More reviews? (does the happy dance) YAAAAAAY!!!! I'm so happy! (promptly starts to cry joyfully, then becames serious again) Okay, I'm done being a dork... Maybe. Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: (sniffles) You won't make me say it, will you? (winces under the glares she recieves) Okay, okay! I don't own, now stop that!

Time passed, another week to my counting. I rode a green dragon mount
alongside Azula, though I noticed mine was hard-mouthed or something because
it was hard to guide him. She had pulled a set of supplies and another
change of clothes for me from the spares, and I was slowly earning my way
into all of the toughened soldiers' hearts. Honestly, I didn't care, but
being friends with them made the lecherous ones stop with their catcalls and
whistles, which made me happy.

Overall, I liked being with this quirky group of fighters. They were a
tight-knit group, like a family. Belatedly, I realized that it was a family,
sort of. Most here were inu, or what I now knew meant dog, kitsune, or fox,
and ookami, or wolf, youkai, all of the canine family and as a result this
could be viewed as a pack of sorts. It explained a lot, like the way I
seemed to instantly gain superiority. In the social system of this era, inu
outranked all others, especially white inu, which is what Azula kept
assuring me I was. Despite Azula's numerous protests, I had insisted on a
simple braid as my hairstyle, which was suiting the constant traveling
Yukiru insisted on. He seemed very pressed to get us to the manor his lady
lived at. I learned through the others that this was a border patrol, and we
had been at the western most peak of the lady's land. Now, we were only a
few hours ride away.

Whenever we stopped for the night, Yukiru and Azula took it upon themselves
to teach me about the world I was now a part of. Azula mostly taught me
mannerisms and ettiquette, which was much harder than I expected. She
claimed I was making progress, though. Yukiru's lessons were much more
interesting. He was working on my language skills, mostly with the language
he and the soldiers spoke when they weren't talking directly to me. From my
own brief scattering of knowledge, I now recognized it as Japanesse, and
from there I've been able to pick up his lessons quickly, though I was still
far from fluent. Thankfully, he seemed to enjoy teaching me, or what seemed
like scant progress would have been driving him crazy.

Azula and I were chatting good naturedly as we rode at the front of the
group when we went over a hill and I caught sight of the lady's home. An
impressive sight, the castle was made of the traditional materials for a
Japanese home and surrounded by intricate gardens. We were heading down a
dirt path that turned into a cobbled one a few feet away from the outer wall
of the estate, and I worried for our poor mounts' feet. I was pulled from my
thoughts by Azula as she sighed softly. Smiling, I asked, "Glad to be home?"

"Fully." she said eagerly. "My mate is waiting for me, remember? He's one of
the ones who went ahead."

"Mate?" I blinked over the unfamiliar term. "I thought he was your partner?"

She laughed. "That's Yukiru's way of thinking. See, I'm his little sister.
He hates thinking of me having any kind of relationship, much less the kind
with a mate."

My mind ran over that fact a few times before it sunk in. Pretty, skinny
little Azula was gruff old Yukiru's little sister? I instantly felt
distrubed, though I hid that from Azula. She was quickly turning into my
best friend, and I didn't want to offend her. We rode on, and I started to
hum under my breath, an annoying habit I had developed very young. Azula
tolerated it for a few moments, then sighed and said in frustration, "I
would rather you sang and got it out of your system then hum like that under
your breath..." She paused, then asked curiously, "What are you humming,
anyway?"

"A lullaby." I answered simply. "One my mother taught me. I'll sing it later
and stop humming now, we are almost there."

Lo and behold, a set of guards quickly ran out to meet my group. Yukiru was
quick to assure them of who we were, and once again I started to get leered
at. This time however, my snarl wasn't the only one warding them off. The
members of my group of guards were quick to protect. I felt like I had
gained a huge set of older brothers and sisters in the last few weeks.
Beaming at them in thanks, we were all escorted into the main courtyard. I
quickly dismounted to let the nearby groom take my mount, since Azula was
already giving him hers. She gave me a quick smile, then we both heard
someone call her name. Judging from the instant glow she gained, it was her
mate. Grumbling good naturedly, I shooed her away to go meet him. With a
rueful smile, she dashed off into the waiting arms of a young man about her
own height with the exact same color of hair, though he had his cropped
short it seemed. I shrugged, and turned around and blinked. I was suddenly
face to face with an unfamiliar man, and I didn't like the twisted grin on
his face. Trying to be polite, I asked "Can I help you?" in my floundering
Japanese.

