Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN InuYasha or any character from the InuYasha universe. I only own Ellie Layne and her story line.

Enjoy!

She watched the young Hanyou speculatively as he was working on the roof of a villagers hut. The little group had gotten back the other day after being gone for almost a week. A couple new shards added to their collection.

Ellie had finally worked out that the little girl she met awhile back in fact did not live in the village. And judging by the way Kagome and InuYasha acted when they found her with Rin, her little friend traveled with a person they didn't seem to care for. This world was rather peculiar, and getting more peculiar by the day. Yet strange enough, Ellie rather liked it here.

Ever since she had that run in with the man from the hot springs, Ellie couldn't seem to get him off her mind. She wasn't daft. The man clearly showed signs of lust. While his face gave little away, it was his body language that said it all. But instead of acting on his lust he had left without a single word.

All she had ever known was men taking what wasn't theirs. Using her, and her body as if they owned her. In all honesty there was nothing she could ever do to stop them. No matter how hard she tried. If she resisted, there would be consequences. And if she gave in to their demands, well, she would rather be dead. There was never a medium. Always some sort of hell to pay.

But the man at the springs had shown Ellie mercy. Whether he meant to or not. Instead of taking advantage of her, and she had no doubt in her mind she wouldn't of been able to stop him, he had walked away from the temptation. Unbeknownst to him, he had showed a side of man Ellie had never before seen. She would forever be grateful. And often found herself hoping she could one day repay him.

Yet with thoughts of repaying the man, came thoughts very foreign to Ellie. If he had decided to not walk away, and instead take advantage of the situation, would she of even had the will to fight him off? This scared her beyond belief.

Even now she could feel the attraction she had for the man to her very bone. He was devastatingly breathtaking. She had wanted to touch him to make sure he was even real. In all of her 16 years of life, not once has she ever felt the need to want to touch a man, let alone wanting him to touch her. But she had.

Yes, she even wanted to know his touch upon her own skin. Would he be gentle? Or perhaps rough? Maybe a little bit of both. As much as it scared her, she was fascinated in the fact that he had awoken some type of hunger in her that she had never felt before. A need that she thought never existed. At least not to her.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she went back to watching InuYasha. The more she thought about it, the more she saw the resemblances between him and the man from the hot spring. Both had long white hair, and golden eyes. Although InuYasha had nothing on her silent mind-melting mystery man.

And the more she thought on it, InuYasha was a half demon. While he looked human he had dog ears on top of his dead. Freakin' Dog ears! His hand nails, and toe nails were claws. Not to mention he had canine's teeth. Or fangs as he preferred to call them.

While her mystery man also looked human, the strange markings on his face told her otherwise. And a odd white hairy snake was wrapped around him. Ellie snorted at the thought of a hairy snake. All bets aside, considering how fluffy the thing was, she guessed it was some sort of tail. Whether this man was a full fledged demon, or a half demon like InuYasha, she did not know.

Even though Ellie had no formal, or proper education, she took pride in the fact that she was clever enough to put two and two together. Her best guess was that the markings on the man indicated he was a full blooded demon, unlike her acquaintance she was currently watching.

Just as she came to this conclusion, InuYasha caught her eyes upon him and frowned down at her from the roof he was on. Wiping the sweat off his face with the sleeve of his haori, InuYasha jumped down from the hut and landed right in front of the red head.

Bending down to be more at eye level with the girl, his eyes narrowed slightly. "What're you starting at?"

His eyes widened slightly when Ellie smirked. Shrugging her shoulder nonchalantly, she stood up and started walking off towards Kaede's small hut. Frowning, InuYasha gave a huff as he started to walk behind her, his hands in his pockets. "Why even bother. You might not talk. But you sure do have a staring problem."

Later on that day Ellie sat in the meadow she met Rin at. She laid on the ground surrounded by the flowers and watched as the clouds rolled by. So far she had seen a cloud in the shape of a bird, but couldn't seem to make out anything else. When she was very little she used to play this game all the time. That seemed forever ago now.

Just as she was starting to nod off she was alerted to the sounds of the flowers rustling nearby. There wasn't much of a draft caused by the wind, so maybe it was an animal? Sitting up, Ellie looked to her left to see a familiar face standing there with a big toothy smile on their face.

