"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

~Cayla Mills

Kohaku wasn't doing so well. For two days she has remained unconscious. Two days he waited for her to awaken. He had arrived at the village that was said to have the best herb garden that was maintained by an evil bloodthirsty demon, only to come upon a ragged hut that housed a half demon that was neither evil nor bloodthirsty.

At first, the half-demon's mother, who also lived there, refused thinking that Sesshomaru was sent by the villagers to hurt her child. Even as her life was threatened to be ended, she still refused. But she soon relented when it was her half-demon son who agreed to treat Kohaku and her illness.

For two days the hanyou known as Jinenji collected medical herbs from his garden and treated Kohaku. It should be also noted that due to his massive figure, Jinenji was not able to administer any of the medicines to her. Instead, his mother did that for him. The herbs would be boiled into a tea first before being slowly poured down the unconscious girls throat. Whatever herbs were being used were truly working, as slowly but surely the girl's complexion gained color.

Two more days passed, a total of four days of being in the village, and in that time Sesshomaru took the time to look after Kohaku but also survey the area. He noted how the human villagers seemed to fear Jinenji and his mother, how that the village men would harass the half-demon whenever he came out of the hut he lived in. It was truly disgusting how humans would attack such a kind creature, even if the said creature was to him, a filthy hanyou.

The dragon, who a week prior was named A-Un by a sick and delirious Kohaku, was always seen sitting next to the hut. One head would be peaking through the tiny window while the other either grazed on grass or stayed alert for danger. To them, the girl was important. She groomed, paid attention to them, and to an extent, spoiled them. But now they were missing the comforting hugs she gave, the neck rubs in the early mornings, the singing in her native tongue. She became a constant in their lives and seeing her look deathly worried them.

The same could be also said for the imp Jaken. Even though he still thinks humans are nothing but disgusting mortals who should rot for being useless meat sacks, he could appreciate the human called Kohaku. Unlike other humans, she immersed herself with the demons she traveled with. She never degraded him, she showed him respect. She never tried to bludgeon him whenever he called her a filthy human, she smiled and agreed with him. She even went out of her way to even share any food she caught or was brought to her by Sesshomaru. All in all, Jaken could admit he worried for the girl, even if she was human.

Three more days pass, a whole week being in the little village, and Kohaku was still unconscious. She was getting better no doubt about that, but her healing process was taking too much time, something Sesshomaru was losing patience with. Getting fed up with the constant staring from the villagers he swiftly walked into the hut before crouching down next to Kohaku's face. Her eyes could be seen quickly moving under her eyelids, showing that she was active and may be aware of the outside world.

"Wake up girl, " Sesshomaru firmly demanded in a soft voice. As if hearing him her fingers twitched and her eyelids tried to open. Again he demanded her to wake up, and her body responded, trying hard to move the twitching was more frequent. And demanding her for the third time he told her to wake up, which in turn her eyes finally fluttered open.

"Moony?" she groggily mumbled as she weakly lifted her hand to caress his cheek. Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly as he had recognized the word. It was a name he remembered being called a child. He would have to ask her how she came across such a name for him.

From the entrance of the hut, A-Un stuck their head. They had heard the human female speak, although it was barely a whisper they still heard it. Upon seeing looking over to where she rested they saw that her eyes were open, a weak smile on her face and that she was still gently caressing Sesshomaru's cheek. Sesshomaru himself was allowing it, he was even holding onto the hand that was touching him. Seeing this, A-Un wanted to join in too. With an exited swagger in their step, they busted through the entrance before trotting over to Kohaku's side. Not far behind them, Jaken followed crying small tears of joy at seeing Kohaku awake and smiling.

In the background, both Jinenji and his elderly mother sat by the fire pit watching the three demons crowd around the girl. It was a warming sight to see and watching how the usually stoic male demon slightly relaxed when the girl awoke reminded the old woman of her times with her son's father.

"Hello, dragon friend. Sorry if I worry you both, " Kohaku rasped out in her broken Japanese while one hand still caressed Sesshomaru's face, the other switching between petting A's head and Un's snout. "Oh, hello Jaken. I see you're happy to see me. Are you crying?" she asked the sniffling imp.

"I'm not happy to see you nor am I crying! I just have something in my eye!" he denied while rubbing his tears away with the end of his sleeve. He wouldn't admit it to her face, but he knew that she knew he was lying. She was just intuitive like that.

"Excuse me, " came a soft voice from behind the group. It was Jinenji with a steaming cup of herbal tea. With unsteady hands, Kohaku tried to sit up and take the cup from him but before she could even fully get up and touch it Sesshomaru gently pushed her back down before taking the cup from Jinenji. He spared a glance at the half-demon, who took that as an appreciative glance, before crouching down in front of the girl and placing the cup in front of her mouth.

"Drink."

She did without complaint. After drinking every last drop she sent a weak smile to the Demon Lord before sending a sincere thank you to the nice half demon. Now feeling tired Kohaku relaxed before closing her eyes. As she fell asleep with a smile on her face, A-Un, Jaken, and Sesshomaru all sat by her side, waiting until she gained consciousness again.