Christmas Festivities by Angelic Memories

A Warming Heart

This will be a series of one-shots that are a response to The Christmas Challenge from Forthright and Dokuga_Contest. I didn’t plan to link them together except I thought it might be nice to make a progression of Sesshomaru and Kagome relationship. So each theme will be a different Christmas… but that doesn’t mean it will be one year after another. One might be ten years or even a hundred years away from the previous chapter.  

I thought this might be a nice challenge to complete since Christmas is around the corner. It's my goal to finish by th 25th (fingerscrossed).

Theme: Warm Hands, Warm Heart

100 words minimum: 621 words used.

Thanks to Reannaleco for editing.

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A Warming Heart

The cracking of knuckles caught the attention of two set of canine eyes. A soft sigh followed, before the female being watched reached over to place her hands near the fire. In the process the blanket draped over her shoulders slipped, and she was forced to remove her hands from the heat to tuck the blanket tighter around her.

“I hate the cold,” she mumbled softly, “but it means it is almost Christmas.”

The hanyou grumbled under his breath about the woman’s stupidity, while the older brother gazed fell upon the female’s face to study. Much to everyone’s surprise, the inu spoke up after a few moments of silence.

“Miko, why does this depress you?” he demanded.

“Because I won’t be able to go home to celebrate. I can’t eat the Christmas chicken and cake that my mother will bring home after she gets home from work. I can’t give my family their presents. I can’t go to parties with my friends… and my ‘boyfriend’ is a youkai who would be unwilling to go on a romantic date.”

The inu resisted the need to correct the woman. She was having a hard time accepting that he had chosen her, and marked her as such. He noted the many times throughout the day that she rubbed at the ache on her shoulder. He had burnt her severely in his rage to keep his half brother from marring her skin with his disgraceful mark. 

For nearly three months he had bit his tongue while travelling in the group. He had declared he was the Alpha, which had to be enforced time and time again, since the hanyou had decided that he would not calmly accept his role on the bottom of the pack.

During these months, the inu spent his time studying his mate. He was determined to win her over. It was explained that she had no choice in the matter, once marked she couldn’t be unmarked unless released by the male. However, she could accept him and accept the situation, instead of being difficult and stubborn.

“Is there a problem celebrating your festivities here?”

Sesshomaru made note of the furrow upon her brow. She frowned for a moment before turning to face him. The sorrow from the recent lost of the well was still in her eyes. Naraku’s battle had hit too close to home, literally, and now the miko was stuck in the feudal era. When Sesshomaru explained that mating would lengthen her life and she would be able to see her family again in time, she was overjoyed. It was probably the only reason she wasn’t making some remark about his forcefulness every couple of seconds. Not that she had stopped altogether.

“I suppose I could participate in some.”

Kagome thought about the inu’s words. She still hated him for what he did. Yet she admitted that she could use the situation to her advantage. It just so happened that he seemed keen to please her. She was the only one in the group that he talked to in what would be considered a lengthy conversation in Sesshomaru’s book. He also tended to her needs, if she didn’t get it herself.  But above all, he protected her, so much so that she was unable to fight for herself anymore. That was something she was working on. She wasn’t some damsel in distress. She was Kagome. A powerful miko. It was the reason Sesshomaru sought her out when he was ordered to find a mate.

“When the time comes perhaps we could all celebrate together,” Kagome whispered.

There were times when the inu’s heart seemed less cold. She was thankful for these moments, because it made her situation more bearable.

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Ja ne
Angelic Memories
© 2009