So, I was searching through my favorite stories list today looking for a particular story . . . not because of the plot, or because I wanted to read it again in whole at that very moment - although, it is a personal favorite, you would think so, right? - but because there was a specific "scene" that I had been reminded of for some reason and was obsessed with reuniting with again. Mind you, this "scene" was not even important to the plot itself. It was merely a descriptive paragraph of Sesshoumaru's battle attire. However, once I had it in mind, it stuck with me until I had to read it again. It wasn't easier either, it was a minor paragraph in an awesome fic.


So, fellow Dokugans, I give to you, born of this obsession . . . My favorite moments!


What moments, quotes, scenes of stories have blown you away, stuck with you, made you cry, made you obsessed, mad or made you want to throw your computer in frustration? Share with me these moments! Share as many as you like! However, please remember to:

1. Make sure to give the original author and story credit
2. Note if the story your moment is taken from is appropriate or not for YIMs
3. Keep it clean here where YIM eyes may view.


Here is my current obsession:

Kagome looked behind Sesshoumaru and was no less than awed by the number of demons following along in his wake. In all the times she had seen Sesshoumaru in battle, and despite her knowledge he was Lord of the Western Lands, never had she thought he would command an army so vast. An entire legion of Inu yokai followed in his wake, all armed and ready for battle. Sesshoumaru himself was outfitted as she had never seen him before. Gone were his white pristine robes she had always seen him in. In its place was a black silk ensemble, and a dark metal armor she knew must have been forged by Totosai by the expert craftsmanship. His long hair, the envy of any red blooded female, was pulled high atop his head in a ponytail, and Kagome thought he had never resembled his great father more. Looking up at Sesshoumaru as he came to stand before her she said, "Wow, do I feel underdressed."

-Taken from Choices and Consequences - Chapter 3 by Texanlady, which is rated MA

See, I don't know what it is. Not a particularly thrilling or eventful paragraph, but I visualized Sesshoumaru in this getup and I was done for, lol! I also thought Kagome's response was perfect.

I know what mine is. It's taken from "Dancing with Scissors" by piratequeen0405. The story is rated MA.

The scene occurs in chapter 24, at the very end.

That morning however, she was too keyed up to be still, so she found herself in a back corridor, enjoying the swishy sound her silk slippers made on the Persian hall runner. The sounds of muffled music caught her attention, and she realized this must be where her uncle’s room was located. She knocked on the door, which was quickly opened by Sesshoumaru, clad in a towel, long hair damp.

“Rin? Is something wrong?”

“No,” she shrugged. “Nobody else is up yet.”

“Would you like to come in? I just stepped out of the shower.”

“I know,” Rin said. “You’re wet.” She entered his room and followed him to the bathroom.

Sesshoumaru turned and saw the petite girl right behind him. “I was about to shave. Would you like to watch television?”

She shook her head. “Can I watch you shave? I used to watch my Daddy almost every day.”

He was a bit surprised at the odd request, but picked her up and set her on the marble countertop.

At first Rin was confused. Her uncle’s shaving routine was nothing like her father’s. He put some weird soap in a wooden bowl, then used a funny looking brush to mix up something that slowly became recognizable. “My Daddy’s came out of a can with a button on top.”

He nodded. “This way is worth the extra time. Here,” he said, raising the bowl to Rin’s face, “smell.”

The clean, lavendar scent, she had to admit, was very nice. His next step confounded her further. He took an odd, thin thing from a wooden box, unfolded it to reveal a long knife, and swiped it back and forth across a piece of leather. “What’s that?”

He glanced down at her, not used to having an audience, but clearly amused. “It’s called a straight razor.”

“It looks scary.” She bet her father would have loved it. “My Daddy’s razor looked like a T…but bent over on top.”

She watched as he continued and felt like she was now in familiar territory. He turned the hot tap on, spread the lather on his face, and used the razor to scrape it off. “My Daddy let me shave too.”

“Really?” Sesshoumaru couldn’t imagine letting a small child have a shaving implement, even a safety razor.

Rin nodded. “He helped me put shaving cream on my cheeks, and he gave me an old razor with no blade. He showed me how to do it, so I wouldn’t get cut or get razor burn.”

“Very responsible of him to teach you proper technique.”

“Yep. Then when we were both done, he’d rub his face against mine, and I would tell him if he did a good job. Sometimes he missed a spot and it would scratch me a little. But he usually did it perfect.”

Sesshoumaru paused and looked at her. He had no idea the simple act of shaving could provide such a bond between a father and his little girl. “Did your father ever talk about me?” he asked.

“Not much. My Mommy said it was because you guys didn’t like each other, but that wasn’t true. I think he was jealous that you got to live with grandmother and grandfather…but he loved you.”

Sesshoumaru had to stop so he didn’t cut himself. As a child, sent away to boarding school, he had been jealous of his brother for the same reason.

