InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Dinner And A Dance ( Chapter 32 )

Taking one last deep breath, he opened the door and stepped out into the hall.

~*~

It's now or never, she reminded herself, and turned the knob. I choose now.

I kept these parts on purpose. A look into when they each opened their doors. ;D I like Kagome's thoughts. "I choose now." Don't you? I think that fit everything perfectly. Well, well. Time to move on. You're probably going to hate me for this ending, but I planned ahead for this particular scene. Unlike every other chapter. Those were mostly whims. That, or they strayed away from my original intent, just to end up really good anyway. Anyway.

Thirty Two

Kagome was shocked, to say the least. Here Inuyasha was, standing just in front of her mother's door, in a nice red button up shirt - probably silk - and black dress pants. He even had shoes! And his hair was pulled back slightly, held somewhat loosely at the back of his neck. By god, he'd never looked so handsome - or mature, for that matter. Her heart jumped at the thoughts of what might follow - would he take her hand, lead her downstairs for a nice dinner? Would he lead her into the living room - devoid of furniture - to dance with her? Had he set up candles all around the house? Was he going to pull his hands from behind his back, holding a dozen red roses? These romantic thoughts - and more - ran through her head, even as she saw him openly take in her appearance.

Inuyasha had only barely kept his jaw from falling. Somehow, her hair was twisted in several strands and spun slightly, coming to a bun on the back of her head and then dropping loosely to brush her shoulders. The dress she had tied up from the waist to the neckline, and the neckline itself was wrapped around her neck, not her shoulders. The back of the dress dropped so far as to show her entire back! The skirt brushed against her knees in waves, even though the rest of it clung to her like she'd had it especially made for this moment. She had on some sort of shoes he didn't ever remember seeing before, but they looked good on her, nonetheless. Her tail was inside of the dress, not hanging out the back - and somehow, that made her all the more enticing. He felt like he should have gone out to get a couple thousand roses - just to pluck the petals off and rain them all around her.

Instead, he gulped and - shoving down his nervousness - he smiled at her. "Kagome," he breathed, "you look absolutely breathtaking. Were you waiting for me?"

Kagome nodded, just once, but her eyes didn't look up again. Her hands clasped shyly in front of her as she spoke. "I've never seen you look so nice before, Inuyasha," she said, finally daring a look up to see him. She'd never seen so much emotion in his eyes! "I think you were waiting for me, too."

He nodded as well. He reached out with his left hand, lightly touching her arm. "Does this mean we forgive each other?"

"I'm hoping," she laughed. "Otherwise the rest of the night - and all this," she added, gesturing with her right hand to the both of them, "would be pointless."

Inuyasha chuckled at her, and she returned her hands to their clasped positions. But this time, she didn't look away. Their eyes met and held, refusing to let go. And Kagome was fine with that. She didn't care if they never got together - in any way - ever again. Just this moment would be worth it.

Taking a deep breath, she studied him a bit further, and laughed at his shirt. "I see you can't go five minutes without wearing your signature color," she said, smiling as she gazed back up to him.

"Neither can you," he said back, gesturing at her dress. Since the first time he met her, she'd always worn something that was green, and it seemed to suit her well. That is, other than the few times he'd come here and found her in a - what do you call it? - sundress. Something like that. Those weren't too bad.

Kagome chuckled at his words, and then her eyes darkened slightly, and she looked away. After one, confused blink, Inuyasha understood. Last night they proved that wearing a certain color didn't matter. They'd gone a whole night without red or green.

A part of his mind snickered. He remembered Christmas here, with her. She'd told him that Christmas had three colors - red, green, and white. Red for Santa, green for the tree, and white for the snow. Interesting choices, and he didn't even ask about this "Santa" thing. He still didn't want to know.

After clearing his throat, Inuyasha offered her his right hand, still not taking his left away from her. Kagome looked back up into for a moment, and he saw something there - elation, love, lust, appreciation; call it what you will - that made his heart swell. Gods, he loved her.

