Disclaimer: (standard disclaimer)

Claimer: (my story! –don't touch! (bares fangs) Grrr…

How did I get myself into this?

Sesshoumaru wearily trudged through the overgrown grass, his senses trying their best to locate his enemy. It usually would not have been a problem, but this particular foe of his, had the ability to mask her aura. That is not unusual, but it is when the foe is a human with miko powers. So she wasn't exactly human anymore, after what happened, but she still seemed to be able to mask her aura completely. He couldn't even smell her.

Scowling at himself, and wondering how he managed to get himself into this predicament, the Lord of the Western Lands continued forward. The impassive gaze he had on did nothing to betray the confusion and turmoil that was raging inside him. He knew he might one day regret having done what he did, but this was simply ridiculous. How many Lord's get hunted down in their own lands, for Kami's sake!

Sesshoumaru picked up a discharge of holy power erupting to his left. He smoothly dove into the sky and narrowly avoided a supercharged beam of her power. The ground beneath him charred and smoked. Looking down at the piece of earth that was now deformed, it appeared to him that her powers had taken on a more aggressive note, forming the ability to affect non-demon life forms.

His senses going into overdrive, he pulled back just in time as a pink beam of light, that almost looked like a lightning bolt, whizzed past him. Sesshoumaru growled in displeasure. And it had started out as such a nice day! He had even made plans to take Rin to her favorite spot near the river. Then she had to go and spoil everything!

His sharp eyes caught a glimpse of white with patches of ruby red and dark blue, before it disappeared through a tree line. Sighing inwardly, he swooped down to the part of the forest where he had seen the figure just before it vanished. Landing softly, he once again extended his senses beyond their normal capacity to see if they could pick up something. When they didn't, he let out an almost inaudible growl of frustration.

Calmly walking forward, his golden eyes swept the forest area in front of him and to his sides, with intense scrutiny.

Sesshoumaru inwardly cringed when he heard her voice, laced with venom.

"Just wait you damn youkai! By the time I'm done with you, you will never be able to do to anyone, what you did to me!"

Sesshoumaru smirked. "You assume too much to think that I would do to anyone else what I did to you."

Sesshoumaru voiced calmly, his voice never hinting of the irritation he was feeling, as he had already begun moving in the direction that the voice came from.

Realizing her mistake in talking to him, the hidden figure darted through the brush.

Sesshoumaru smirked, flexed his claws, and was then off in a blur.

He burst out through some trees to corner her, only to see her eyes widen first, and then experience an intense burning sensation. Before he knew what was happening, he was flying backwards through the air, pink energy crackling all around him, and his lungs completely empty of air.

He crashed into the bark of tree with enough force to splinter it, before sliding down to the ground. Berating himself for being dealt such a powerful blow, he managed to land at the base of the tree in a crouched position, instead of in an undignified heap on the ground, like how his half brother usually ended up when he angered his mate.

His silvery hair, having been tousled by the blast of holy power he had encountered, danced about him, as he studied the green ground so near to him with something akin to disbelief and surprise. It wasn't the grass that held his thoughts, but the fact of the matter that he was nearly kneeling on the ground. The last time he had been in such a position was after he had had a training session with his father, when he was a pup, nearly seven hundred year ago! And it had been after a hard fight, on his part at least; his father had just blocked and parried, only giving out the occasional blow to his ribs. But now, this woman, this thing that was the cause of his extreme irritation and not to forget the cause for the intense pain in his upper body, had done only what only his father could have done, and with one blast of power to add!

Sesshoumaru was very glad that there was no one else around to see him in such a position. Some of his subjects had been willing to assist him, but once they learnt of what exactly they were up against, they had fled, muttering apologies all the way. The cowards! He half thought of having them killed when he got back. But he couldn't exactly find fault with them either, after all it was his responsibility to see to the proper diffusion of the situation.

Holding back from groaning in pain when his muscles protested as he stood up, Sesshoumaru briefly wondered whether he too should have fled with his subjects.

Scoffing at the insinuation and crushing the thought with a mental image of his feet, he looked in the direction that he had just 'come', from. Reminding himself that he was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, most powerful youkai of all, and master of his Destiny, he bravely set off once again.

He had taken no more than two steps when another bolt of power screamed of its energy and headed straight for him. Not having nearly enough time to move, he unsheathed Tenseiga and managed to repel the surge of holy power.

"Insolent wench!"

