SessKag Week Day Seven - Sky full of stars

Post-Canon / Romance & Slice of life / 583 words

When Kagome returned to the room she shared with Sesshoumaru, she found it empty. One of the shouji screens bordering the outer walkway was open, letting in a soft breeze.

A knowing smile rose to Kagome's lips. She picked a lit paper lantern and padded across the room.

She paused briefly to peel her socks off. Then she slipped out from the gap of the partially open screen and crossed the walkway, her steps quiet against the polished wood. She stepped down from the walkway and into the garden.

The grass was cool beneath her bare feet. Kagome inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh night air and the sweet scents of her garden.

Her mate was sitting at his favourite spot, by the pond. He was wearing a simple dark kimono and his usual white fur pooled in the ground around him. Set on the ground in front of him was a lacquered tray.

She sat down next to him, depositing the lantern by the tray, and dug her feet into the soft white fur of his pelt with a blissful sigh.

He didn't turn to look at her, and when he spoke, his deep voice was barely a murmur. "Are they asleep?"

"Who, the kids or Inuyasha?" Kagome chuckled. "I expect they're all one big happy snoring pile of puppies by now. It was a tiring day."

"Indeed." He brought a sake dish to his lips and tipped it, emptying it in one swallow.

Kagome's lips quirked in a smile. She brushed back the sleeves of her kimono before she reached for the sake bottle on the tray. She picked it up, then refilled her mate's dish.

She felt the weight of his golden gaze on her. After all these years, it still made her skin tingle.

Kagome put down the bottle and looked over the pond. The waterlilies had only just started blooming, their white petals almost glowing in the gentle darkness of the summer night. The still surface of the pond reflected the night sky, with its vast expanse of twinkling stars.

Kagome set her hands on the ground and leaned back, looking up to the velvet sky stretching above them. The sight of it made her sigh again.

She wondered if she would ever get used to seeing so many stars, burning so bright. Stars had been pale and scarce back home, where the lights of the city burned long to the night.

"Thinking of home?" her mate asked. He took another sip of sake.

Kagome shook her head.

Sesshoumaru put down the sake dish and turned to her. "You cannot lie to me." His hand came to rest over hers, his fingers curling around it in a familiar firm grip. "This sliver of sadness, I can only smell it on you when you are thinking of home."

The corner of Kagome's lips twitched. She turned her head, met his eyes. "I was thinking of Tokyo," she admitted.

She shifted her weight, lifted her free hand so she could run her fingers across his cheek in a feather-light caress. He leaned into the touch, his eyes hooded.

"But I made my choice, years ago," Kagome continued. "My home is here, with you."

He growled, but there was no threat in the sound; it was a declaration of pride.

His face relaxed into one of its rare smiles.

Kagome smiled back and let her head fall to rest against his shoulder, as they sat together in their garden, enjoying the night.