Note to readers: I am not a history buff, nor did I do painstaking research for this fanfiction to be sure all is according to history! I did do some reasearch, yes, but please don't freak out on me if something doesn't seem right. Remember, this is only a fanfiction :D

Anyway, please read, enjoy, and review!

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After San had wrapped the dead child up tightly in the blanket and set him beside the hearth, her and Ashitaka headed for Eboshi. The Lady of Iron Town was within the confines of her home, standing at a table and staring down at a large sheet of paper rolled out over the tabletop. She glanced up as they entered the room, nodding her head in acknowledgment of their presence.

"I assumed you'd show up sooner or later," she said.

"What's going on, Eboshi?" Ashitaka said, standing on the other side of the table from her. San stepped up beside him, staring at the wall. He could see the anger boiling beneath the surface, ready to explode over.

"Have you ever seen a map this size before?" Eboshi asked him, ignoring the question and looking up.

He frowned, but looked down anyway, his eyes tracing over the continents of the known world. "No," he admitted. "What's this about?"

Eboshi put a finger on the small part of the island they inhabited. "We're here," she said. Her finger pulled upward through a portion of the Pacific Ocean until she reached the edge of Russia. From there, she dragged her finger across the massive landmass until she reached a small island on the other side of the the European continent. "And Aaron's people come from here." The map read 'England.'

"England?" he asked. His eyes traced the path again and the size, the amount of land that was traversed. "Why? Why would they come so far, leave their homeland, all that they knew...?" His words trailed off as he realized that he had done the exact same thing. He might not have gone so far, but the distance didn't matter, it was the act itself.

"What do you make of it, Ashitaka?" she asked him, her eyes meeting his, staring straight into him, looking for some sort of clue, some insight. She knew his line of thinking, knew his story and how close it was to Aaron and his people.

"I..." he stopped himself. "These people are scared and they need help. That's all I know."

"Help," she said, nodding. "Of course. But where are they going to get this help? They have infected our people here, Ashitaka, knowingly exposed their curse, their sickness to Tatara Ba, the town you helped to rebuild."

"What does this have to do with anything?" San demanded suddenly.

Eboshi's smirk was cleverly hidden. "Something obviously has to be done or a lot of people are going to die."

"So, humans die."

Eboshi was doing a fine job of hiding her facial expressions, Ashitaka mentally noted, because her eyebrow creased ever-so-slightly with annoyance. "Perhaps," she answered slowly, patiently, "but that doesn't make it okay. No one deserves to die like this."

"These humans do," San countered. "They are a plague upon this world."

"Enough, San," Ashitaka said gently. He expected a rageful rebuke, but she quieted, her hands forming tight fists at her side. "What are you getting at, Eboshi?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure if this sickness can be quarantined. I don't feel right forcing all who have been exposed to one place. It's like signing their death warrants. But I can't risk others getting sick."

"Do you think there's a cure?" he asked. "Something to lift the sickness, the curse?"

"They don't seem to think so."

He looked back down at the map. There was one major difference between Aaron's people and himself. They had tried to run away from their problems, he had faced them head on. If there was some way to save them, they would have to return to their home, to England, and face their problems.

He looked away, forcing down the growing anticipation, the sudden feeling of responsibility that welled up within him. He had showed Aaron's people to Tatara Ba; he had exposed his own people to the sickness, unknowingly, yes but that did not excuse him of the consequences of his actions.

"Ashitaka?" San and Eboshi both said.

He looked up, blinking away his thoughts. "I should speak more with Aaron."

"Don't do anything foolish, Ashitaka," Eboshi said. "These people have made their own choices."

"And I have my own choices to make," he said, turning and leaving the room.

San stayed, turning to Eboshi. "You're putting thoughts into his head, planting the seeds. You know he wants to help these people, and your people most of all."

"What Ashitaka does is his own choice, I have no effect on that. What you do, however, is completely up to you."

San growled under her breath and walked from Eboshi's building. In the distance she could see the dull light of the soon-to-rise sun. She suddenly remembered her brothers and headed towards the front gate. Shiro and Urufu remained, lying on the ground and taking up the entire front area of Tatara Ba. Most of the citizens had left the wolves to their own devices, satisfied that they wouldn't cause problems.

'San,' Shiro called out, standing and shaking himself. Dust rose around him. 'What's going on?'

"A lot, brother," she said. "I'll inform you as soon as I know everything myself."

He seemed satisfied with this. 'Can we leave then? Prey is calling.'

San sighed. She wanted very much to leave, but she needed to know what Ashitaka was thinking. And if he was thinking what she thought he was thinking, she needed to convince him otherwise. "I can't leave yet. But you two are welcome to."

'Are you sure, San?' Urufu asked, stretching. He was most definitely ready to leave the overly-human environment.

"I'll be fine," she promised. "Go on."

They nodded and turned to the large gate. A leap and a bound and the wolves were over the gate without the intervention of the guards who were scrambling to open it. San sighed and turned to find Ashitaka.

Ashitaka walked between two buildings, trying to reach the assembly hall. He turned out onto the street, shocked when he ran right into Aaron's granddaughter. Ashitaka stumbled backward, but the girl fell flat on her back.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," he said, reaching down to help her up.

She shrugged him off and backed away, dusting herself off. "I'm fine," she insisted acidly.

Ashitaka frowned. "What are you doing out here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be quarantined?"

She glared at him in utter hatred and defiance. "No, I'm in no danger of getting sick and spreading the curse to your people."

"Why are you a special case?" Despite her anger, he kept his tone conversational, friendly even. The girl interested him in a way far different than the rest of her people. There was something about her, something unique. He wanted to know what.

She just continued to glare. "That's none of your business."

"Fine, I suppose I won't be able to help then."

Shock registered on her face, but it quickly turned to disgusted amusement. "Help? What can you do? Are you some kind of hero, righting the wrongs of others, saving people?" She laughed, a bitter laugh, but it tapered off into a sigh of regret. "What do you want?"

"To help," he said, his tone honest, truthful.

She watched him for a moment, took him in, her expression less hostile and more curious. She knew he spoke the truth, it was evident in his very being. "Telling you won't make a difference, it won't change anything."

"You don't know that."

She backed up by the wall were a few wooden boxes were stacked. She took a seat. "I guess the best place to start is by telling you the story, all of it, not just the skeleton my grandfather told you."

"Sounds good," he said, taking a seat at a box beside her. "I'm listening."

San stepped into view from around the corner. She looked relieved to have finally found Ashitaka, but her surprise at seeing the girl was evident. She stepped up next to Ashitaka.

"I need to talk to you," she said.

"San," he answered, standing as she came closer. "Why, what's wrong?"

"What were you doing?" she asked, indicating the scene she had walked upon.

Ashitaka glanced back at the girl. "We were just talking. She-"

"Adara," the girl interjected.

"Adara here was about to tell me more information, about her people, about the curse that plagues them. You know, the whole story."

San's eyes narrowed to slits. "Why? What's the point?"

The girls has a stare down for a few seconds before Adara abruptly stood up. "She's right, there isn't a point to this."

Before Ashitaka could do anything, both girls stormed off in the opposite direction. Ashitaka watched them both go, his arms falling helplessly to his sides. He sighed to himself, shoulders slumped as he sat back down the on the stacked boxes, trying to understand what he needed to do.

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Well, I hope you liked it. I know it took longer than usual, but I've been taking finals the past week. Anyway, let me know what you think! Review, review, review!