Love: Lost and Found

Chapter 3
Down Memory Lane: the First Smile

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rahci-haha. Yes I will try to update ASAP everyday if possible. Maybe even 2x a day, woo! If I have the time that is, lmao. Gar-I go to a really hard school with lots of homework ::twitch twitch:: so sometimes I might take a while to update... ::twitch twitch::
Megan Consoer- woo! Doin it right now! Dun na na! Lol
LadyTigresa- lol I will try to. I'm guessing the email attached to ur profile is the correct one? If not tell me in a review! They're always welcome! Lmao.

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well I'm thoroughly enjoying reviews! Its nice to know that one's work is appreciated and liked, heck, even read! So keep em coming, it only makes me happier!
Reviews = happy Dani, happy Dani = faster chapters!
Ok im done now... ^_^;
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The servants bustled about Kagome, sponging her clean quickly and then shoving clothes over her head and around her legs. She was really not used to this sort of treatment at all, and was slightly self-conscious. After being cleaned up and dressed, food and drink were shoved under her nose. Most of the servants had now left except for one small brown-headed woman who looked only a little older than Kagome. She stood patiently by the door, as if waiting for something.

Kagome slurped the last of her soup and set down on the table next to her bed. The woman came rushing forth and grabbed the bowl after bowing deeply.

"Umm, excuse me, miss," Kagome began.

"Ah, Milady, I am no miss. I am but a lowly servant. Yours to command. Sesshomaru has been ever so gracious to me and given me the great honor of being your personal hand servant. Much of what Joken is to the Lord himself, except I do more typical things such as cleaning and helping with what-nots and such," she rambled on in a fast and mid-pitched voice.

It took Kagome a moment for all of her fast talk to seep into her brain.

"Um, okay? Can I at least have your name?" Kagome said, rather uncomfortably.

"Firiel Andur," she said simply with a smile. Kagome noticed she wasn't a demon. Maybe that's why she seemed a bit more cheerful, unlike all the other demons in this place. And maybe that's why Sesshomaru assigned her to Kagome, another human to keep her company. Kagome smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, Miss, I've got to take this to the kitchen to be cleaned. Just call out for me if you need anything! We servants have ears all over the place, if you know what I mean!" she giggled and tapped her nose. She had a very different accent, pronouncing most of her "a"s as "ow"s and most of her "i"s as long "e"s.

Kagome had to smile at her cheer. She made cleaning up and caring for people all of the time look like fun the way she kept a constant grin on her freckled face. Firiel bustled out of the room and Kagome leaned back into her pillow with a sigh. She rubbed her aching wrists, they were bruised badly. She lifted up the robe she had been dressed in and examined the cut InuYasha had put on her stomach. He hadn't necessarily marked her as his, but had left a mark on her showing that he had been with her.

She reached down to touch it, to pick at the quickly scabbing area. Her finger grazed it and she yelped as it sent a shocking burn to the skin on her finger. She clasped her index finger with her other hand, looking at it intently. It looked as if it had been burned. She moaned in frustration. How she had loved InuYasha... even if at one point as a brother, but oh! how she loved him.

She bent her head in sorrow, letting her hands fall to her sides. She felt as if she had failed in one way or another. As if some great purpose she was supposed to fulfill had been snatched from her, when it laid in her palms for so long. She turned and lay on her side, bringing one hand up underneath her pillow and the other in front of her. She let another tear leak out. She went to cross her legs in order to get more comfortable, but found that her womanly region screamed out in pain as she attempted to.

"Ah!" she half-yelled in surprise and let her legs spread slightly. "No! No, no, this can not have happened!" she said to herself as a tear streamed from her chocolaty eyes. She grabbed the pillow next to her (she has a queen sized bed ^_~) and rammed it on top of her face, screaming into it. Firiel somehow appeared in the room, concern written all over her face as she watched Kagome begin to sob again.

"Miss, is there anything you need, anything I can do?" she asked softly, coming to Kagome's bedside. Kagome shook her head from underneath the pillow.

"No thank you," came her mumbled reply. "I think I'll be going to sleep now.... But thank you anyways," she said, pulling the pillow off of her head and wiping her eyes, forcing a smile at the sweet woman. Firiel gave her sweet smile and nodded. Before she left the room she added:

"Don't count on sleeping just yet," Kagome saw her wink, "and if you be needing something you just give me a call!" and with that Firiel stepped out into the hall.
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about 5 minutes ago (this and the Kagome sequence ^above^ are happening at the same time)

Sesshomaru tied the obi-like belt of his pale blue silk robe tight around his lean waist. The robe did not really match his eyes well, but it made his hair seem to glow and shimmer a bit more, and the purple stripes and crescent moon look more pronounced.

