Life is Like a Rose by Book Butterfly

But Another Dream

Summary: Kagome Higurashi was the most beautiful girl in the entire kingdom. Unfortunately, her stepmother and stepsister knew that, and in their mind, there was only one way to fix that- turn her into a slave. But though she spent years as a slave in her own family, she was never bitter, or resentful. Instead of hating them, she felt sorry for them. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

Sesshomaru is a prince, who has somehow taught himself not to trust the world. His mother died, his father seemed only to care that Sesshomaru could take care of himself, women only wanted him for his looks and his position. He is tired of trusting and being failed, of relying on the one who seem to leave him behind. So he relies only on himself, and simply turns a cold shoulder to the rest of the world.

The lord and lady of the land are concerned over Sesshomaru's "I could care less because I'm the ice prince" attitude and come to the decision that what he needs is to find a mate. So for his twenty-first (well, technically, 2,100 birthday... he is a demon after all) they plan a surprise... a ball, to which all eligible young ladies are invited. Sesshomaru being, well, Sesshomaru, was not too happy upon hearing the news, and would refuse to attend if his father weren't ordering him to go.

Somehow (read and find out), Kagome ends up at the ball. And no, this is not as much like Cinderella as it sounds...

Disclaimer: I don't even own the computer I'm typing this on... But I own the poem, so don't even THINK about it! There will be hell to pay if it is plagiarized!

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Life is like a Rose

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Life undoubtedly has its roses.

The good things, the beautiful, the things that make you smile.

But every rose, no matter how beautiful, no matter how perfect, has thorns.

Life is like that, too.

For every good thing, there is a bad.

Some people are so afraid, so caught up in the thorns that they give up on the roses all together.

Eventually, they not only give up on the roses, but they stop seeing them, and they only see the thorns.

Don't give up on the roses.

For it's the roses that help us pass the thorns.

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Ch 1: But another Dream...

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She was dancing.

Definitely not a normal thing for a slave to be doing, and yet there she was, dancing with a man she didn't know, who had the most gorgeous amber eyes she had ever seen. His long silver hair hung strait down his back, but from what she could see of it, it was silky. More beautiful than the finest silk, it shown in the moonlight. She longed to run her hands through it, just once.

The garden they were in was serene and quiet. The music could still be heard through the open doors. But still, the tumult of the crowd did not reach their ears. As they danced, it felt as though nothing could break through this trance that they had been pulled into. But then, suddenly, a loud, deep, melodic clanging could be heard. The clock tower. It struck once...twice...three times...four times...five... six...seven...

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Kagome Higurashi jerked awake as the clock tower struck seven. She was surprised; she almost never slept until seven. She loved the morning, and normally got up around six. She didn't understand why she slept so late, until she remembered the dream...

Yes, the dream. The dream which had been haunting her sleep for the past week. As... pleasant as it was, it was disturbing. There were several things wrong with it. First of all, she was servant. Ha she thought wryly. More like a slave. Slaves don't get invited to anything, especially not balls. Second of all, even if she did get invited, she wouldn't be aloud to go. Thirdly, she didn't even own anything she could wear to a ball. Fourthly, unless she was mistaken, those gardens were the palace gardens. She had seen them as a child and thought of it now. Even if by some crazy chance she was invited to a ball, it would never be at the palace.

Kagome sat up and stretched. In her mind's eye, she could see the handsome man she had been dancing with. Who was he? And surely someone that beautiful would have women practically throwing themselves at his feet. So why was he dancing with her? She shook the image out of her head and stood up. It was just a dream. She would never know, and it didn't matter. Kagome quickly went about doing her every-day things and soon forgot the haunting dream.

About 15 minutes before 8 o'clock, Kagome left her room and quickly made her way down towards the kitchen. On her way, she happened to notice a picture hanging slightly ajar. As she moved to right it, her eyes skimmed over it and her breath caught. It was her father.

O

Bantu Higurashi was an extremely wealthy man. But he was also a good man, and he knew that all the riches of the world would not buy him happiness. One day, he met a beautiful, kindhearted young woman named Aiko and soon fell in love. They were wed, and Aiko gave birth to a beautiful baby girl they named Kagome. Sadly, only 3 short years later, Aiko was thrown off a horse and died instantly. Kagome was too young to understand.

3 more years passed. Though Kagome thought she was growing up like a normal little girl, Bantu knew better. He knew that she needed a mother. Then one day, Bantu mat a young widow named Kanna. She had a 7 year old daughter named Kagura. About a year later (Kagome was 7 and Kagura was 8), they were married. Bantu never knew that Kanna was nothing but a gold-digger.

3 years later, Kagome celebrated her tenth birthday. That night, before she fell asleep, Bantu came into her room and sat down on the bed. "I have a special gift for you, which comes with special rules," he said. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. She took it, and turned it over in her hands, as if trying to decide whether or not to open it. "Go on," he urged. Slowly she took off the paper, trying not to rip it. Bantu watched his daughter with a small smile, remembering how Aiko did the same thing. A few moments later, Kagome's valiant attempt paid off, and produced a small, black velvet jewelry box with a red outline of a rose embroidered into it. She stared at it a moment before looking at her father with wide eyes. "Open it," he said, and she did so. And what she saw caused her to gasp in delight.

