. Just like last time, he gave her the window seat, so, she slid in the aisle before him. A tiny sigh escaped her lips as she sat down, before resting her head against the headrest. Sesshomaru took the seat next to her, but she didn't look at him. Instead, she was glancing at the window, watching the sight in front of her for the last time. She doubted she'd travel this far again after this shard hunt was over with.

Quickly, she found herself drifting away in her own thoughts. She could still remember clearly the beast and their little confrontation from the previous night. For the first time in a while, Kagome had felt a strength inside of her when she had talked to him. Although she hadn't been as provocative with him, she hadn't coward in fear as much. She had actually remained there and talked to him. Never did she believe herself able to do this, not after everything that had happened. It felt good to have a little bit of her old self back. She wanted more.

Though she hadn't been a mess after seeing the beast, it did not mean she was immune to him. He could still hurt her and they both knew it. It would be easy for him to overpower her at any given time. But maybe, if she didn't let him see her fear, he wouldn't think about it. What if what he had been exploiting this whole time was her weaknesses? The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. He abused her more when she was weak. After all, when she had put her foot down some five hundred years ago, she had asked him to stop using her body and instead to court her in normal human ways, he had accepted.

When she had shown initiative and authority, he had listened.

He only ignored her pleas when she was weak, crying and miserable. Of course, he still tried to protect her, stop her pain, but he had always been the one to create them in the first place. He had only listened when she was firm and demanding. Maybe if she remained that way around him, he wouldn't think about putting her through hell again. It would be a possibility to consider next time she would come face to face with the beast. Although, she hoped it wouldn't be too soon. Perhaps next time, they would be able to fight and retrieve the shard without it.

As Kagome went deeper into her thoughts, she didn't realize that Sesshomaru was glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Her words from the previous night were still ringing in his mind, he couldn't stop them from echoing through. His first question was, did she mean it? It could have been on the spure of the moment, after seeing the beast and now, she regretted it. But maybe it was true, maybe it was part of her healing process. To be perfectly honest, Sesshomaru understood that it was hard for her to let go, but it was slightly annoying that she could not see him as anything else but a monster. Not only had he never been one, but over the centuries, he had matured.

After all, he had made progress. He had even seen her differently. In the past, all she had been was an annoying human. Now, he didn't define her with the word human anymore. What happened to her in the end, actually mattered to him, he could stand her presence, something he could not do five hundred years ago. Now, maybe she was finally deciding to open up. She was giving him one chance, one shot at finally showing her that he was different, that he was who he claimed to be.

The one problem was, Sesshomaru didn't know how to do it.

Obviously little things wouldn't be enough for her. He had acted differently every day, it hadn't changed her view of him. Something had to occur in which she would be forced to see the truth, no matter how much it would hurt her, because he knew it would. Letting go of the vision she had of him would be heart breaking. It would also mean she would need to heal and stop just relinquishing blame. Kagome had to face the problems heads on and he knew how terrified of that she was.

Hopefully, an opportunity would come during their next challenge. The location of their next shard was a little more complicated because it had been known to move around quite a lot. It remained in the same three cities, but you could never know which one. Obviously someone had it and was carrying it, but the question was why? It was almost more dangerous to keep traveling around with it, then to keep it and watch it in one spot all the time. But of course, it was as if the situation was made to make their task even more difficult.

His eyes gazed back her way and he allowed himself to relax slightly. Perhaps the best thing to do was to not disturb her train of thought. Maybe she did require herself to do the thinking, especially if she wanted to figure out what she wanted. Or if what she said was truly what she desired.

Only time would tell.

-B-

Kagome felt as if her whole body was cramped up, as they reached their hotel. For too long now had she been stuck sitting down and her poor legs were begging for some exercise. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be getting any of that right now. They wouldn't travel today, it would be wiser to rest and eat so they would be in full strength for tomorrow. That meant that they would remain in the hotel of the rest of the day and the night. Her mood had been somewhat affected by the trip, the only useful thing she had done was further her reading.

Traveling from India to Australia allowed her a lot of reading time.