"I was hoping you'd come back!" The little girl exclaimed as she came running up beside her. Ellie smiled as Rin sat down next to her, watching as she placed her small hands into her tiny lap. "Master Jaken didn't believe I made a new friend."

She frowned, looking down at her lap, her fingers fidgeting with her kasode. "He said I was just making things up again, because I didn't know your name." Bright, wide eyes stared up at Ellie as the girl smiled again. "May Rin have your name, Lady?"

Ellie's heart fluttered in her chest as she stared adoringly at the small child. Rin's eyes were still wide in wondrous childlike innocence that Ellie couldn't help but feel protective over the girl. In her time there were many evil's that took the form of many different things.

The red head had learned that man was the form evil enjoyed taking the most. But in this time period, not only did man walk around, but so did great powerful creatures like demons. She did not want the light and kindness she saw reflected in Rin's eyes to be snuffed out like it was with hers.

Realizing Rin was waiting patiently for a answer to her question Ellie cleared her throat. Yes, she would be this girls friend. And she would do her best to protect her of the ways of this world for as long as she could. "My name is Ellie."

Her voice came out a little cracked and a tad hoarse. But Rin did not seem to notice this one bit. In fact, the little girl thought Ellie's voice sounded whimsical and soft. Like a voice she would want to sing her to sleep.

Rin jumped up from her spot on the ground squealing in delight. "What a pretty name! Lady Ellie!" She exclaimed as she danced in circles. Ellie gave a light giggle at the child's antics. This was how children were supposed to be. Happy, and care free.

"Can we make more flower crowns, Lady Ellie?" Rin asked as she sat back down next to her friend. Ellie nodding her agreement, the two started picking away.

They were both done with a crown each when a sound could be heard coming from the forest. Rin had not seemed to notice, but the older girl had. Straining her ears, she looked towards were it came from. She wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like growling.

Her eyes widened in shock when a large bear came bursting out of the forest running directly at them. Jumping to her feet, Ellie grabbed Rin in a rush, securing her left arm around the girls waist and her right under her knees. She took off ignoring Rin's pleas, only to run faster when she heard the girl scream.

Ellie zoomed past the tree lines not once daring to look back. Jumping over any large twigs and roots she saw in their way. She didn't dare slow down in fear the creature would reach them. "It's getting closer!" Rin screamed in her ear. "LORD SESSHOMARU!"

Red hair flying behind her, Ellie strained her muscles as she pushed herself to run faster. When the name of this Lord Sesshomaru registered in her mind, she faintly remembered InuYasha asking Rin about the very person the day she had met the little girl. At this thought she cursed under her breath upon the realization that she was going the complete opposite direction of the village.

Her body screamed at her as she ran faster than she had ever before. Ellie's arms instinctively held Rin closer to herself when the little girl gave out another panicked scream. Both of their hearts were beating rapidly in fear.

Rin clung tighter around the older woman as she cradled her face in Ellie's neck. The bear was getting closer by the second. Where was Lord Sesshomaru?

A growl much closer then before was cut off, a crashing sound following shortly after. Ellie veered to the left and jumped over a large tree trunk that had fallen over. Prying the little girl off of her she set Rin down and grabbed two sticks from the forest floor.

"Whatever you do, do not move from this spot." She whispered vehemently. Her eyes didn't leave Rin's wide ones. The girl looked completely frightened that it broke Ellie's heart. But now was not the time for delay. "Do you hear me?" This time Ellie's voice was louder, demanding to be heard.

Quickly nodding her head, Rin squirmed when another growl came from behind them. She watched as the older woman's eyes set in determination as she jumped back over the log to face off with the large bear that had been chasing them. Rin wanted to cry and beg her not to go, but it was already too late.

Just as Ellie landed on the other side of the log, a dying growl came from the bear as it came crashing down into a tree several yards to her left. It's body completely limp in death. She gripped the sticks tighter as she prepared to come face to face with whatever creature was strong enough to kill the bear.

With wide eyes she turned her head. Her breath caught in her throat as she took a timid step back, the sticks falling numbly from her hands. She didn't register that she hadn't even stopped breathing as she too, fell to her knees.

There, in all his glory, stood the man from the hot springs.