This idea just hit me, and since I'm a big fan of romance, especially when I'm writing it, and it's under unusual circumstances. And then I realized that in all but one of my own original stories, something like this happens. I'm starting to be afraid of what my subconscious thinks…

Disclaimer: Uh, I don't own InuYasha (be glad), I don't own winter or the coldness it brings, and I don't believe I own my imagination…it owns me…-sweatdrop-

She Forgot To Say "I Told You So"

"InuYasha, be careful!" Kagome squealed, clinging to him in fear. He was recklessly running along the snow-covered riverbank with her on his back, thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to scare her half to death.

"Feh. What's there to be careful about?" he answered with a smirk she couldn't see. This was really fun for him.

"You could slip!" Kagome didn't understand why she was so worried; he'd been at it all day, and hadn't had a single problem. He might as well have been running on solid, dry, non-snow-covered ground.

"I'm not about to slip," he boasted, grinning. "Been doin' this all my life!" He was probably going to be sat when they stopped to make camp, but it was worth it to have her clinging to him for dear life. He'd be laughing about this for days!

"At least move away from the river," she pleaded. "There could be ice under the snow."

"You worry too much, Kagome," InuYasha said gently, feeling better now that he'd had his fun. Just to make her feel better, he slowed to a jog, still grinning from ear to ear.

"And you're too reckless!" she countered, very relieved to be moving slower.

At that moment, something happened. And it was the exact thing Kagome had feared would happen all day. InuYasha slipped on some ice. In trying to regain his balance, he let go of Kagome, and she found herself dropped to the ground. But InuYasha wasn't so lucky. The half-demon fell into the river, breaking through the ice at its edge. The fast-flowing current soon dragged him into the middle of the river, sweeping him quickly downstream.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried, jumping to her feet and moving downstream as fast as she safely could.

She caught up to him just as he was climbing from the river, dripping wet and coughing water from his lungs. "InuYasha, are you okay?" she asked, concern etched all over her face.

"Yeah," he said breathlessly. He was actually a bit relieved by her reaction; he'd been expecting an 'I told you so' and possibly a sit command for being such an idiot. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," she said, still worried. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him away from the river. "Come on, let's make camp and get you dried out before you catch cold."

"I ain't gonna-"

"Don't be stupid, InuYasha! You're shivering as it is, and you're only going to get colder!"

Kagome quickly cleared a small space of ground of snow, and pulled a blanket from her yellow backpack. "Here," she said, tossing it onto his head. "I'll go find some firewood."

"Good luck finding anything under all this damn snow," he called after her. By now, he really was cold, and huddled miserably under the blanket while she walked off into the surrounding woodland. Surprisingly, she returned after only a few minutes, arms full of wood and kindling.

"It should only take a minute to get a fire going," she said, busily setting about her task.

"You know how to start a fire?" InuYasha said huffily. Being so cold was putting him in a foul mood.

"You'd be surprised what I know how to do," she said calmly. Once more going through her backpack, she pulled out a small pack of matches. Lighting one, she got a small flame going. It grew into a blazing fire, and Kagome smiled proudly. "That wasn't so hard."

"Feh."

She turned on him then, her smile turning grim. "We need to get you out of those wet clothes."

"There ain't no way—"

"Relax. Just take off the robe of the fire rat and your kosode. (A/N: for those of you who don't know, the shirt thing he wears underneath the robe of the fire rat is called a kosode) That way I can spread them out by the fire to dry."

"Feh. Fine, whatever." He did as he was told, grumbling about it the entire time. He was ticked at nobody about nothing, and frankly, he was surprised he hadn't been sat several times by now. Deciding he'd pushed his luck enough, he sat there sulking and watched as Kagome took care of his clothing, went to the river for water, and made ramen. All the while he was steadily growing colder, and regressing into an even fouler mood.