His voice dripped with hard iciness. He noted with satisfaction that the figure seemed to still in the distance, from where she was hidden behind a few bushes, hearing harshness of his tone.

"Cease now, or I shall make you pay dearly!"

His smirk was wiped off his face, and his momentary satisfaction at the fact that she feared him disappeared, when the bushes she was behind glowed a violent pink before being ripped apart by several bolts of power, all of which were now headed straight towards him.

Perhaps he shouldn't have worded it like that, he thought. Once again calling on the power of his sword, he held firm against the onslaught, refusing to back down or be pushed back.

"How dare you talk to me like that youkai!" her voice rumbled with her anger. "Who do you think you are? I am going to enjoy turning you into dust!"

Sesshoumaru glared at the figure bathed in the pink light as best he could, which wasn't much considering the fact that he was straining hard against her constant unwavering onslaught. Not many would dare to have spoken to him in such a manner, even she, especially considering who he was.

"Watch your words Miko! Do not think that I will hesitate to cut you down to size!"

His words had the desire affect he was looking for. Her powers momentarily faltered, and he was off in an instant. Flying through the air with his sword held out, he zoomed in on where she was standing.

But once again he was made to growl in annoyance when his sword made contact with a barrier. By the time he got past it, she was already gone from the spot. Reigning in his temper and his urge to let the demon inside him take over, or unleash the Soul Cutter and destroy everything around him regardless of whether his lands would pay the price or not, he took deep calming breaths.

Composing himself, he once again set off in the path she had taken, evident by the crushed grass and the broken twigs.

"Come out and save yourself the trouble. You know you cannot escape from me, and I will find you."

His intimidating statements didn't seem to be having much of an effect on her at all. Only the small breeze that blew across him seemed to have responded to his threat.

Suddenly though, her scent and her aura were easily detected, meaning that she had unmasked it. Sesshoumaru smirked. It appeared that she had given up, and wisely so. They both knew he would win in the end, he always did.

Sensing that she was behind the few bushes directly in front of him, probably seated down, he gracefully walked towards it, his sword held at the ready; just in case she changed her mind about giving up.

But as he got nearer, his nose was suddenly assaulted with another smell. It was the smell of the weapon that he hated the most. He hated this particular weapon of hers like he could no other. It was the smell of salt… the smell of tears.

Sighing to himself, he approached the bushes. But just as he was about to part them, she turned around and jumped him with incredible speed and power, sending them both crashing to the ground and knocking his sword from his hand.

Straddling him, she began to pound on him. This was very undignified for Sesshoumaru indeed. Who would have thought that one day he would by lying flat on the earth with a crazed woman pounding away on his chest?

It didn't use to hurt him before, but now, after what he did to her, her blows were very powerful and strong.

Growling, he caught her hands with his own and prevented her from inflicting further damage to his person. His growl seemed to have placated her for a moment, but after that, she began struggling and pushing against him violently.

'How did I get myself into this?' Sesshoumaru wondered as he put more effort and force into subduing her.

When she showed no signs of stopping, he sat himself up, with her still straddling him, pushed his face into her neck, and gently lapped and suckled on the small 'two fanged' bite mark there.

Her body immediately relaxed and she whimpered against his ear. When she dropped her arms he slowly let go of them to encircle her waist and pull her closer to him. Some tear drops from her crying, fell against his left cheek, as he continued to suckle on the mating mark on her neck.

"Kikyo…" he called out softly.

She whimpered again, before answering. "Sesshoumaru…"

Her hands fisted in his hair, holding him by the sides of his head, and pulled him closer to her, allowing his tongue to tease the skin around the bite mark.

Sesshoumaru slowly trailed soft kisses, which he had taken some time to learn how to do, up her neck, and along her jaw, before finally capturing her lips in a soul stealing kiss.

After the kiss, which left her breathless, she rested her head against his shoulder and bared her neck to him again, wordlessly asking him to suckle on the mating mark. It always eased her tension and helped her relax when she was worked up about things.

Sesshoumaru growled softly, sending pleasurable shivers up and down her spine, before titling his head down to suckle on the mark, causing her to mewl softly.

He watched as be brought a hand behind her and combed his fingers through her raven black hair that was now highlighted randomly with streaks of silver white. He hadn't got much of a chance to notice the other changes she had undergone, before she went crazy and stormed out of the castle, resulting in the episode they had had in the forest just a little while ago.