Sesshomaru flexed his year old arm. He remembered when he had gotten back. It is one of his favorite memories...

(trip down memory lane! About a year ago...)

Sesshomaru had a run in with his brother, who had taken his arm quite a while ago. They had just had another violent encounter with each other, Sesshomaru being the victor. He would never tell anyone, but his encounters with his little brother were always meant to make him stronger, to test his wits and strength. InuYasha always fell short of Sesshomaru's hopes and expectations, but he was well enough, Sesshomaru supposed.

But after this particular battle, which had left InuYasha with quite a few gaping gashes. Sesshomaru always held back on his little brother, but now he had to exert himself a bit more with only one arm. He had over done it though, he hadn't meant to hurt his brother that bad. 'But oh, well,' Sesshomaru had thought. 'It'll teach him not to underestimate me.' After Kagome had healed InuYasha with her miko powers and made sure he was okay, she approached Sesshomaru tentatively after wards.

"Um, Lord Sesshomaru," she had said politely. He had looked up at her, surprised by her bold courage to approach him.

"Yes, miko?" He didn't think calling a beautiful woman like Kagome a 'ningen' would be fitting for her. But calling her by her first name was not appropriate either. 'Miko' would work.

She bowed. "W-would you like your arm back? I can't imagine what it's like with only one arm. And if you so desire I can repair it for you," she had stuttered out nervously. It was in this moment that Sesshomaru was completely assured of his liking for this girl. He had looked her up and down a few times. She had rid of her school uniform after dropping out, but still continuously clothed scantily or in tight fitting pants and shirts, unless of course it was cold outside.

"If you desire, Miko," he had told her softly. He had been sitting in the grass near their group, resting briefly after the fight. Kagome came and knelt next to him, untying the sleeve that Sesshomaru kept tied upon his shoulder so his sleeve wouldn't dangle uselessly. Kagome had wrapped her hands around an imaginary forearm and her hands glowed pink. She shut her eyes and focused her powers, sweating slightly. Within about a minute his arm had returned, purple stripes and all.

He had flexed it approvingly, amazed that a mortal could produce such power and so accurately, down to the very placement of veins and stripes. He remembered turning to look at her to thank her, a rare thing on his case, but only saw a collapsed form of a young woman. Her friends and InuYasha were down the way busy making and eating lunch. They had known she had gone to speak with Sesshomaru, but none of them had been concerned. InuYasha knew he would not harm a female.

Sesshomaru looked at Kagome's unconscious from and flicked a few locks of hair away from her fair face with a clawed finger, a *new* clawed finger. The new arm was a bit weak and stiff, as if it had not been used in a year or two. But that was to be expected, because it hadn't. Sesshomaru had planned to leave rather quickly, but then he had figured he might as well stay and look at this fair woman beside him, who had just performed a wonderful and kind deed for him.

When she finally awoke she had found Sesshomaru staring intently at her. She had blushed and shut her eyes in an embarrassed grin. He felt her emotion leak off of her in a smell.

"No need to be embarrassed, young Miko. You are a beautiful woman," he had said, though a bit shyly. She had blushed deeper, drawing a rare twitch of the lips from Sesshomaru. She sat up and then stood, a bit wobbly. Attempting to bow and dismiss herself, she had fallen right into Sesshomaru. She had scrambled, face flushed red, to get up, Sesshomaru's eyes wide, his face blank. Once Kagome had gotten steadily to her feet again she gave a small bow and raced back down to her friends, calling out behind her.

"My apologies, Lord Sesshomaru! Sorry! Hope you like your new arm!" It had drawn a smile from Sesshomaru's lips. The first smile he had ever smiled.

(alright, that was a fun trip, eh? Well, now back to the present!)

He sighed and let his newer arm fall into place beside him. He clenched his fists a few times, readying himself for a confrontation with a more sane and calm Kagome. For a confrontation with the woman he believed to love... believed to be his future mate... believed to be his and his alone.

'You can do this, Sesshomaru. She will forget your prick of a brother and she will come to you. Her love will not be lost, but will have a new foundation in you. You will see,' his conscience told him. 'But what if she doesn't? What if she becomes cold and depressed, lingering on the past?' his other voice said. 'Then you will have to pull her out of it. You want her, don't you? Then make her yours, make her love you!' 'I can't force a being to do anything if it's to do with love. Now shut the hell up and I'll do what I want!' Sesshomaru's inner voice told his conscience.

He strode to door adjoining their rooms, placing a fine-clawed hand on the knob, turning slowly.