Willing Participants by Scarlet

Chapter 1

Kagome stood proudly over the dead body of Naraku. Her friends gathered around her, almost uncertain if what they had truly strived for all these years could have finally come to pass. All the pain and suffering they had endured over the years seemed to fade away as she basked in the glory of their victory.

All eyes turned to Miroku as he slowly, cautiously removed the prayer beads from around his hand to reveal,nothing. The group sighed heavily with relief. They had hesitated to believe their own eyes but now with the lifting of the monk's curse, there was no doubt. They had finally defeated Naraku.

Kagome let her eyes settle on her comrades. A little ragged from the battle yes, but the happiness that radiated from them more then made up for it. At the very back of the group, looking as if he had planned on escaping before everything got all "emotional", was Sesshoumaru. He stood, stoic as ever, his icy cold expression unyielding as he stared at the girl.

Her miko abilities had definitely improved over the years, and now with the purified Shiko-No-Tama hanging around her neck, energy seemed to come off her in waves. There was a confidence that was about her now that made her seem almost regal, as if every step she took was measured and calculated. She had noticed his eyes upon her and began walking over to him.

Why Sesshoumaru had helped them she was uncertain. She had believed him sincere every time he advised them he did not get involved in human matters. However, without his help, without Inu Yasha and Sesshoumaru working together, none of this would have been possible. She felt compelled to thank him, and with her new found power, she quickly thought up the perfect way.

Kagome walked up to Sesshoumaru, laying a hand on his shoulder, causing him to arch an eyebrow in surprise. It was not often that a human felt bold enough to simply reach out and touch the demon lord of the western lands. "Thank you." she whispered sweetly as his shoulder grew warm and then burned with a magic he had not felt in his lifetime. He looked down at his shoulder, never allowing his icy cold expression to melt even for a second. He watched as a new arm formed inside his kimono, and the burning magic seemed to work its way down until finally escaping through his newly formed fingertips. "None of this would have been possible without you." She smiled lifting her palm away from his shoulder, as she took in a sharp breath, allowing him to examine the newly formed arm.

'How could a human accomplish such a thing?' He pondered. 'Where does her power come from?' He had many questions he wanted to ask, but simply stood there in his stoic stance, his expression unchanging.

Kagome walked over to Inu Yasha with her sweet smile still shining brightly. "It's over." she smiled. "It's finally over."

A short celebration and a long talk with a reluctant hanyou later, Kagome decided she would go through the well and catch up on some things in her time. She wasn't exactly in the best of spirits to be leaving when at least one of her lives was finally coming together. Kagome fingered the Shiko-no-tama which hung around her neck remembering the words Inu Yasha had spoken to her so sweetly. "Keep it with you, so when you are ready, you can come back to me."

She sighed. "Why does he have to be so sweet NOW, when it's hard enough to leave." Kagome grasp the jewel around her neck tightly in her hand and then jumped into the well. As she began to fall through, she felt a large clawed hand grab onto her shoulder only to be pulled in behind her.

Kagome looked up "Sesshoumaru?" She gasped as she watched the demon lord seemingly falling down upon her through the purple haze. In reflex, she swung her arms over her body to stop the advancing figure from crushing her small frame. As she did this she could hear a loud snap, like a rubber band breaking after being pulled too tight. She turned her head only to catch a glimpse of the Shiko-no-tama, free of its chain, drift off into the purple haze and disappear.

Suddenly the swirling purple aura of the well began to darken around the descending figures, a rush of cold over taking them. The cold assaulted her body, seeping into her lungs, until she felt she might choke to death. Kagome screamed as the wind whipped around them, seemingly pushing them in every direction until dropping them violently on the ground. Kagome slid across the frozen ground for quite a distance, before finally landing face first in a snow drift. Her aching head told her she had been thrown a great distance, and at a speed much faster then she had ever experienced. It all seemed to happen so fast that she did not even realize she still had her eyes closed. It was Sesshoumaru, somehow all ready up and on his feet, who finally broke the silence. "Where are we?" he demanded.

Kagome opened her eyes looking over the unfamiliar landscape. "I don't..." she began, vaguely aware of the demon lords pressence, but more concerned with their current location, a confused look on her face.The ground was covered in snow as far as the eye could see. There was no shrine, no home, and more importantly no Tokyo. "I don't know." she finished her sentence as she looked around trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Why did you jump through the well?"Sesshoumaru asked in a monotone voice as he extended a hand to pull her out of the snow bank.

She continued to take in the landscape as she pulled herself up and answered him, still confused, "The well connects my world to yours. I jump through when I want to return to my time ..."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "This is your time?"

"No..." she replied with much confusion in her voice, "there isn't even a well here to go back through."

"Perhaps the winds have blown us away from its location?" The demon lord question.

"Maybe..." Kagome began, rubbing her neck. "There isn't usually...wind." She bit her lip looking over at Sesshoumaru. "This has never happened before." Kagome began to shudder as the cold began to settle onto her body.

"You're cold." Sesshoumaru began eyeing their surroundings. "Humans do not fair well against such conditions. We should find you shelter and then I shall search for the well to take us back to our time." Kagome nodded and shyly allowed the demon lord to scoop her up in his arms as he raced towards the nearest shelter.

Kagome warmed her hands by the fire she had started using materials from her backpack. "Thank the gods I keep it with me." she muttered as she caressed a small pocket lighter she had used to ignite the small blaze. Sesshoumaru had left her only twenty minutes or so, searching for the well that had brought them to this frozen waste land. Kagome shivered. The cold here was much colder then anything she had ever experience at home or in the Feudal Era. She still had no idea how she could've been thrown so far off course. She wondered whether she was still in Feudal Japan or if she had indeed made it back to her time and simply been blown away from the well. "and if I am in my own time...should I really let Sesshoumaru go off alone?" she pondered aloud.

As if hearing her words Sesshoumaru appeared on the horizon, closing fast on her location, and descending gracefully to the entrance of the cave.

"Did you find it?" She questioned.

"No." he replied in an even voice.

"Did you find anything?" Kagome questioned him again unhappy with the limited information he had given her in his first answer.

"The ice extends for a great distance."he stated coldly and then continued, " I did find some vegetation, and a small stream of melted ice, but no well to speak of."

"Any idea where we are?" She questioned.

"I do not believe it is a matter of where," he began, "but of when. We are not in my time, of this I am certain."

Kagome felt dizzy, "Not in your time, not in my time...gods we could be anywhere....or any when I suppose."

"If indeed, the well we passed through does transcend time as you say, it would be very possible."

Kagome sighed, "Just when things were going my way."

Kagome sneezed catching Sesshoumaru's wandering attention and focusing it back on her. "Humans do not do well against such conditions. You should remove your clothing at once." he stated evenly.

Kagome's eye twitched. "S'cuse me?"

"Your clothing is soaked and will no longer protect you against the elements, you should remove them at once and cover yourself in something dry before your body weakens."

Kagome smirked, "Oh! Of course. Good idea." she remarked as she mentally laughed at herself for thinking Sesshoumaru had ulterior motives.

Sesshoumaru turned his back as she undressed waiting for her to climb into her sleeping bag before addressing her again. "You will require food and water to sustain your body until we can find a path back to our time...I shall return shortly." he stated as he again left her huddled inside the cave.

Kagome sighed, "Now what am I supposed to do?" She sat there for quite some time, wiggling her toes within her sleeping bag, making sure she could still feel them. "Yup..." She commented idly as she looked around finding nothing she could do but wait. "Things just keep getting better."