The Once and Future Taiyoukai By RosieB. (Inuyasha FanFic)

Chapter 11: Her Promise

ALL RIGHTS TO ROSIE B ON FANFICTION.NET Rosie B [https://www.fanfiction.net/u/38149/RosieB]

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Chapter 11: Her Promise

The Once and Future Taiyoukai

Chapter 11: Her Promise

The moon was beginning to set when Kagome started to nod off. She shook herself and opened her eyes. If she fell asleep, she would probably slip right off Sesshoumaru's back. She yawned and stretched as best as she could with Koga in her arms. He was asleep at least, and the one that deserved it the most.

She brushed back the hair that fell into his eyes. The poor kid. He was alone now, going back to a family that might kill him just for not having a father and mother to protect him. She so much wanted to believe that she hadn't changed anything in this time, and that Koga would survive and thrive as the leader of the tribe.

But if what Toga suspected was true and that creature that had killed his parents had really been after her, Kagome had effectively orphaned one of her dearest friends. She clutched the boy to her and tried not to cry at the thought. She wanted to run back to Inuyasha's time, to find the adult Koga and to beg for his forgiveness. Her heart hurt to think of all that she might have done by her simple presence in this era.

A tear escaped and Sesshoumaru's great white head turned. His red eye studied her form as he growled softly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just very tired." She closed her eyes and hunched over Koga's small body. She realized that she had just spoken her first words to the taiyoukai since their fight, but she just could not care. She was suddenly and completely exhausted. She barely had the energy to speak a few words, much less enter a draining conversation about exactly what had gone on between them the previous morning.

Plus, Sesshoumaru wasn't really in the position to reply in his current form. Although, she reasoned sleepily, maybe that was a good thing.

The dog demon began to slow down and Kagome sucked in a breath, trying to keep her eyes open. "What? Are we here already?" she asked. They were at the base of a sheer cliff like those that the wolves inhabited in Inuyasha's time, but it didn't look familiar in the least. Not that it had to, she realized. Three hundred years changed a lot.

Sesshoumaru rounded a jutted edge of the cliff and paused, sniffing the air. To their right was a tall, thin entrance to a cave, just big enough to accommodate Sesshoumaru's present form. He sniffed again and, apparently satisfied, lowered himself to the ground so that Kagome could slide off his back.

She grunted as she hit the ground, jostling Koga a little. Every part of her ached now that she could move and she grimaced. "Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked, eyeing the cave. There was no guard, no sound and no life that she could discern.

Sesshoumaru stood again and lowered his head, nudging her forward with his nose. She stumbled forward and frowned up at him. "Alright, alright. I'm going," she muttered.

She could see by the moonlight until Sesshoumaru came in, blocking the light with his body. Feeling her way forward, she was pleased that it was at least dry, and clearly far larger than she had thought, given the narrow entrance.

Kagome paused. Although it was a sizeable cave, she would have tripped over a wolf by now if Koga's future cave was anything to go by. Had Sesshoumaru really stopped for her? Perhaps he was feeling ill. Either way, she couldn't see a thing and Koga was getting impossibly heavy.

Sesshoumaru's heavy breath suddenly came close and let in some light. She saw the outline of his white form settle down nearby, his front paws stretching out in front of him. Kagome inched close. "Can I put Koga down here?" she asked, nodding towards the space below his throat, where his long fur spread over the ground.