Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.

11 Changes in POV

22 Time lapse

Chapter 2: Traveling buddies

That night they all sat in the gardens waiting for the princess to say something, but she just stood there looking up at the sky. "So when are we gonna go find this crystal thing?" Inuyasha was a far from patient person and he could never stay in one place for very long.

"I will leave at dawn; once again if you would like to help then be ready at first light, if not then you can stay the night and make your way back home in the morning." She looked around, looking for answers as she had the day before, finding none as of yet. Sesshoumaru who leaned against a tree nearest to her, watched her, someone so young should have the twinkle of innocence and hope in her eyes, all he saw was determination.

Inuyasha and Kagome were whispering to each other and to Sango and Miroku, after a moment they finally looked at Hana and stood. "We will be ready at dawn, but I have one question. Where are we going?" Kagome couldn't stand not knowing. "We will be traveling east, towards the kingdom we are currently waging war with. It will be dangerous and you will be risking your lives-"

"Just so your royal butt doesn't have to, right?" Inuyasha smirked and waited for Hana to agree, but didn't expect what came, her eyes suddenly got darker. "Look here you ignorant ass, I've been risking my life just so you could live peacefully and become the 'great' warrior that you supposedly are; while you were sitting on your ass ignoring your etiquette lessons, my family has been saving this land from being sucked into a hell dimension!" As the words left her, her eyes got wide and she covered her mouth, obviously giving to much information.

She looked around with wide eyes at the confused faces, knowing that questions would soon be flying; she brushed past everyone and exited the garden. Sesshoumaru watched as she left, silently vowing that he would get her alone and ask what exactly that crystal does.

"So…was that a yes?" Inuyasha looked more confused than normal; sometimes Sesshoumaru wondered if he even had a brain at all. "Oh, Yasha, you poor stupid hanyou. Come on lets go to bed." Kagome laughed as she dragged her mate out of the gardens.

"Sesshoumaru, do you think it's wise to trust her? To go on this mission?" Miroku turned to him, holding onto Sango's hand, suddenly not sure of their choice to follow the princess. Sesshoumaru looked at his comrade, seeing the doubt in his violet eyes; he pushed off the tree and looked up at the crescent moon that hung in the sky before answering.

"I think it would be stupid not to."

He turned and exited the gardens, leaving the hoshi with his thoughts and his soon to be bride.

…

Sesshoumaru had been pacing the halls for some time now, not really knowing why sleep was avoiding him, it didn't matter really, youkai's didn't need sleep as often as humans did. He thought of what this mission might mean, to him, to the world, to the princess. He would protect her as long as she was on their side, but the second he thought she might be working against them, he would be cautious.

Her outburst earlier was the first sign of life he had seen; there was a fire in her eyes, behind all of the distress and determination. As she yelled at his little brother it was like she suddenly came to life, she didn't look as tired and worn down, she didn't look so fragile and child like. But when she realized what she had said he saw the fire dim and she looked broken once more.

He was still pondering everything when he caught her scent, it was mixed with the smell of musty paper, so he decided now was a good time to ask his questions. He followed her scent down a hall to his right and soon heard her voice it was soft and berating.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! What a great way to get them to trust you and protect you. Kami, I'm such an idiot. Why did I yell at him? What is wrong with me?" He entered the library to the sight of the princess banging her head against a wall. The thudding stopped and she leaned her head against the wooden bookcase, closing her eyes and taking deep breathes.

"Is that fun?"

Her head shot up and her cheeks burned red, she quickly turned away trying to hide her blush. "Um, no, I was just, um, trying to knock some sense into myself I guess. I'm sorry about yelling at Inuyasha, it was uncalled for." She turned back to him, her cheeks no longer red but more of a soft pink, making her freckles more noticeable.

"It was completely called for, but I don't agree with you." He took a long stride toward her, looking at all of the books, there volumes that looked older then him, some were on the shelves, some were stacked on the floor next to a long futon. "Agree with me on what?" She faced him fully now, and he vaguely noticed that she was in her nightclothes, a thin black silk nightgown that hugged her every curve.

"I don't agree with you going on this mission. As you said, it is dangerous and we will be risking our lives, and that is no place for a naive princess. You're just looking for adventure." His tone indicated that what he said was final and that she would not be going, anyone else would accept it and move on.

However, she was not anyone else.

"Excuse me? What makes you think that you have authority here?" Her stance became defiant and stubborn, her bare feet planted shoulder length apart, and her arms crossed just under the swell of her bosom. He would never say this to her or to anyone else but she was beautiful and it excited him that she was challenging him. He shook his head of those thoughts, she was human and she was defying him, he would not stand for it.