What had been especially useful was that she had confirmed, or somewhat confirmed what Sesshomaru had told her. They were experiencing a full connection, but of what type, she wasn't sure yet. Many existed, but when she had begun trying to form one with him, she hadn't been aware of that. You couldn't control which one happened, it all depended on the people's feelings, auras and needs. Everything could influence it. In their case, she doubted it was his aura, so it had to be their feelings.

Since they would be staying in the hotel room tonight, she had planned to try to re-form that connection. She doubted Sesshomaru would refuse the idea, and they had many hours ahead of them.

Like usual, Sesshomaru took care of the keys and registration, before heading upstairs. This time, they had to go in an elevator to reach their floor, unlike last time. As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, it revealed to be quite pack, but there was still space nonetheless. Once they both entered, their luggage taking a lot of room, she found herself extremely close to him. Kagome took a deep breath, not quite as uncomfortable as she could be, before watching the numbers change on the panel.

After all this time, she had become somewhat used to his presence near her.

At least his wasn't as bad as having the beast's presence around.

Sesshomaru remained completely still as he felt her back pressed against his chest. He could feel her breathing rate increase, although she did not seem nervous. He brushed it off and patiently waited for them to reach their destination. Once the elevator arrived on the 4th floor, he gently put his hand on her shoulder, to signal for her to exit the elevator. Kagome immediately understood and took hold of her suitcase before getting out, Sesshomaru closely following her. Once again, he took the lead and made his way to their room.

This time around, the trip didn't feel as suffocating, or as hard. It was a relief.

When they reached the door, he opened it and entered the room. Kagome followed right behind him. It wasn't much different than the last one. Lots of space, of course, and most important, two beds. Kagome unconsciously picked one of the beds when she put her bags on it and sat down on the edge. Although her legs were begging for some exercise, her feet weren't. The extra weight from her pregnancy was showing and her feet were swollen. Not that she could see them. She hadn't been able to see her feet in a while. They just felt swollen.

A sigh escaped her before she turned her head to look at Sesshomaru. Could she just ask him to do the connection? Right now, like this, when they had just arrived? Although there was no great time for it. Any time was fine. Maybe she was a little stressed about what would happen in that world. She didn't know anything, nor how to control herself. Taking a deep breath, Kagome managed to convince herself to ask him. She gave herself a big push so she could get off the bed and she made her way in his direction.

Sesshomaru sensed her coming, so he stopped his actions. Her grey orbs were shining and he recognized the look in her eyes. She wanted to ask him something.

"Can we try again?"

Her words didn't need to be any clearer, he knew what she was talking about. The connection didn't scare him, but he didn't know how to deal with it well. It was strange to be yourself and knowing you should know something and do it, but not being able to. Almost as if it were an out of body experience, he had amnesia. His actions weren't even controlled by him. If they were, he would have never kissed her, nor laid a hand upon her. Yet he had and on top of that, she had kissed him back.

More proof that it was all a mere illusion.

He finally answered her by nodding. Sesshomaru moved over to the bed, where he sat down and waited for her to join him. With some difficulty, Kagome managed to make her way onto the bed, her belly something inconveniencing for her. She took a deep breath before making the first move. Kagome reached out for his hands, something she rarely ever did and this time instead of pressing their palms together, she held his hands in hers. Not because she wanted to, but because she remembered that it was how their hands were when it had worked.

Since she couldn't look into his green eyes, she closed hers. She inhaled deeply, before focusing herself. Since she was unconscious when it happened, she had no idea of what she was supposed to do. Hopefully, Sesshomaru did. His emotions had triggered it and Sesshomaru tried to be in the same state of mind as the previous time. But it wasn't hard on feelings. Nonetheless, he did his best because this wasn't for him, it was for her.

Sesshomaru couldn't, not on his own. He hadn't been alone when he had succeeded in doing it. There was this aura, this presence. There was his son. Something had washed over him and made him feel the way she did, and that was how the link had been created. If only he could feel that familiar tingle again. As Sesshomaru silently prayed for it, it seemed someone had heard him. Slowly a rush of emotions went through Kagome, causing her to buckle under the familiar pain. It exited her through her fingers, before reaching out to Sesshomaru.