“Did you love him too?” Rin asked.

Sesshoumaru finished and rinsed with cold water, then wiped the blade clean and put it away. “I did…but I think it took getting to know you to make me realize it.” He picked her up and rubbed his face against her cheek. “How did I do?”

Rin hugged her arms around his neck, soaking up the warmth of his bare skin. “Good,” she whispered.

There's just something about that last bit where Sesshomaru rubs his cheek with his niece's that makes me tear up and feel fuzzy. It's the perfect moment of bonding and I could just read that one scene over and over and never grow tired of it. That's not the only scene she has with her uncle but it's the one that I will never forget.

Great excerpt Kaoru!! I love 'Dancing with Scissors' to pieces!!! That whole story is so wonderfully done. In fact, I work as a vet tech and have always told my coworkers that, when I get a large breed dog, I'm naming him Oberon. They don't know it, but it is in honor of this story. Sadly, I don't remember this particular part you've included in great detail when I read it last, but I'm glad you included it because, yes, it is a very good moment. Thank you for the share!


Here's another one. This one is from Midnight Meets Moonlight by Mijitsu, also rated MA
She had no clue how long she stayed in that meadow, listening to the night around her, the quiet rustle of the leaves and the grass, the whistle of the wind, the small sounds of the animals as they settled in for the night, before she felt him.



Sesshoumaru.



Waiting with a bated breath to see if he came closer to her, she squinted out into the darkness. She saw white, saw him, and held back a gasp. The moonlight illuminated his entire being, making him glow and she saw what she had already seen enough to last her a lifetime…



Blood…



He was splattered in it. It was all over his kimono, in his hair, droplets on his face that looked so out of place on its perfection, over his markings. Jumping up, stumbling over her own two feet, and then bolting to him, her hands frantically tried to cover every inch of him while he stood there stoically.



“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” she chanted as her hands worked, trying to find the source of the blood. “Where are you hurt, Sesshoumaru? We have to stop the bleeding!”



She felt his clawed hand, covered in blood as well, grip hers, and stopped babbling, looking breathlessly into his eyes.



“I am not hurt, miko,” he said meaningfully. “This blood is not mine.”



It took a moment for her to realize the extent of his words. With a silent, “Oh,” she took a step back, even though he didn’t release her hands. “I see.”



Clearing her throat, she tried to speak again. “Ah…um…is anyone left alive?”



She saw something flash in his eyes as he let go of her hands and reached into his haori, tossing something at her.



She barely caught it and was left staring at a Shikon shard. The last one…



“I see,” she said again, subdued. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then.”



“Disgusted, miko?” he asked, and her head snapped up. She had never heard him use that tone of voice before, so…rough. So…stripped bare. This was the real Sesshoumaru, underneath everything. His eyes bored into hers, burning her soul, and his fangs showed in a humorless smile as he took a step towards her.



“Am I a monster in your eyes now?” he asked, his voice rubbing over hers in self-mocking. “Are you truly seeing what I am capable of now? I slaughtered them. I found there camp, and most never had a chance to scream.” He paused. “Unless I wanted them too.”



“Stop,” she whispered. He continued on, relentless, wanting her to see who he really was, not wanting to see how dirty he felt, how tainted.



“And I enjoyed it,” he said, feeling scarred because he knew it was true. He loved finding the leader of the group and slowly putting his poison claws through his throat, loving how the blood gurgled and gushed. He found great pleasure in sniffing out the man whose semen had been on Rin and cutting off his member, enjoying the high pitched screams. He had left him there, writhing in agony to bleed to death as he handled the rest. When he left, the encampment looked much like the villages the bandits had plundered. It left him with a sick satisfaction. “They were like sheep to the slaughter in my claws, and their blood rained from the sky.”



“Stop it,” she whimpered again. He grabbed her arm, shaking her.



“Why?” he demanded, his eyes slightly wild now. “This is me, Kagome. I am a heartless demon, unable to feel emotion. You said so yourself.” He found his voice harder and harder to control to keep from breaking. His soul was already in tatters. “Isn’t this what you wanted?” he said, shaking her again before letting her go.



She stumbled back and looked at him through wide eyes. “Sesshoumaru…”



He gestured. “Don’t you think you should be running? I am dangerous. Ruthless. Merciless. You should never want to be near me. My very presence should send disgust rolling through you. Isn’t that what you are feeling?” He stopped speaking, breathing heavily as she cried softly.



‘Get away from me, Kagome. Do not see what is inside of me…’



He wasn’t expecting her to throw herself at him. He wasn’t expecting her to grab onto him like he was the only thing left in her life. He expected her to run from him in revulsion. Not do the complete opposite. His breath left him in a shuddering gasp.



And in that split moment of perfect clarity, when she wrapped herself around him as if to shelter him from the darkness in his own heart, he realized something.



He needed her.