He had mated Kikyo a little over a year ago, after the whole 'I hate you', 'I despise you' and 'lowly Ningen', 'evil youkai', time of their acquaintance. He had given her the mating mark, making her the official Lady of the West, the first time he had taken her body at the height of their passion. But it was only last night that they had done the official ceremony and apparently, the magic's that were used to confirm their union as mates and the link of their souls, resulted in his beloved undergoing some overnight changes. Neither of them had been aware of the possibility of such a thing happening.

Even the elders didn't think of the possibility that they might be soul mates, thus resulting in the female gaining many of the male's characteristics, like strength, fangs, and not to mention… hair color.

If anything, Sesshoumaru thought that she looked even more beautiful. Of course his mate hadn't seen it that way. When she had looked in the mirror early this morning, what she had seen was a half-demon version of her self. She had gone crazy and accused him of trying to change her because he saw her as nothing more than a mere human and wasn't happy with who she was. Her being on her monthly cycle didn't help matters.

Before Sesshoumaru could attempt to explain anything, she had stormed out of the room, nearly crushed several of the demon guards who had tried to inquire what was wrong with their lady, using her newly acquired super strength, almost blown apart the front gates of the castle and then run off into the forest.

A half naked Sesshoumaru who had been in bed while all this took place, staring dumbfound at the shattered mirror that his mate had been standing in front of only a little while ago, took a while before he hauled himself out of the stupor he was in, and assembled some of his subjects and set off after her.

When he and his subjects had cornered her into this part of the forest, they had all learned 'first hand', that along with the increase in her strength and speed, her miko powers had also grown to be more than ten times stronger. That was when his subjects had fled in fear. A normal Lady of the Western lands was scary enough, but ten times stronger was the most horrifying thing a demon could come across, and they didn't want to be turned into dust just because the Lord's mate was having a fit of some sort.

And now, here he was, with an aching upper body, and a sobbing mate in his arms. Sesshoumaru sighed, 'How did I get myself into this?'

"Are you alright now?"

If anything her sobs increased in volume.

"NO!" she shouted with a shake of her head. "I look like a monster!"

Sesshoumaru smirked in annoyance. "You look like nothing of the sort! You are more beautiful now than you were before. I like it!"

A clawed hand dug into his shoulder, almost painfully. "This is not me!"

Sesshoumaru audibly sighed. "You are still who are you, inside. It is only your appearance that has changed. The strong willed human woman that I took as my mate is still inside of you."

That seemed to calm her down a little.

"Really?" she asked, wiping her tears on his shoulder.

"Yes."

Pulling back a little, she looked at him with her teary blue eyes that were slowly changing into an orange earthen brown; an affect of the transformation, he supposed. "Do you still love me? Even if I look like this?"

Sesshoumaru still had a little problem openly saying the word 'Love', and his mate was understanding enough to not demand he say it unless he felt comfortable, so she didn't take any offence when he answered, tactfully avoiding the use of that word.

"You are to me what you always have been after we mated. Any change in your appearance does nothing to change that. Understood?"

Kikyo nodded before pressing herself against him with a soft sigh.

"Do you want to go back now, or would you like to stay here a while longer?" Sesshoumaru asked as he gently nuzzled the side of her face.

"I want to stay here, just for a little more." Kikyo replied, enjoying the gentle touches of her mate and husband.

Kikyo felt a little guilty for having put Sesshoumaru through all this. She knew that her transformation wasn't his fault, okay it was his fault, but he didn't do it on purposed. She regretted having reacted in the way she had, but she supposed that it was a result of the change in her. Her emotions were very strong now. She realized that his must be how Sesshoumaru felt all the time, about her. She really must have worried him, though he would never show it or admit to it. She knew she had to make it up to him, and she too needed to relieve some stress.

Eyeing the soft bed of grass that they were seated on, which even though wasn't as comfortable as their bed, was good enough. A smirk playing on her lips, enough to rival her husbands, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Grinding herself into her husband, she whispered sultrily into his pointed ear, making Sesshoumaru's eyes widen fractionally as she continued to tell him about her plans for the morning.

Poor Sesshoumaru didn't even have a chance to fully understand what she wanted to do and where, before he was pushed back on to the ground, and soon heard his clothes being ripped by claws. There was only one question he asked himself before his mate's lips capture his, 'How did I get myself into this?'

And as she deepened her kiss with love and possessiveness, he knew how. It was because he had allowed himself …to fall in love, with her and only her…

Lighthearted ne? Thought that the two should have some fun – lol. Sorry if there are mistakes, grammatical or otherwise; I was too sleepy to check.