Next thing they knew, everything was pitch black.

A gentle breeze blew, playing with her long locks. Kagome sat on the fresh grass, a sad smile on her face. He was coming, she knew he was. Unlike last time, she could feel him. Once again, her whole body was at peace and joy filled her. Even as she thought back about a sad memory, her heart was not heavy, it was filled with love. Kagome gently closed her eyes, as she waited for him to sit beside her. After a few minutes, he did exactly that. Never did he look in her direction, instead he stared right ahead at the sunset.

She was the first one to break the silence between them.

"You grew up without a father."

Still not glancing her way he nodded.

"I grew up without a father."

Were they making a list of similarities?

"Will my child grow up without a father?" Kagome couldn't explain why, but she felt as if she was going to raise this child on her own. He did not love Kiyoshi. He was disgusted by him and what he represented. He couldn't be a good father figure for him, he would only hurt him. But, being without a father... would it be worse?

"He won't," stated Sesshomaru before turning around to look at her. Their eyes met and it was impossible for her to gaze to move away from his.

She was avoiding the most important thing and he knew it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

For a second, her eyes narrowed and she finally broke the eye contact.

"No."

Her answer was firm and strict. But what didn't she want to know? What was he referring to? For a moment, she felt her head feeling fuzzy, as if the answer was right there but she couldn't access it. But thinking about it made her heart ache. She didn't want the pain.

"This won't end if you don't, you know."

She shook her head.

"I don't care if it doesn't. I don't need the pain. I'm happy now."

This time, he was the one who changed.

"I could break your neck so easily, I'd be free of you." His tone was cold, and it almost gave her shivers. Didn't he love her? Hadn't he kissed her?

"You ruined it all. You are good for nothing. You weren't for me, you weren't for him."

She frowned. "Who's him?"

As soon as the question left her lips, she felt a pulse going through her. "Inuyasha," she whispered, not knowing that she was answering her own question. The happiness inside of her was quickly threatened.

"What happened to him?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it." His own feelings were so confusing. He felt torn apart by two sides and he didn't know how to control either. One of them wanted to rip that pretty little head off her body while the other wished to trap her in his arms and never let her go. She was his captive, his to keep, but she drove him insane.

For a brief second, she transformed in his eyes. He saw tears staining her face, and silent screams dying on her lips. But as quickly as the flash had come, it had disappeared. There she was again, completely happy, her face dried and her eyes shining. A feeling of guilt filled him, but he shook his head to chase it off. Bit by bit, he found himself attacked by memories that did not seem to be his. Yet the more time passed, the more he found himself forced to face the reality of things. He had damaged her.

She had been like his daughter.

Untainted like an angel. It took her and it stained her, dragging her through the blood. Her spirit had been broken and tears had been shed every day.

She had fought until there had been no more energy left in her. Of course, it had led her to the unthinkable, she had betrayed him. But why did he feel relief instead of anger? Why did he want her to escape? I wanted to scream at her to leave, to never go to the hot springs. Hadn't both their lives been ruined that day? And why couldn't she remember any of it, while he could?

She seemed so happy, so different sitting there without a worry in the world. It didn't feel as if it was Kagome by his side. She always worried for everyone else's problem. How could she just sit there and pretend that absolutely nothing was wrong? Something just didn't feel right. He tilted his head to the side slightly and that is when he noticed the lack of life in her eyes. That was always where all of her emotions could be read, but now, there was nothing.

As if she was nothing but an empty useless shell.

Why did he suddenly feel the urge to hurt her? He felt a pain that could only be eased by her tears.

"He never loved you," he said, before he could realize what he was saying.

She didn't look at him.

"He loved me. He left her behind for me."

He scoffed.

"He only left her behind because there was no hope for them. You were the replacement, what he got since he couldn't have the original." He observed carefully, waiting for those tears to satisfy his thirst. Her eyes were shiny with liquid, but she had yet to shed a tear. Why was she being so persistent?

"That's not true," she said, her voice finally breaking. What was this deep sadness inside of her?

"He loved me for me. He gave up on her."