"I have authority because you are just a lowly human princess of a tiny kingdom that has torn itself apart. You will not disrespect me again." He looked down his nose at her enjoying the look of fury on her face she would not be so insolent from now on and he would make sure of it.

She walked up to him and raised her hand, quickly bringing it across his face, the harsh sound of skin hitting skin resounded in the room. "I will, as long as you still have a tree shoved so far up your ass you can't even swallow without tasting bark! You know nothing of this kingdom, MY mission, or me for that matter! So do not think you can waltz around here acting like you own the damn place!"

Suddenly her head hit the wall, making her see spots, as his hand squeezed her throat, cutting off her oxygen. She clawed at his hand at first but knew it was useless; she just hung there glaring at him and slowly losing consciousness. "Once again you will not be so bold as to disrespect me, your superior." He let her fall in heap on the fall, coughing and gasping, trying desperately to return air to her lungs.

As she composed herself, she stood, holding the wall for support, and gave him a look of hatred, a look that could kill if he were a lesser demon. "You have no power here, no matter who your father might be, or what you are, or who you threaten. This is me duty, as the jewel's guardian, and nothing you do or say will keep me from going to find it." Her eyes burned with that same fire as before, making the green of her eyes darken and smolder, it surprised him, the intensity of her gaze.

She pushed past him and left the library, leaving Sesshoumaru to his thoughts, as she walked hot tears of anger rolled down her face. It always happened when she was angry, she couldn't help it, it was one of her flaws. She spilled into her bedroom and leaned against the door, trying to stop the flow of salty streams, having no success she slid down to the floor and let sobs of frustration and sadness shake her body.

22

As light began to seep into the great hall, the gang gathered with the shuffling of tired feet and yawns, Kagome stretched and yawned loudly as Hana entered the hall. Everyone but Sesshoumaru looked ready to go back to bed; Hana raised her eyebrow at them and shook her head. "I would expect you to be use to early rising, maybe I expected a little too much." She smirked as Inuyasha and Miroku perked up.

Sesshoumaru glanced at her as Kagome spotted the dark bruises that had formed on Hana's neck overnight. "What happened to you throat?" Green eyes locked onto gold and narrowed in loathing. "Nothing." Her voice was slightly hoarse; Sesshoumaru could tell she had been crying he could smell the salt on her.

The others watched the silent interaction; quickly catching on that it was a battle they did not want to get involved. Hana broke the gaze and led them out to the stables, where three horses stood, saddled and ready to ride. The largest was a spotted stallion; Miroku chose this one as his steed, Sango chose the one next to him, a dark brown mare, long and lean like herself. Kagome hoisted herself up onto the third, a quarter horse its coat was gray and its mane black.

"So we don't get horses?" Inuyasha threw his hands up and walked over to his mate. Hana exited the stables holding the reigns of a pure white Arabian horse, its eyes were wide and dark blue, and she pulled herself up onto the mare and looked at Sesshoumaru. "I didn't think you would need one, youkai are supposed to be superior." She glared at him before turning and allowing the horse to trot up to the road.

They road until they hit the main path, leading them away from the castle and on the way to the eastern border. As the humans sat atop their horses, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru followed on foot. As they neared the first village, the princess fell back to the rear, letting go of the reigns she rubbed her hands together and whispered something. She ran her hands through her hair, turning it black with her touch, then she wiped her hands over her face, her eyes became brown and her freckles disappeared.

She took hold of the reigns again and trotted up next to Kagome, who had been watching the change. "Why did you do that? How did you do that?" She took in the new appearance and found that she still looked like herself, just different coloring. "No one can know that I have left the castle, if anyone was to find out then my kingdom would be over run. It was just a simple glamour, nothing more, I don't have much magical abilities. Not compared to my siblings." Her now brown eyes stayed forward, not wanting to show Kagome her insecurities.

They continued at a steady pace until nightfall, they decided to make camp and continue in the morning. As they set up camp, Inuyasha kept grumbling about weak humans and their need to stop every five minutes. Kagome finished rolling out the pallets and setting up a fire as her mate sat at the base of a tree, sulking.

"I hope you realized that your referring to me when you say that." She looked at him over her shoulder with one eyebrow raised. Inuyasha just "keh" and leapt into the branches of the tree. Kagome shook her head, gathered a couple washcloths, and went to Sango. "Inuyasha said earlier that there's a river not to far from here, I'm gonna go wash up do you want to come with?" Sango nodded and gave the hoshi a glare, warning him to stay away.