"Here," Kagome said gently, knowing perfectly well he could snap at her for absolutely nothing. "This will help warm you up." She handed him a cup of ramen, sighing when he glared at her before taking it with shaking hands. He ate slower than usual, finding it hard to hold his chopsticks in his almost numb hands. But the food definitely warmed him up a bit, and he didn't even notice when Kagome gave him another cup that it was hers.

When he'd finished eating, he was feeling a little better. Food tended to do that to him. "Hey, Kagome," he said, staring at the ground. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk."

"Don't worry about it," she said with a smile, building up the fire. It was really giving off heat now. She was quite proud of herself. "I'd be a jerk, too, if I was cold and wet." She let the fire be, and went back to her backpack. She took out her second blanket and sleeping bag, glancing up at the darkening sky. "Here, switch blankets, that one's wetter than you now."

While he wrapped the dry blanket around himself, Kagome spread her sleeping bag out by the fire to warm up, and deposited the wet blanket with InuYasha's still damp clothing.

InuYasha started to cough, and Kagome looked at him, her worry growing. He was definitely getting sick. There had to be a quicker way to get some warmth back in him. An idea came to her, and she couldn't help but smile a little at the thought. But it would have to do.

Walking around to his side of the fire, she took one end of the blanket from him and sat right beside him, depositing the loose end back in his hands. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously, tilting his head to the side and looking at her questioningly.

"I'm making sure you don't freeze," she said simply, wrapping her arms around him.

InuYasha looked up at the stars, thinking. If he'd listened to Kagome's good sense, instead of his own overconfidence, he'd never have fallen into the river. But something good had come of that misfortune, and he was starting to enjoy it very much. A scheming grin worked its way onto his face.

"How are you feeling," Kagome asked, breaking his chain of thought.

He had her sitting on his lap in a matter of seconds, giving her no time to protest. "Much better," he answered truthfully. Since she'd joined him under the blanket, his shivering had ceased.

She smiled at him. "What would you do without me?" she asked sweetly, teasing him.

"Oh, I don't know," he said, feeling unusually happy. "I'd probably still be sealed to the sacred tree, sleeping peacefully, and not falling into rivers."

"Sarcasm doesn't work on me," Kagome chided playfully, locking eyes with him.

"I think I know what does."

He pressed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss, soaking up her warmth. When he pulled away, she blinked at him a few times before wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his chest. They stayed like that until Kagome started yawning.

"I think it's bedtime," she said sleepily, reluctantly climbing from InuYasha's lap. She had effectively warmed him, but felt a twinge of sadness that she didn't have to worry about him anymore, and she no longer had an excuse to sit so close to him. Sighing she tossed InuYasha his dry clothes, and carried the dried out blanket over to him. You can sleep on this one, since the ground's kind of cold," she said. While he spread it out, she turned to retrieve her sleeping bag.

"Kagome?" She turned to see him seated on one blanket with the other draped over his shoulders. And he was giving her the puppy-dog eyes. "Keep me warm?"

She couldn't resist those eyes; not that she wanted to. This was truly the first time they'd been alone together for quite a while, and she was enjoying it. Apparently InuYasha was, too. So she left her sleeping bag and climbed under the blanket with him again. He wrapped her in a warm embrace, and she snuggled into him, letting her eyes slip closed. Before InuYasha joined her in the realms of sleep, he realized that Kagome had forgotten to say, "I told you so."

The stars in the winter sky above glinted icily, as a breeze rippled through the bare branches of the trees. The fire grew low, eventually being reduced to a few glowing embers. Some creature of the night stirred, pausing but a moment in its activities to glance at the two sleeping figures entwined in each other arms.

A few days later, Kagome and InuYasha returned to Kaede's village, walking side by side and hand in hand. Sango and Miroku looked on in surprise, instantly sensing that something had changed between the two. But no one asked what had happened; and no one was told. But sometimes, a bad thing leads to something good.

Ugh, it's so cheesy!!! And I have come to realize something is wrong with me. I make lots of characters fall into rivers in the middle of winter while there's lots of snow and/of ice. Oh well, at least this is done with! Review, whether you liked it or not, and I promise to write more comedy!