Inside was a small, beautiful pendant. It was a rose made of the purest red ruby surrounded by leaves of perfect emerald. "It is called Baratarekazari," he explained. "It was your mother's. Your real mother's. Her mother gave it to her. She wanted you to have it when you were older. But now...I wanted to make sure you got it incase something happened to me." He paused, taking a moment to gaze out the window. Kagome knew that he was thinking about her real mother. Eventually, Bantu looked bake at Kagome. In a voice that was nearly a whisper, he spoke again, saying, "Life undoubtedly has its roses. The good things, the beautiful, the things that make you smile. But every rose, no matter how beautiful, no matter how perfect, has thorns. Life is like that, too. For every good thing, there is a bad. Some people are so afraid, so caught up in the thorns that they give up on the roses all together. Eventually, they not only give up on the roses, but they stop seeing them, and they only see the thorns. Don't give up on the roses. For it's the roses that help us pass the thorns." With this, he tucked Kagome into bed and bid her good night before leaving the room. The very next morning, Bantu was found dead in his bed, poisoned.

Kagome had never cried as much as she had cried that day. She didn't eat, didn't sleep, and did nothing for days but cry into her pillow. 4 days later, she sat up. She was through with crying. She pulled the beautiful rose pendant out of the box and carefully clasped it behind her neck. Tucking it into her dress, she stood and walked to the window. "Life is like a rose," she whispered. "I will never forget you."

From that day, things immediately began to change. Kanna and Kagura stopped trying to pretend that they liked Kagome. They treated her worse than the servants. She taken out of her own room and was forced to sleep in the attic. Her bed was taken there, and her dresses, but everything else stayed, and Kagura moved in there. Kanna took all of Kagome's pretty dresses and nearly all the things her father had given her and gave them to Kagura or sold them. All Kagome had left was 1 pair of old, too small shoes and 3 old dresses. All of this would have been too much for any other girl. But Kagome refused to even cry. She couldn't even bring herself to be mad. She was surprised to find that she didn't hate her stepmother or stepsister. Even when the chores started.

Kagome had never done a single chore in her life, but she did the chores without a word. Her stepmother said, "I don't have to let you live here. I am not your mother. But I will keep you here out of the kindness of my heart (Kagome later found out that in her father's will, Kagome had been left everything, and she would receive it when she was 18. the only way Kanna would ever get it is if something happened to Kagome after she was 18). The least you can do if a few chores."

But it wasn't "a few chores". It was a lot of chores, and over time, it became more and more, until Kagome was nothing more than a servant. The chores got harder, too. Eventually she knew that she was little more than a slave.

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Kagome pulled herself out of her reverie and continued down the hall. She walked down several flights of stairs before coming to the ground floor. As she entered the kitchen, she glanced at the calendar. The twelfth of June. A graced her features as she thought of what that would mean for her the next day. She would get the day off – that was great – and she would get to see her best friend. That was enough of a birthday gift even if she didn't get an actual "present". Though there was one other thing that would happen. One thing that would make it worth it even if she had to work double on her birthday. Tomorrow would be the first day of her last year of being a slave. 17 would be her lucky number.

Kagome moved about the kitchen making breakfast. Her stepmother wanted her breakfast served at exactly 8:30 everyday. Of course, that wasn't a problem for Kagome, seeing as how she got up early everyday. She even enjoyed cooking, so that wasn't a big deal. The big deal was that sometimes Kagura brought over...guests. And as much as Kagome tried to ignore them, that didn't exactly work if they stayed for breakfast.

Thinking about Kagura made her frown. Kagura was, for lack of a better term, a whore. She brought home a new man practically every night. What was worse, her...activities were well known throughout the small town they lived in. It was extremely disgraceful. Even worse, Kanna didn't care. She knew that her daughter had no honor at all, and she just let her keep on being a whore.

Breakfast was ready just as it was 8:30. Kagome carried the food into the dining room and set the table for two. As she was adding the finishing touches, Kanna and Kagura came down the stairs.

Kanna could have been beautiful. She wasn't because some health problem had turned her hair gray before she was even 15. Not only that, but her once soft brown eyes were now coal black. Her skin was pasty white, her face thin; her entire appearance was one of fragility, but not in a good way. No one would have ever guessed that she could deliver a beating so well. Not that they knew.

Kagura was the exact opposite of her mother. Her smooth black hair that fell to her shoulder blades was always tied back. Her eyes were an unnatural reddish-brown. Her skin was lightly tanned as if she spent a while in the sun. She was tall and thin. All in all - a pretty picture.

Kagome spent little time dwelling on her own appearance. Her silky, waist-length black hair and chin-length bangs seemed so plain to her. Her tanned skin was only slightly lighter than everyone else's. The only thing remarkable about her was her eyes, which were cerulean blue, and seemed totally out of place amongst browns and blacks and the occasional violet.

Kanna sat down at her place at the table. A moment later, Kagura took her place as well. After a moment, they began to eat. Kagome waited until she was sure they were satisfied to retreat to the kitchen and making herself busy. When Kanna was finished, she would make a list of tasks to do today. Yes, it would be an ordinary day.

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I hope you enjoyed. Please review and tell me what you think. And, by the way (hint, hint), the more reviews I get, the faster I tend to update!