Sango stopped just before they left the clearing looked at Hana, who was digging through her saddlebag for something. "Would you like to join us, Princess?" Hana looked surprised that she asked. "That would be great just uh, give me a minute." She went back to digging through her bag, looking for something that didn't seem to be there. Finally, she gave up and followed the girls to the river.

As Kagome and Sango walked arm in arm, giggling about something, Hana trailed behind lost in thought. "What really happened to your neck, Princess?" pulled out of her reverie Hana looked up to see Sango and Kagome standing by the river, looking at her expectantly.

"You don't have to call me princess, you know." She smiled hoping that they would drop it, but they just stood there still waiting on an answer. "Sesshoumaru and I had a bit of a disagreement last night; it was nothing but him being an arrogant jerk." Hana waved her hand, dismissing it, and started to take off her riding dress; it only had a couple layers and was light and flowing. Thick straps that crossed between her shoulder blades and the top of it hugged her form down to her hips where it flared out.

"That's not nothing! Hana, he could have killed you!" Kagome was surprised that she was dismissing it so easily, Sesshoumaru was her mate's half brother but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. "I'm not afraid of that pompous ass, and I could care less about what he can and can't do. He was acting as if he had control over me and that's just not true, and he needs to get over it." Sango and Kagome looked at the princess with wide eyes, both starting to fear for her life and hoping that Sesshoumaru never heard her say that. They all waded in the water for a few minutes before getting out, getting dressed, and heading back to camp.

As they sat around the fire, Inuyasha and the others reminisced over some past mission while Hana sat on the other side, braiding her wet hair and secretly watching Sesshoumaru, who sat by a tree not far from her. "So do you still think I should have stayed at the castle like a good little princess?" Tying the end of her braid with a string that had been tied around her wrist, she looked at him for and answer.

"Without a doubt." He didn't even open his eyes, he just sat there, motionless, as if he hadn't spoken at all. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, lying down, she stared up at the sky once again getting lost in her thoughts.

She thought about where her brother might be, what her sister's reason for taking the crystal was. Throughout her life, she never felt like she belonged in that family, she didn't understand why until she found out that the queen was not her mother. She found out on her sixteenth birthday that her twin brother was not her twin; they had different mothers but they were born on the same night. After that, she understood why she always felt out of place, different and unwanted by the queen.

She didn't know who her mother was, only the stories that Mai had told her. She had given Hana the sword that now lay at her side, telling her that her mother would have wanted her to have it. Sometimes she would lose sleep thinking about who her mother was and if she was still alive. Hana shook her head, rolled onto her side, and closed her eyes, wanting to at least try to get some sleep.

11

I watched as her eyes glazed over in thought and she laid there for an hour, just staring up at the sky. She finally shook her head and rolled over, her eyes closed and not long after her breathing evened out. Everyone else was asleep as well so there would be no one to see me kneel over her and study her features. I was still trying to understand what made me so curious, she was utterly boring, except for her scent, and her attitude, and her eyes.

My eyes traveled over her face, taking in her deep-set eyes that slanted upward slightly, as well as her high cheekbones and her straight nose, her heart shaped face looked almost peaceful in the dying fire light. I ran a claw over her bruised throat, careful not to cut her, up to her ear; I brushed her hair back behind it and noticed something. The shell of her ear was pointed, not enough so that you could tell by a glance, but enough to notice that it was not quite a human feature. That brought up a completely new set of questions that I would never ask because she was a rude naive brat, and I would ignore my curiosity from now on, I stood and went back by the tree I sat at before and closed my eyes.

Once again sleep was ignored me.

11

22

Morning came and one by one, they started to rise, Kagome passed around a loaf of bread but didn't bother rekindling the fire to cook anything. Soon they were packing up and getting ready to leave when a sudden rustling resounded in the clearing. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru listened carefully, sniffing for anything dangerous, only to find the source was a small white cat. It strolled out of the brush and rubbed against Hana's leg, mewing softly and looking up at her.

A small smile appeared on Hana's face, and soon spread into a wide grin as she swooped down to pick the kitten up and cuddle it in her arms. Sesshoumaru took a few steps toward her intent on getting rid of the disgusting feline, when the cat suddenly tensed and began hissing at him, a deep growl started in his chest and reverberated upwards, loudly.

Hana looked at him and chuckled, petting the cat and giving it praise. "You gonna start barking at her now?" she raised an eyebrow and lifted the cat towards him, the animal clawed at the air in front of him until he grabbed the skin on its neck and threw it across the clearing. Hana gasped and watched as the cat got up and shook itself off then quickly left, her eyes turned to Sesshoumaru.