Apparently, he'd been warned of my influency. He said in the canine youkai
language, "Well, sweetheart, I was just wondering where you would be staying
during your stay here." Okay, maybe I was wrong about him. I opened my mouth
to thank him, but he then said, "Afterall, my bed is empty... Except for
me." Slash that thought on him being okay and me being wrong. Right now
though, I hate being right. I glared at the man, letting my silence speak
for itself. He shifted nervously, but wasn't leaving.

With a tortured-sounding sigh, I said curtly, my tone icy cold, "I am in no
need of such an offer, and even if I was I would turn you down. You are a
disgusting, vile being for daring to insinuate that I would be willing to do
so." With a quick twist of my feet, I stalked angrily away, only stopping
when I found Yukiru, who was watching me with wide eyes. Snapping at him
frostily, I asked, "Well, am I going to meet this lady of yours or not?"

Yukiru looked me up and down as if seeing me for the first time. I tapped my
foot impatiently, another one of my bad habits, until he finally led me
upstairs to the front door. Azula was waiting for me, and grabbed my elbow,
leading me away from an astounded Yukiru. As I stuttered in surprise, she
said firmly, "You can't meet the lady looking like that! No offense, but you
look like a boy." I didn't take offense. I liked my small, slim build for
that various reason; it's how I got the role of Peter Pan in our school play
a few years ago. I didn't protest though. Even I knew when an arguement was
senseless; when Azula put her mind to it, she always got her way.

I was led to a building that turned out to be a bath house. Because of my
time spent in that grimy box, I had developed a love of bathing, which Azula
was always sure to exploit. As I bathed my body, she tackled the job of
combing and cleaning my hair. With its incredible length and thickness, it
was a task for one and a half people, even when I was human. Youkai hair,
thankfully, was less likely to tangle...if you weren't trecking through
trees, brush, and whatnot at a neck-breaking speed set by a barking Yukiru.
Even the coarsest, strongest of hair would be as tangled as a bunch of yarn
the cat had been playing with after that kind of extersion. I helped her as
much as I could, but she always swatted my hands away. With a shrug, I left
her to it. She tended to be better at it then me anyway.

When she was through, I stepped out of the bath and dried off, my hair up in
a towel waiting for the special magic that Azula knew that warmed the hair
and dried it, like a magic hairdryer. Slipping on a silk robe she handed me,
I sat down at the stool she gestured to and let her set to work. From our
previous baths together, I had learned how to entertain myself while she
brushed my hair like I was a Barbie doll... No offense to Barbie, after all,
she didn't ask to be a blonde airhead.

Sighing with relief when she finally had my hair arranged the way she liked
it, I glanced in the mirror. I was surprised to see she had kept it fairly
simple, instead of ridiculous like she tended to. The front was pulled back
into a simple bun, two ivory combs shaped like roses resting at the base on
each side. My rockstar style bangs were left in my face, only slightly
obscuring my star marking, and she had fluffed them to make them look nice.
The rest of the bulk was left down, slightly curled somehow, I suspect using
that heat magic and her finger. When she saw the surprise on my face, she
laughed, "Oh come on, Tomoyo! You didn't think I would make you look
horrible, did you?" I just smiled sheepishly. Still laughing, she opened a
cabinet nearby and pulled out a package of silk. "Now, let's get you
dressed. The lady will not wait forever, and you must look like a real lady
yourself when you meet her."

Several hours of primping later, I was elegantly dressed in a powder blue
kimono, in the cut Azula told me was reserved for a high-born princess,
which I found odd considering I didn't think I had a drop of noble blood in
me. The designs were a dark blue, the exact same color as the obi, though it
had silver designs on it. I was wearing the traditional funny wooden sandals
underneath, though I don't know why it mattered; the hem of the kimono
skimmed the floor entirely, and it even had a train in the back, so you
never saw the shoes in the first place. Shrugging off my mild complaints, I
smiled at Azula, "Thank you so much. You always make me look wonderful."
Laughing, she hugged me. It was then I noticed that she had also changed
into a kimono, her's an emerald green with gold accents, violet and gold
obi, and short enough you actually saw the sandals and socks. I helped her
pull her hair up into a ponytail, and we grabbed fans that matched our obi
as we left.

Azula led me down many confusing hallways and passages, none of them
different from each other. Within ten minutes I was so thoroughly lost, I
couldn't have found my way back to the bath house, much less to the front
door. Amazingly enough, this didn't bother me. I was quite content to let
Azula lead me to where ever she wanted. Normally, I trusted no one this
much, but Azula was nothing but honest with me, sometimes brutally so. I was
so caught up in my musings, I didn't even notice Azula had stopped, till I
ran right into her. When she quirked a brow at me, I just smiled and
shrugged sheepishly. I was well known for spacing out.