"He saw her in you every day, it made it easier to pretend." Finally, he watched the first tear roll down her cheek. He had finally done it. He had destroyed the fake happiness she had made up for herself. Then why did it hurt so much to watch her suffer? His own heart began to beat faster as he watched her expression change. It was as if his heart were being squeezed and he felt an ache he hadn't felt before.

"Will it hurt like this if I talk about it?"

Her body was shaking and trembling, as she wrapped her arms around her bulging stomach. She was so tired of the pain. Her body was not strong enough to handle it anymore. But there was so much she wanted to do, to say. She had the urge to slap him, but she didn't know where it came from.

He nodded, but before he could open his mouth, he felt her hand make contact with his cheek. It shouldn't have hurt because he was stronger than her, but he felt it sting. A fury was created inside of him and it felt as if his eyes were bleeding. Before he realized what he was doing, he had her pinned under his body. She was completely trapped, restricted of any type of movements. He could finally see the panic in her eyes, but it no longer pleased him. He wanted her to recognize that she was his... or he wanted to free her.

He was conflicted.

Kagome was breathing heavily as she tried to break free, even though it seemed useless.

"How does it feel to remember?" he asked softly.

She would have been confused by his question, if she hadn't been attacked by a flash back. She was bleeding heavily, because she had cut herself and she could see him coming her way. His hands had been on her body, he had forced himself upon her, despite her cries for help, he had not stopped.

Kagome felt her eyes burning, as she violently shook her head. This wasn't what she wanted. She was happy before, why did he have to take her smile away from her? Why did he need to shatter her heart to pieces?

Why couldn't he learn to stay away from her?

"Please, don't hurt me again," she almost begged.

All he could hear echoing in his mind was her voice, as he watched the tears flow out of her eyes. All she ever wanted was to be protected. Rin wanted to be protect, but Rin did most of her things on her own, just like the Miko only had herself to rely on. But not anymore... she could no longer even trust herself.

She felt herself being slowly pulled away. As Kagome opened her eyes, she noticed that her hands were no longer joined with Sesshomaru's. He had broken the contact.

"Why?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"There is no sense in hurting yourself for no reason," he said, before looking away from her.

The tears, the pain, the rapes. He had seen them all go through his mind so quickly. After watching the pain in her eyes, he knew it had been enough. He had done the only thing he had been able to, pull away from her. Apparently he had a lot more control than he thought possible. But if he was right in his thinking, she didn't. From the looks of things, she absolutely had no control. Once she was stuck in that world, he was the only way of bringing her out of it?

It seemed he wasn't the only one thinking he had too much control in that world. Kagome believed the same thing. Why had he been able to pull away, when in the moment of her great panic, she hadn't been able to do anything? What could she possibly be doing wrong that he was doing right? She was the one who currently had powers and an aura, she should be the one who knew how to control her own actions, not the other way around.

"How did you do it?" she asked, her tone surprisingly not bittersweet.

While she had been lost in her own thoughts, Sesshomaru had begun to come up with a theory. Emotionally, he was not as involved in this as she was. The Miko had never been able to let go of anything while, he remained attached, he had moved on. He had accepted things, he had faced his actions a long time ago. Kagome on the other hand, seemed to have never been able to accept anything that occurred. Granted she had tried and she still was, but it was much harder for her than it was for him.

Perhaps his own acceptance of what happened helped him have more control and memories during the connection? Although it did not explain his desire to see her tears. Why did he want her to cry, why did he want to hurt her? It was not a reflection of his feelings...

When Sesshomaru looked up, he noticed she was still looking at him, waiting for an answer he did not really have.

"Perhaps I am more detached with the events. I have learned to accept them, no matter what pain or guilt it brings me to do so."

She blinked a few times, extremely slowly. No matter what guilt or pain it brought him? Kagome's heart was pounding, as she was dying to ask a few questions, but was it okay? Was it okay to allow herself to relax in his presence, to act like civilized people. Could she have a decent conversation with him? She did say she wanted to give him another chance, but it was still so hard to get used to. After a few mores seconds, she decided she had to.