She reached out and took his hand, though she didn't have to move it far. With a nod, he took a step to the side, and Kagome turned so they walked side by side down the stairs. The moment they reached the bottom, Inuyasha moved his hand so their fingers interlocked. This was nice, even if it was a bit. . .shy, in a way. "Being modest with her should help," Rare had said. By this point he was willing to use all the help he could get.

Kagome stopped dead and gasped, her free left hand going up to her mouth as she took in the sight before her. A small, round table took the place of the bigger, rectangular table. On it was a candelabra, holding five candles at different heights. To the left of it, a big silver platter and a big, round lid took up the space in between the two plates, glasses and sets of silverware.

She turned shining, sparkling eyes on Inuyasha. "Did you do this?" she asked, slightly breathless.

Looking just as shocked as she, Inuyasha slowly shook his head. And then, he turned a grin on her. "I think this might be a way of your mother telling us she's sorry."

Kagome's eyes got a little bigger, even as they closed slightly, and she turned back to the table. "Do you know how to do this?" she asked.

He nodded. "Rare showed me. Like this." He led her over to the table, pulled out the chair - all the while holding onto her hand - and led her to sit down in it. He pushed her in as she shifted slightly, her tail refusing to be caught under her and moving off to her right side, making this scene a little less "proper". But that couldn't be helped, could it?

Inuyasha went over to take his seat across from her, and then lifted the lid to the platter. And gasped.

Since his mother died, he'd never seen a dish made so eloquently! He had no idea what the food was supposed to be called, but knew what it was. [DL: Bare with me here, people. I'm not exactly an expert on fancy foods.] Two plates were in the middle, each having been almost cut into three sections. One for mashed potatoes and gravy, one for what looked to be boneless chicken or turkey, and one for vegetables - all sorts of them.

Kagome gasped, and raised a suspicious brow at him. "Are you sure you didn't plan this?" she asked, gesturing at the platter. Which, he now noticed, had what looked to be lettuce leaves covering it beneath the plates of food.

He raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Do you honestly think I know how to make this stuff?" he asked.

Kagome laughed and then shook her head. She waved a hand at him, dismissing her suspicion. "You're right, and it doesn't matter anyway. Shall we?" she asked, reaching over to grab her plate.

Inuyasha did the same, placing it on his side of the table. Something on the floor caught his eye, and he looked left to see what looked to be a bottle placed in a bucket of ice. Curiosity got the better of him, and he reached down to lift the bucket onto the table. "Kagome?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she said, putting down the fork she'd just picked up. She saw the bucket, and smiled. "It's wine," she said, reaching into the bucket to pull it out. She looked at the date, and gaped. There was no way they had wine that was over a century old!

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, his voice laced with concern.

Kagome laughed. "The date on this says eighteen fifty three!"

"And?"

A smile tugged at her lips as she gazed back up at Inuyasha. "It hasn't been opened. Do you know anything about wine?"

"Only that it's a really fine drink."

"It gets better with age, Inuyasha. If mom bought this, it must have cost her a lot."

Inuyasha shrugged and reached over to take it from her. With a flick of his claws, the wrapper around the cork was off, and with a small push of his thumb, the cork came out with a small pop. He fiddled with the cork for a while before he just put it down.

Kagome offered him her glass, and he obediently filled it. She nodded thanks as she put it back down, while Inuyasha filled his own glass. After another moment of fiddling, he put the cork back and almost violently shoved the wine bottle back into the bucket.

"No!" Kagome snapped, and mentally kicked herself for it. "No," she said again, more softly, as he looked up - looking slightly scared, by the way. Kagome went on, careful of her words. "You have to be careful with that. I don't think Mom will be too happy if we shattered it." She glanced at the prayer beads, hardly showing beneath his shirt, and started wishing she could reach over and take them off. But by now, they were just as much a part of his clothes as his hair was a part of him.

"Oh," Inuyasha said back, and then mentally kicked himself for such a stupid answer. Instead, he put the bucket down on the floor again, and looked at the utensils before him. Kagome had showed him them before, but he had no idea how to use them. Other than chopsticks, he'd only used his claws as a way to get food from point a to point b.