She opened the doors in front of her carefully, then bowed to me, of all
things. I looked at her like she had lost her mind. Then I noticed Yukiru
was standing there, offering me his hand, since there was a step up into the
room. Considering I wasn't use to this cumbersome kimono, I was glad for the
hand up. Once I was safely balanced in the room, he politely nodded his head
and started to lead me towards a platform raised at the far end of the room,
where a very beautiful woman was sitting, dressed in even finer silks than
what I wore. She had a long, white fur muff draped behind her back and over
her arms. Her eyes were a bright gold, her hair a very pale shade of silver
that it almost looked white. A single stripe graced each cheek, and on her
forehead was a blue crescent moon. Her very presence screamed old nobility,
and I felt like a low, crippled beggar compared to her.

"General Yukiru, I assume this is the girl you talked about in your report."
she said coolly, looking me up and down. I felt even lower, if possible.

He silently nodded, then seemed to notice my cowering. He whispered to me
softly so she wouldn't over hear, "Tomoyo, don't let her intimidate you.
She's at the exact same level as you."

"Only noble." I hissed slightly.

He rolled his eyes, I assume at my foolishness. "You may not know it, but
you too are noble. White inu youkai are always nobility, so you are no
different then her." I rolled my eyes in response, then focused on the lady
who was watching this interaction with curiousity in her eyes.

"You don't listen to orders well, do you?" she unexpectedly asked.
Completely taken by surprise, I just shrugged. Yukiru jabbed with his elbow
discretely, and I understood I was suppose to verbal respond.

Clearing my throat of the knot that had developed there, I said softly,
"Sometimes... Depends on who gives me the order." Belatedly I remembered all
of the arguements I got into with the school's drama couch whenever he
started to boss me around. "Then again, maybe it doesn't matter..." I
mumbled. I was startled when she laughed.

"That's what I like to see in young noble ladies." she confided in me,
winking at me slightly. "I hate this docile, modest act the lords are
forcing on their daughters. I suspect the men I try and set up with such
young ladies hate it as well. Inu youkai men are well known for their love
of spicy, saucy women, the more contrary the better." Suddenly, I felt like
a gift pony that was being inspected before being given to a prince. She
seemed to pick up on my feelings, for she quickly reassured me, "Not that
the women themselves don't have preferences." She gave me a quick look up
and down, and then asked, "You have never been in a relationship with a man
before?"

Blinking in surprise, I shook my head. No boy at school had ever grabbed my
eye before. Sure, I had kissed a few, but mostly during plays and musicals,
so I never counted them as actually kisses. The guys at my high school I had
not only grown up with, but also were the biggest, most egotistical,
chauvenistic jerks of all time. That, and they smelled. I wrinkled my nose,
just remembering the stench.

The lady seemed to read my mind, for she said, "You no doubt grew up with
the same men around you, all of the same sort. Unappreciative of your true
beauty, of your skills, of your very essence which any man worth his girth
can detect by simply looking at you." She stood from her seat and came down,
walking towards me. Then she started circling, taking in everything about
me. I tried not to move too much, though I didn't like it when I had my back
to her. Yukiru sensed my unease, but he couldn't really do anything to
reassure me. Finally she stopped right in front of me. Her eyes narrowed as
she took in my facial features, which made me nervous. The lady then said
softly, "You are good at not only controlling your emotions, but seeing
through the sheilds others place around themselves to hide those emotions.
You are very good at manipulating others in a very subtle way, though
sometimes unconsiously. Despite all of your experiences, you are deep down
an innocent, still believing in love and family above all else."

I hated being read like a book, so I glared at her, though I was amazed how
quickly she saw through every barrier I had placed around myself. She smiled
then. "I know just the lord for you... A young one, though very powerful.
He's from a good family, and has never really shown interest in any of my
other ladies, beyond a night that is. Are you interested?"

Biting my lower lip, I thought about it. Yukiru and Azula have both
explained to me that in this era, I had no standing. Without a family or a
mate, I was basically voiceless. Adoption or marriage were my only options,
and I had turned down the former as quickly as possible. My only option was
to take up on whatever offer she made to me. Sighing, I nodded my head. She
clapped her hands joyfully, startling me, though Yukiru just rolled his eyes
heavenward. The lady then said eagerly, "Oh, I just know my Sesshou is going
to love you!"

"YOUR Seshou?" I said curiously, now very confused.

"Oh yes." Yukiru said sarcastically. "The lady-eater she's sending you to is
Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, her only son."

"Lady-eater?" I gulped, now thoroughly concerned as he nodded, sage-like.
What had I gotten myself into?

Gah, finally! This thing took me forever! And I do mean, forever! I'm sorry it took so long... For some strange reason, I kept hoping for more reviews, and I'm keeping hold of that hope! And then my new alpha reader, Nicole, had to edit it. So please, R&R?