Chapter 8

Don't own Inuyasha

As Sesshomaru placed Kagome gently in her bed he heard her whimper. Even in her sleep she felt the pain that he had been so foolish as to scare her into inflicting upon herself. But, God, he was glad she had run from him. He had been crazy. There would have been nothing she could have said that would have sent any rational thought through his head. The only thing that eventually stopped him was hearing her cry out his name and realizing who it was.

He love the way she said his name. He had it memorized to the exact syllable and the emphasis put on it. Only this time it was horrible sound, full of terror and pain. He never wanted to hear her call out his name like that again. He looked down at his beautiful love and saw that she was so exhausted that she couldn't even open her eyes. She sighed and turned her head to the side, "Sesshomaru." This time her voice was weary.

"I'm here, my Kagome. Just rest." He tucked the sheets in around her and sat on the edge of her bed. Hovering over her much like a mother hen. His remorse was getting the best of him at that moment. He tucked some small curls he had never noticed away from her face and a small sad smile haunted his features.

She snuggled into the blankets close to her side and confided in him. "I'm afraid of my nightmares. Will you keep them away? Will you keep me safe?" As she asked this her face became upturned as if to look at him although her eyes were closed.

His heart broke when she spoke. Who was he to keep her demons at bay? What had he done to protect her thus far? How could she expect him to start now? He did something that was hard to do in his life, in his position. He shed a tear for her. And then another. And another. "I will be here with you, princess. Rest now. Your destiny will begin soon."

As she fell asleep she felt something warm and wet on her face. Sesshomaru watched as one of his tears fell and hit her cheek and ran down the lovely curve of her face as if it were her own.

I'm sorry this is so short and it's taken me so long but it just felt right to end this chapter here, like it's perfect. More to come soon.