So he watched Kagome, as she used her fork to pick up some mashed potatoes. He copied her, but the fork was unbalanced in his hand and fell right back onto his place. He mentally cursed, seeing Kagome looking up sharply from her plate, and picked up the fork again. And again, it slipped between his fingers - this time landing in the mashed potatoes and sending some of it splattering onto the wall. He growled.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, but not in an angry or reprimanding voice. In a gentle, understanding one. He looked up, confused, and saw her smile at him. She showed him her index finger on her right hand, and used her claw to pick up a chopped carrot and ate it directly from her claw. As she chewed, she picked up her silverware and put them in the sink.

Inuyasha's smile could be described as being happy, impressed, loving, grateful, and amazed all in one. He copied her, putting his silverware in the sink as well, and then they both sat down. Kagome lifted her plate up, as though saying "Cheers!" and Inuyasha did the same. Then they both put down their plates and began eating, but this time using claws and fingers. All in all, it was kind of messy - especially with the mashed potatoes - but they managed great.

After dinner, Kagome washed her hands, and Inuyasha - trying to impress her with being clean and proper - followed her lead. A few seconds after he dried his hands, he heard music coming from the living room. Soft, lulling music, making him walk into the room and glance around. Kagome was right on his heels.

She gasped, both her hands lifting to her mouth. It was exactly as she had thought! Candles were everywhere, in mostly red colors, and the furniture was pushed up against the walls. The stereo on the table beside the TV - which had mysteriously vanished - was set on auto-play, and apparently her mother had bought a CD of classical music to top the night off.

She reached out and touched Inuyasha's arm, getting his attention. "Do you know how to dance?" she asked.

Slowly, almost embarrassingly, Inuyasha shook his head.

Kagome smiled. "Me neither," she said, and moved around to face him. "How about we learn?" Still smiling, she lifted her right hand and took Inuyasha's left, bringing it down to her hip. She placed her hand then on his shoulder, and slipped her left hand into his right, lifting them high.

Inuyasha looked nervous, and his eyes looked down at their feet. He gulped again. "I told you I didn't. . ."

Kagome laughed. "I know that, but we can learn - together. Don't worry about it, Inuyasha. We have all night." Slowly, she began to move, following the beat of the music. A few times, Inuyasha wavered, and stopped to glare at his right shoe. Kagome laughed.

"They're not out to get you, Inuyasha."

He grumbled something along the lines of "It sure feels like it" and tried to follow her movements. After a few minutes, Kagome stopped again. Her eyes were closed.

"Kagome. . ?" Inuyasha began, but stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Close your eyes," she said, quietly. He nodded, even though she couldn't see it, and did so. "Listen to the beat," she ordered softly, and moved her left hand until his right was pressed into her chest, against her heart. Once she found the beat, she began tapping his fingers with her own, along with both her heartbeat and the soft lulling of the wordless music.

Slowly, unsure of what exactly he was doing, Inuyasha began moving his feet, letting them lead him, and felt Kagome follow. He dared not open his eyes yet, but focused on the beat Kagome had found, and brought up their hands to their original spot. And never once broke the movement.

Both lost their sense of time at that point, and Kagome only opened her eyes when she recognized the song that was playing as the first one they heard. The entire CD had played already.

Feeling her eyes on him, Inuyasha opened his own eyes, not even hearing the song anymore. All he could hear was Kagome - her breathing, her heartbeat, her soft humming along with the song - but now she wasn't humming. They were still dancing, the night felt good, and -

With a yelp, he fell forward, ungracefully falling on top of Kagome. She gave her own shriek and then she was on her back, having the strongest feeling that it wasn't just Inuyasha who fell. Heels weren't her strong suit. And then, abruptly, with no kind of warning, she began laughing.

Inuyasha got up quick, blushing slightly at his clumsiness and wondering how many "sits" he'd get for this one. He found himself mumbling out apologies and excuses, but Kagome just sat up and started to take off her heels. She gave him a look that said "I don't like these, either" and he nodded, just once. Pulling up his pants a little, he slipped his off as well, pushing them off to the side where Kagome had set hers.

"Want to try this again?" she asked, standing up.

Inuyasha stood as well, but shook his head. "I'd rather not," he said to her, softly.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again, thinking over her words. After a few more seconds, she nodded in agreement and looked up at his golden eyes. "What would you like to do now?"