"Aren't you scared?" Her voice was barely a whisper, as she let her own fears out. While asking her questions she would have to push aside the fact that she did not truly believe in all of his guilt. Just for the sake of the answers she wanted for herself.

"How do you learn to live with it?"

He was drawn in by her words and by the look in her eyes. She needed comfort. It was maybe then that Sesshomaru realized not everyone was like him. He could deal with loneliness very well, he actually preferred it, but the Miko, like a lot of humans needed contact and re-assurances. She lacked it so much, the only person she could get it from was him. Yet he was the worst when it came to any type of relationship. He never interacted much with anyone. As sad as it was, she was one of the few people he had interacted the most with during his life so far.

Now, he didn't have an answer to give her. Had he never been scared in his life? Perhaps a few ... well once. He had been scared when Rin had been kidnapped, scared that he would be too late. If he was honest with himself, he had been scared one other time. When the Miko had been back in his life, he had been afraid to make a mistake again. He had vowed she would not be hurt again, especially not by his hand and he feared sometimes that it was not a promise he could keep, not when he could not control his beast.

So how did he learn to live with that feeling?

"You don't," he finally answered. "You can't keep the same life and learn to live with it. You need to change yourself to adapt."

He could tell from the look in her eyes that it wasn't the answer she was expecting, but he didn't have another one for her. Reality was never pretty, but then again, she knew that first hand. You can't change anything, nor can you run away from it, it will always come back to you.

A sigh escaped Kagome at the thought of the work ahead of her. She had re-built herself from scratch. But right now, away from her family, all she had here was him. She couldn't possibly lean on him for support. Not only might it be false, but wouldn't that create a sort of relationship between them? At the thought of that, Kagome seemed to remember something she had asked him during the connection. She needed to know if what he said there was truly how he felt. Because, that wouldn't really have been his answer, some five hundred years ago it wasn't.

Kagome took a deep breath. "Do you want to be in his life?"

The subject had clearly been avoided, perhaps because there was no real way to deal with it. Being in his son's life meant somehow being in hers, it was true that they didn't have to talk, but there were so many things involved when it came to a child. There would always be a few details they would need to look over. But, Sesshomaru would insist on being a father to his pup. He hadn't imposed much on the Miko, at least ever since they had been together in this era, but this he would have to.

"Yes," he said, wondering how she would take it.

Last time they had been on such a subject, he had no interest in the pup, because it would be hanyou. How he despised humans back then. He still did, but he was willing to admit there were exceptions. Like her.

Kagome slowly nodded, without saying anything. To be honest it didn't surprise her that much, since it had been expected. She had also done a lot of thinking on the matter, she knew she couldn't be selfish. If she were to be, she would refuse, she'd tell him it was too bad for him. But the person who would pay that price if Sesshomaru wasn't there was her son. He needed his father, someone to go to, when he couldn't go to her, someone that knew about his youkai blood. He needed his father.

Though it might be difficult, she couldn't take that away from her son.

"He'll need you."

In her words, he understood fully what she meant. And at that moment, Sesshomaru decided that even if it was to come from her, she needed some encouragement.

"You have more strength than you think."

His words took a while to sink in, but when they did, she nearly looked at him in disbelief. Was Sesshomaru trying to be nice to her? He didn't have to, because he knew she wouldn't demand it from him. He should be the last person she would seek comfort from and he knew it. Yet he did say it and she knew he usually meant his words. But sometimes, like now, Kagome felt weak. She could remember what it was like to have this rush of energy through her that pulled her through everything and that was what she wanted back.

Maybe she was just good at holding back because she didn't want anyone to get hurt. Maybe he thought she was doing better than she was. Then, the tiniest smirk appeared on his face.

"You are quite stubborn."

It was as if he knew what she had been thinking. That he knew mentally she was arguing over what he had said.

"I could say the same to you."

And there it was that strange moment they never had. For a split second, it was as if nothing bad had ever happened between them. For a quick instant, there had been a moment between them. As if they were friends, as if they liked each other. They had joked around with each other, as if nothing mattered. She had quickly realized it, but it was too late now, it had happened. It hadn't been horrible. If only the memories weren't there, maybe it would have been possible. Maybe complicity could have been created.

