Sora waved goodbye to her new friends as they walked away from the castle gate. Kagome, with help from InuYasha, drew her a map to Kaede's village in case she should ever wish to visit. The sun was beginning to set and a cold wind had picked up, bringing dark clouds with it. Sora wrapped her cloak tighter around her and hoped that the InuYasha gang would make it to a good shelter before the storm broke.

She sighed and headed back into the castle as the wind picked up more, nearly blowing her cloak off of her. She stood and watched as some of Sesshomaru's soldiers began to take down the tent that Kagome, InuYasha, Sango, and the others had occupied. The wind whipped the tent lashings out of their hands, and the canvas rippled in the harsh gusts. Sudden loud thunder rolled across the sky.

"Sora!" Rin called. She turned and saw her friend hurrying towards her, carrying a bouquet of forget-me-nots and violets. Thunder began rolling towards them in waves as to the north, bolts of lightning were flung from the sky to the earth. The wind whipped up, sending the grass rippling like waves. Almost immediately rain began to fall in sharp, icy needles. "Leave that!" Sora called to the soldiers. "Get out of the rain!"

"That's all I need, cases of pneumonia to treat!." She said, mostly to herself. The soldiers hurried to do as she said, leaving the canvas to flap in the wind. She heard a sharp snap and then a yell as one of the ropes snapped, sending a large wooden stake through the leg of one of the soldiers. "Oh gods!" She screamed. She turned to Rin. "Get Sesshomaru! And bring me my bag!" She ran towards the injured soldier.

She tore off her cape and tossed it over the man, who lay shivering in the icy rain. The other soldier's milled about, wanting to help, but unsure how. Suddenly Rin was by her side with her bag. She flipped it open and pulled out a packet of herbs. She grasped the wooden spike and pulled with all her might. She heard a sickening sucking sound as it pulled loose. The wound was straight through and luckily, clean. She poured the herbs over the wound and wrapped it as quickly as she could.

The other soldiers lifted the man and carried him to their barracks. A hand on her shoulder had her lifting exhausted eyes upwards to Sesshomaru's face. She tried to stand and fell forward into his arms. "Stupid woman." He said. He nodded to Rin, who grabbed Sora's bag and they made their way inside the castle. "Rin, go to your room, get out of those wet clothes and into the onsen until you can stand the heat no longer. Then put on fresh warm clothes and report to the cook. She has been instructed to give you hot soup and tea. After that, you are to go directly to bed and stay there. Understood?"

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama!" The girl said, and hurried off to do as he'd said. Sora tried moving to get him to set her down, but he just glared at her and she stopped fidgeting. He carried her to her bedroom. He sat her on her feet and pointed to the chest that contained extra clothing. She pulled sleepwear, a haori top and hakama pants in plain white from the chest.

"Come with me." He said, and led her from the room and into his private quarters. There she found he had his own private onsen. It had been built onto, the bottom was snugly fit with wooden boards and had shelf-like seating. Blushing, but without being told, she stripped off the icy cold wet kimono and slipped into the hot water. She began shivering immediately and dunked under the water.

When she surfaced, Sesshomaru was in the water as well, leaning back against the hard wooden back of the seats, his eyes closed as if he were concentrating very hard on something. She swam over to a shelf containing sea sponges and different scented soaps. She found one containing a lavender scent and applied it to the sponge and being careful to turn her back to Sesshomaru-sama, she washed herself. She was getting ready to wash her hair when she felt someone slide up behind her. "Allow me." Came his soft voice. But something was wrong, his voice was harsh and his breathing was off-pace.