"Look at you," he whispered without realizing his conscious notion to speak.

Kagome blushed and looked down, but then moved closer to him, letting her chin rest on his shoulder and her hands grasped his arms lightly. Inuyasha, in turn, wrapped his arms around her. After a moment, he sighed, and dropped his head so his head was leaning against hers.

This feels so perfect, Kagome thought. This is what I wanted all along. My life, my home, my world. . .It's all Inuyasha. His arms are my walls, guarding against anybody who would dare attack me. Just as I would for him. But. . .Her eyes opened slowly, partially, and she felt a lone tear begging to be let out of her eye. Am I his life, his world? I wish I knew. I know he loves me - he said so - but there's just so many different types of love.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was wondering if they'd be able to share a bed again tonight. He'd been nowhere near satisfied last night - and, he suspected, he never would be completely satisfied with her. And he preferred it that way. Never having enough of her, never wanting anyone else, hoping that she'd never have enough of him.

He didn't know Kagome had such an internal conflict until she brought it up.

"Inuyasha?" she said, leaning back so as to not break their contact but let their eyes meet just the same.

"Yes?" he said back, half of him already lost in her eyes. There was just so much soul in her eyes. . .so much emotion. . .was that fear?

"I need to know, Inuyasha," she began, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "How do you feel about me?"

He blinked in half surprise, half confusion. "You know I love you. What's this about?"

She looked down, and something sparked in him that told him exactly what the problem was. "Kagome," he said, softly, lifting her chin and leaning his forehead against hers. "I'm not going to stop loving you. I'm not going to run after some other woman when you're not looking. I'm not going to toss you away as though you were nothing. I'm not going to disappear from your life whenever I choose. And most of all, I'm not going to leave your side - for anything. I love you, for now, for eternity, forever."

Kagome's heart swelled at his words, and she felt her eyes tear, only this time with unveiled joy. A small, short laugh escaped her lips and she smiled, a smile that she'd never shown anyone before now. It held not only love, but passion, and gratitude. If she was ever as happy before as she was now, she couldn't remember it.

Smiling right back, Inuyasha tilted his head so their lips touched. This was nothing like their passionate, needy kisses of the previous night. This one had soul. It bared the both of them to each other, leaving nothing to be discovered. It was perfect, in every possible way - and then some. Despite the fact that it was just a brushing of lips, Kagome knew she'd probably never feel anything better than that - this - kiss.

She drew back slightly, feeling the need to confess her feelings to their fullest effect verbally, as Inuyasha had done. "I promise you the same," she said, lifting her arms to wrap around his neck. "I won't leave you. I won't ever need anyone other than you. I won't even look at another man so long as I'm with you - and even beyond. I won't ever place anything above you."

Inuyasha cut her off there. "You might want to rethink that one," he said with a smirk.

"What? Why?" Kagome asked, thoroughly confused.

Now or never, Inuyasha thought, and drew back enough that their bodies weren't touching. "Kagome, I doubt I'll do better than my previous speech, but I should try. I've never felt so strongly for anyone in my life. I've never needed anyone before, let alone like how I need to breath and how I need my heart to keep beating. You, Kagome, are everything to me. I'd like to spend the rest of eternity in your arms, you in mine, sharing the air we breath. Kagome," he went on, his breath catching in his throat for a moment, "this is a very important question to me. Will you be my mate, Kagome, and have my pups?"

Kagome gasped, and then stopped breathing altogether. Her heart skipped a beat, stopped, then quadrupled its pace. He was asking if she was willing to be his mate?! How could he even ask?! But she smiled at him, and then threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him with all the love she felt, and felt him kiss back, with just as much - if not more - of that same love. She drew back with a gasp and saw an entire sun in each of his eyes at that moment. "Of course I will, you silly hanyou. I'd love to have your pups."

"Good," he smirked, and then picked her up, heading for her room. "Because I plan on not wasting a minute."

Kagome giggled - but she didn't know why. A part of her was nervous, but not enough to make her giggle. Another part of her was screaming with joy, but not the type you giggle at. The only possibility was that she was just still young, that's all. Which reminded her - she was just sixteen!!