Knowing the moment was gone, Sesshomaru re-directed the conversation.

"Have you been in pain lately?"

He knew they had been quite close, especially with the beast's appearance, so perhaps for the last little while, her pain had been gone. He wondered if they would ever stop though. Would Kiyoshi constantly need a bond with his father, or it was just for a while, just to have a little something? For her sake, he hoped it would go away soon, after all, she was only 3 and a half months pregnant or so. She had at least 2 months to go before she would be close to her due date. If she were to be in pain every day for that long...

Plus by then they would be back to Japan and he doubted they would see each other much, which meant the pain would increase even more.

Kagome looked down at her stomach, before resting her hands on it. Yes, the pain had still been present, but they were not bad. They didn't prevent her from doing anything, they were just there. Maybe it was because over the time, she had gotten used to them, but they barely bothered her, which she was grateful for. Still they were there and it meant her child was suffering. She could only hope there would finally be a moment when they would completely cease, when Kiyoshi would stop needing to have a bond with his father.

But for that to happen, she most probably had to take the plunge. Kagome closed her eyes tightly for a moment, collecting herself. This was the moment. She had to separate Sesshomaru from his beast in her mind, right now. It would make things much easier for both her and Kiyoshi. Her heart was hammering, but she pushed the thought aside. She had to do this. After all, she was trying to move on wasn't she? She wanted to be the Kagome she had always been. Some things were hard to face and accept, but she could no longer run from them.

Her life hadn't turned out the way she had expected it, but life was often that way. All she could do was manage to do the best with what was given to her. If she let every little thing stop her from enjoying life, she would never live again and her life had no purpose. Sometimes facing things head on was the only way to break through them. Kagome had so many grey walls around herself, she had built them all. Perhaps it was time to shatter them, one brick at a time. When she'd do it, she'd be free again.

But she couldn't rush or she would fail. She had to take things slow and to her own rhythm. Every day, she would try the bond they had formed, perhaps in hope to relieve herself from the darkness. But she also had to do these steps on her own. One of them started with trusting him. It was hard to do that for her after everything that had happened between them, but she had no choice. If she didn't trust him, none of this could go right. Just like his second chance, her trust only came once. If he ruined it, she would take it away.

Kagome thought she was being more than fair after their history together.

She was giving him a chance to prove himself, to show he could be a different and better person.

She was doing it for herself, and for her son. Because if he was going to be his father, then she would have to see him once in a while, she couldn't allow herself to fear him, or be a mess when that would happen. She wanted to go back in the real world, not be scared and jumpy every time someone popped out of nowhere.

All of it... it started now.

Kagome inhaled deeply before grabbing the hem of her shirt and slightly lifting it until all of her bulging stomach was revealed. Her heartbeat was echoing in her mind as she reached out for Sesshomaru's hand. He did not even dare to move, almost afraid to scare her. Slowly, she grabbed his wrist, before directing his own onto her stomach. Once she put it down, she flinched at how cold it was, before releasing her hold on him.

Because of her actions, he thought she was doing this because she was in pain. He had no idea her reasons were very different. Gently, he rubbed the smooth stretched skin of her stomach, watching her observing his hand. Every time he did this, it brought a new feeling inside of him that he could not explain.

And then, he felt something under his palm, curious, he moved his hand down slightly. Both him and Kagome were quickly graced with the sight of a foot being hard pressed against her stomach. Kagome glued her lips together and unconsciously both her and Sesshomaru reached out for the foot. Almost at the same time, they made contact with the skin where the foot was. Their fingers touched briefly, before all of a sudden, the foot left as quickly as it had come. Both their fingers lingered there, as Sesshomaru raised his head to look at her.

She had a smile beaming on her face.

Kagome felt his eyes on her and she gazed down at him, the smile still over filling her face. After a few instants, she focused her attention on her stomach again, not realizing what she had done. But Sesshomaru had. No matter how happy he had seen her, every time she'd glance at him, it would disappear.

Not this time. She had looked at him, her eyes shining, she had smiled.

A true smile.

-B-