As a character, we always believe that Sesshoumaru is nearly invincible and we portray him as such in many of the stories we create. But, as most S/K themed stories go, there comes a time when Sesshoumaru must change and he, and often times those around him, discover that he has a heart beneath the tough exterior and it is, rather, his title, position and circumstance that have created the persona he emits. He was raised to be Alpha, a strong provider, and it is ingrained into his every cell. When done right in a story, such as the author has done here, these turning points - as in this story, when he discovers that needing and/or loving others can be a strength, and not a weakness, like he has always believed - often leave me holding my breath because the climax gives me literal goosebumps!

For me, it would be this piece. Every time I go back and read it, I cry-no, I sob at the raw emotion, and the deep pain Sesshoumaru had gone through his lifetime.

"Why?" Her voice broke from her control, anguish overlying its normal sweet tones, and Sesshoumaru stiffened.

"Why would you point this out to me... now? Now, here, when it's too late? Before, my heart was locked away, but now?! Now, it's dead! I'm... dead..." a despondent sadness echoed then within her, radiating outwards from her aura, slamming into her companion with the force of a thousand explosions.

"Why do you think that it is too late? Despite what you seem to think, miko, I do nothing that is pointless. My words have meaning - it is up to you to figure out what that meaning is."

"And who is here for me to love, Sesshoumaru? Who is here that would love me? What is the point of all this, anyway?" A broken sob came suddenly as she yanked her arm from him and backed away. "Haven't I cried enough? Hurt enough?!" Her voice trailed away into tears, and she put a hand out, warning him to stay away as he started to move towards her, his form dissolving and shattering into fragments as the tears fractured her vision - just as her soul lay in fractures within her.

It tore out his heart to see her this way, but it had to be done, and he was nothing if not a master strategist. She needed to let go of the past, of the pain that had been slowly poisoning her... it wasn't even as though she was still in love with his brother. It was just that she had buried all the grief, and never let it out - she needed this, to cry. To lance the wound in her soul, so that the hurt could finally finish healing.

After all, he could not have her until this was past.

"Indeed. You have - and now it is time for you to recognize that fact and let it go - so that you may be able to move on, miko. Do you really think that I gain satisfaction from your pain? Do you think me so honorless?!" His voice had risen a bit, towards the end of that statement, and with it, a high wind moved from behind him, swirling his hair around them, and spinning the mists away from them, revealing a place she'd never thought to see again.

Her home.

She stared around herself in shock, until her attention was ripped away from her surroundings by the sight of the ever stoic Sesshoumaru finally lost to control. His eyes looked... haunted.

And for some reason, that hurt her more than anything else.

Almost numb from the overwhelming amount of emotion suddenly flooding her from the oh-so-controlled demon Lord before her, she stared, mind blank.

"Tell me, Kagome, do you see me - have you ever really seen me? Does this Sesshoumaru not exist? Have I not life within me as well as you?" With an enraged growl, he asked, "You say you feel emotion - then tell me, woman, what do you feel from me now?!"

Eyes wide, Kagome couldn't look away from him in that moment. "I... normally I can't... sense you, Sesshoumaru - or at least, not much. It's because of your control. You block me."

"And now? I have loosed my grip on that control, so tell me! What do you feel from me now?! Or are you too frightened to look? Afraid that you might have all your preconceived notions ripped away?" He turned his back, then, visibly fighting for control, shocked at himself as much as she was. He hadn't let himself lose control like that since he was a child.

Always it is her that brings me to my knees. Why cannot she see that fact? Am I not worth her heart? Can I not... love her as she deserves?

Suddenly, Kagome could only feel his hurt, as it overtook her own, drowning it in endless visions of long, lonely centuries, of hopes always dashed, and a cold heart that was finally warmed, seeing the sunlight for the first time - and she had cast it in his teeth, ignored his presence, denied his existence except in a peripheral way.

She sank to her knees, unable to stand under the weight of the pain he kept locked away, out of sight. "I'm so sorry, Sesshoumaru," she whispered. "You were right to say what you did." Head down, chin against her chest, she wrapped her arms around herself and cried. She cried for him, for his loneliness, and she cried for herself...

For her blindness.

Because he was right. She hadn't ever let herself see him. She'd hidden behind her childish affection for Inuyasha - and ignored the white light behind him that was Sesshoumaru.

And all because she was afraid to truly see him.

Sesshoumaru was breathing heavily, and he concentrated hard to get it under control. He had never, even as a child, let go of himself this much. Never had he shared so much of himself with anyone. Not ever. No one had ever made him feel what this one, tiny woman did. He had long ago accepted it, accepted the loss of control for her sake, but he still despised the pain that it brought in its wake - the realization of what this woman was to him.

She was his heart.

Taken from In Death, Trust Me, As You Didn't In Life Chapter 10: Envy by Kanna37 (MA, NO YIMs!)