Inuyasha set her down in front of her door and kissed her again, holding her close with one hand and opening the door with the other. Kagome backed in out of impulse, shoving all thoughts of age out of her head. Somehow, she found herself sitting on her bed, with Inuyasha raining light kisses all over her neck and collar. With a sigh she tilted her head back, her hands gripping his arms tightly. Gods, that felt good. . .

She felt Inuyasha's breath against her neck as he breathed something out, and then felt him bite her. A part of her mind screamed at the pain and wanted to shove him back, but the rest of her wanted him to do it again. She felt her eyes snap open, gazing up at the ceiling but not seeing it. She felt her blood being drawn then, and forced herself to not heal. Not yet. Her eyes drifted closed again and she sighed, letting her hands loosen their grip to run through his hair.

She had no idea how long it took, but suddenly she found herself straddling his lap, licking his neck, trying to find the perfect spot to mark him as he did her. Part of each other, completely each other, the same, her mind said from somewhere outside her body. She bit down.

Inuyasha groaned, his head having fallen back some time before now, and wrapped his arms around her. Just the feeling of her licking had sent his mind reeling somewhere off into space, and now he felt it was no longer connected with his body. Wherever it went, it wasn't going to come back any time soon. The rush he felt as she sucked on the wound - drawing blood with it - was something so sweet and powerful he had no idea if even that long night with Kagome was above it.

That night. . .was it really just last night? Suddenly it felt so long ago. . .But that didn't matter. What mattered was that their future was now wide and open, with so many paths to their choosing that neither of them could ever pick just one.

Inuyasha blinked, suddenly coming back down to earth now that Kagome had left his neck. He was on his back now, like he'd just fallen back while sitting. Kagome was lying slightly across the bed, her head and arms on his chest. Now that he thought about it, he had his fingers in her hair, his left arm possessively holding her to him.

A faint smile touched his lips as his eyes drifted closed. He'd thought that sharing their blood - and finishing the mating - would lead to more of the amazing time they'd had last night, but at the moment, he had no need for it. He had no need for anything but making sure Kagome stayed by him. And with him. "For now, for eternity, forever," he'd said to her. "I won't leave you," she'd said back. Is this what true love felt like? If it was, he was glad he found it.

His legs below the knee had lost all feeling. He resisted the urge to snort and sat up, slowly, still holding Kagome to him. She blinked, confused, and looked up at him questioningly. He only smiled at her and then laid back again, this time full out along her bed.

Kagome smiled right back at him and laid down as well, on her back and between his legs, using his chest for a pillow. She felt his arms wrap protectively around her shoulders, and she placed her hands on his, briefly wondering when her hair had been let down. This thought, along with all others she might have been thinking, she pushed out of her head. Now wasn't the best time for rational thought, she knew.

Inuyasha absently removed one hand from her, pulling the tie from his hair and tossing it somewhere as he did to Kagome's hair band. He sighed as he felt her relax completely against him, and replaced his hand to its spot on her shoulder. He had the best feeling that nothing could ever destroy what they just built. Love. Love. Love. Love. A bigger smile stole over his mouth. Love. I love Kagome.

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*Sigh* Wasn't that the best ever? Fangirls, and fan boys, eat your hearts out! Fluff, fluff, fluffy fluff. . . . *Sigh* Oh, Inuyasha. . .if only. . .

No weapons this time. It would completely ruin the mood. Maybe next time I'll give you a couple good thwappings. Hell, the hohos worked. Kudos to the person that gave them to me.

You CAN give me some ideas for something to draw or write. I'll list it as a "special" - and who asked for it. You'll be famous! Especially if it comes out good. Everybody'll be kissing your ass for the wonderful idea. But don't think that I'll do every one - some things require several weeks, even months for me to get right. And I'm talking about drawings.

Yes, you as well can ask for a side story. Just so you know. I'm fine with that. Don't expect it to be done all in one day, though. Even if it's a one-chapter thing. But you should already know that. I'll leave now. *Walks away*

(My generosity is going to get me killed one of these days. . .)

See ya!