"How could you?! That was cruel!" She smacked his arm and ignored the gasps of horror from Kagome and Sango. "I wanted to be clear that we are not taking on a pet in this journey. Be glad I am in a forgiving mood, little girl." He had stepped close to her, matching her glare, and growled out those last words to make himself clear.

Her eyes narrowed and darkened with anger, she didn't want to back down but knew that they had to get moving. She let out a growl of her own and walked away, mumbling something about wasting daylight. They were soon back on the road, going slightly faster than yesterday, Hana having taken the lead.

…

Hazel eyes watched the group wearily, they had stopped for nightfall and he had considered taking her during the night but he knew that one of the youkai would notice, so he waited, biding his time until he could get her alone.

And he would get her alone somehow.

…

They rode until the road was no longer visible; they soon built a fire in a secluded meadow not far from the road. Inuyasha went to hunt down some food while Kagome rolled out the pallets and chatted with Sango and Miroku as Hana and Sesshoumaru glared at each other from across the fire.

"So do you know what's going on between those two? Because there's a lot of tension going on there." Miroku whispered to his companions, hoping the youkai was too distracted to hear him. "Well you saw those bruises on her neck right? He did that, apparently they had an argument the night before we left and he choked her. She was telling me that he was being a pompous ass and that she wasn't afraid of him." Miroku looked at Kagome in shock then back at Hana. "She's either more powerful then we know or she has a death wish."

All three shook their heads and began preparing the meal as Inuyasha dragged a large hare into the clearing, already skinned and washed. Everyone sat around the fire, enjoying a good meal and good company, everyone besides Sesshoumaru; he just sat at the edge of the meadow, back against a tree with his eyes closed. He was meditating, trying to calm his tense muscles, he had been doing that a lot lately, and he knew exactly why. He cracked his eyes open and glared at the back of the princess that was quickly becoming the bane of his existence.

As everyone settled in for the night, Sesshoumaru had yet to move an inch, he was well aware of what was going on around him but he was busy trying to find some peace. As the fire died everyone had fallen asleep, he opened his eyes and scanned the sleeping bodies in the camp. Kagome and Inuyasha were cuddled up near Hana while Sango and Miroku spooned near him; he looked at Hana and saw that she was curled into a tight little ball, trying to keep warm since the fire had gone down.

He sighed and placed more wood onto the fire, bringing back to life a little so the girl wouldn't freeze. He observed how tightly she clung to her sword as she slept, as if she was use to doing it. He shook his head and walked away, not wanting to stay and start noticing other quirks that the princess had.

He didn't have to walk far until he came across an isolated hot springs; he smirked and began to shrug off his armor.

…

Hana awoke with a start, not really knowing what woke her, but when she felt awake, she heard movement not far away. She grabbed her sword and started towards the noises, it was the sound of something clattering to the ground. She took careful steps as she walked, being as silent as possible, until she saw moonlight hitting water. She walked towards it, and stepped out of the tree line, and into the clearing of a hot springs, she looked around until she saw the source of the noise.

There, in the middle of the spring was Sesshoumaru in all his naked glory, his pale alabaster skin stretched over taut muscles, and his tail now lazily floated behind him. She gasped at his beauty and perfection, making him turn towards her and suddenly her eyes travel the expanse of his chest, roaming over his perfect abdomen and down towards his large-

"Oh my god!" she covered her mouth, turn on her heel and ran back to camp, trying to get images of his…manliness, out of her head. As she arrived back, she sat on her pallet and covered her face with her hands, feeling her cheeks burn hotter than ever before. "Oh my god!" she whispered to herself, not quite believing what she just saw, but as she started to think about it, she wondered how that could possibly fit into a woman's-

"Did I give you a nice show? Or do you even know what exactly you just saw?" his voice whispered close to her ear, sending a shiver down her spine and made her belly feel strange. She looked at him over her fingertips and couldn't help but blush harder. She groaned and lay down, facing away from him. "Go away."

As he stood and moved over to his tree, he chuckled softly and taunted her once more. "I never pegged you for a pervert." He listened to her groan and curl into a tight ball once more to hide her embarrassment; he chuckled once more and closed his eyes.

Maybe she wasn't so bad to have around.

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A/N: Whew! I worked on this all day and my brain is exhausted!

Brandon Bear: Baby! Come here, I gotta tell you a secret!

Belle de Luna: *blushes* not now! I'm busy!

Brandon Bear: Well come here so I can be busy too!

Belle de Luna: SHHH! Well anyway this is the second chapter of my newest story, hope you like it!!