AN:Thanks to L.M. Avalon for all the editing help! Enjoy the chapter folks!
Sesshomaru glanced at Alithia's sleeping form as he made one final adjustment to his armor. His fingers brushed against the spot where he normally wore his father's red tassel, and he sighed. He regretted so hastily leaving the mountain top where Alithia had run away from him—the tassel had been missing since that day. He forced himself to stop fidgeting and kicked Jaken awake. "Go find something for her to eat," he ordered his servant. After Jaken left, Sesshomaru knelt next to Alithia and gently brushed the hair from her pale face.
He frowned and let out a sigh. He couldn't wake her just yet; she was still healing and was sleeping peacefully for the first time since he'd been traveling with her. Besides, it had only been a few hours since she'd run away from Akashino's home. Jaken returned a few minutes later with berries and mushrooms. He moved to wake Alithia, but a frosty look from Sesshomaru stopped him. He scuttled over to his master and handed him the food and then proceeded to pack up the camp. Sesshomaru placed the food in a pouch and gathered Alithia in his arms, blankets and all. He mounted Ah-Un and adjusted Alithia in his lap before beginning the day's journey.
Cool wind kissed Ali's hot cheeks, making her stir. She opened blurry eyes and blinked at the hypnotizing sway of Sesshomaru's MokoMoko as it fluttered in a breeze. "I was just going to wake you," a deep, soft voice said. Ali tilted back her head to gaze into Sesshomaru's sad, golden eyes. "You need to eat something, Alithia," he said. The mere mentioning of food had Alithia's stomach twisting, and she wrinkled her nose. Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at her as she burrowed down in the blankets and closed her eyes.
"Not hungry," she mumbled. A cool hand brushed her hair from her cheeks and forehead in a soothing manner. A moment later, Ali felt Sesshomaru's lips on her temple. She blinked and twisted her head so she could look him in the eye. He didn't look sad anymore, just somewhat annoyed.
"You are ill. You should not have been traveling. Eat just a little," he said, his voice becoming gentle at the end. A small pouch was deposited into her lap a moment later. Ali forced herself to eat several bites and thought about the last several days. She could just barely hear Jaken grumbling from somewhere behind Sesshomaru. She couldn't believe that she'd missed the annoying little imp. She wanted to talk to Sesshomaru about his father—without Jaken hearing. She knew that Sesshomaru trusted Jaken, but this was so personal that she was certain it was something that he wouldn't want anyone else to know. Besides, she wanted to ask him about his reaction to Inuyasha licking her last night. It was odd, considering that he'd also licked her once before the cave incident.
Ali slid an arm around Sesshomaru's neck, ignoring the soft silk of his hair as it tickled her hand, and put her lips close to his ear so Jaken wouldn't overhear what she intended to say. "Sesshomaru? Can we stop for awhile? I want to talk to you about something without Jaken's interference," she breathed softly in his ear. Sesshomaru's entire body went rigid, and his fingers dug into her ribs where he was supporting her in his lap. She winced and pulled back a little to give him some space. It was a good thing Sesshomaru had unintentionally hurt her because she'd been tempted to kiss his throat. She forced herself not to blush as Sesshomaru lifted a cool eyebrow at her.
Sesshomaru was glad he'd spent centuries perfecting his mask of indifference as Alithia's warm breath tickled his ear and sent shivers of pleasure down his spine. It made him angry that she had such an effect on him; she was merely a half-human after all. He was not interested in any sort of sexual relationship with a human, half or whole. Reflexively, he tightened his grip on Alithia. He ignored her wince and lifted an eyebrow as she pulled away, her face an interesting shade of pink. "What do you wish to discuss?" he asked her quietly. She bit her lip and peered over his shoulder at Jaken, who was muttering sullenly behind him. Alithia's next words left him speechless in shock.
"I want to talk about your father," she murmured. "I think he saved me," Alithia added quietly when he inhaled sharply. Sesshomaru gave her a sharp nod of understanding and directed Ah-Un to land. Half an hour later, he was alone with the girl and convinced that she'd been hallucinating due to the poison that still laced her body.
"How could my dead father possibly have saved you?" Sesshomaru growled out more harshly than he intended. Alithia didn't seem to be offended by his disbelief as she folded the blankets she'd been wrapped in. Then she sat on a rock and chewed her lip for a minute, wincing when one of her fangs pierced the tender flesh. Sesshomaru silently knelt in front of her and gently brushed away the blood.
Sesshomaru's thumb rested on her lip, and his long fingers caressed Ali's cheek, the scrape of his claws against the soft flesh making the fine hairs on her neck stand up. To distract him from the scent of her arousal, Ali took his hand and placed the bright red tassel she'd stolen from him the day she'd misinterpreted the look he'd given her in his palm, closing his long fingers over it. It had been a game she'd started playing with him the first day they'd begun traveling together. She called it the 'let's see how long it takes him to notice I took it' game; he called it the 'you're pushing my buttons' game. Sesshomaru seemed less than thrilled about it but allowed her to practice her thievery skills on him.
As Sesshomaru's gaze dropped from her eyes to the object in his hand, Ali remembered the last time she'd lost her little game. Well, she lost every time, but that morning had been a little different…
Ali walked back from the river twitching her nose like a rabbit to get the water out of it. As she entered the camp, she skirted a grouchy Jaken and sat near the things Sesshomaru had left behind after his morning's drill set. Stealthily, she swiped the bright red tassel that dangled from his armor like she had for the past three mornings and tucked it into the back of her own armor's neck, underneath her hair. Suppressing a smirk because Jaken hadn't noticed her taking the tassel, she quickly gathered her things.
A moment later, Sesshomaru returned from his bathing rituals, and Ali swallowed hard as she watched a bead of water trickle down his arm. She squashed down the flare of knee-melting attraction and quietly slipped away from the camp. Once she'd traveled about 150 feet, she broke into a run. It wouldn't take long for him to notice she'd taken it again.
Ali let out a startled yip as a still-topless Sesshomaru appeared in her peripheral vision, and she picked up her pace, a giggle escaping her lips. Bands of steel wrapped around her waist, and she was tackled to the ground, Sesshomaru rolling so he hit the ground first. Ali swallowed as her hands were pinned firmly above her head with both of his. Sesshomaru sat on her legs, trapping them between his own and making escape difficult.
Ali peered up at Sesshomaru's unamused face and blinked with all the innocence she could muster. "Can I help you with something, Maru?" she murmured. Sesshomaru gave a low growl and leaned in close to her face.
"You have something that belongs to me," he rumbled, his warm breath caressing her cheeks. Strangely, Ali didn't feel afraid. She didn't think he was actually angry, just annoyed—and only a little at that. Mostly he seemed to be amused that she'd actually managed to run any distance from him at all. Ali cocked her head to the side in false confusion.
"Do I?" she purred. "I didn't realize I had taken anything," she lied shamelessly. "If you find what you are looking for, then I'll apologize," she added slyly. Sesshomaru's eyebrow shot up to his hairline even as his eyes went a molten gold color.
"And how, exactly, do you intend to apologize to this Sesshomaru?" he growled out as one hand slid down her arm to cup her cheek. Ali felt a blush beginning to ignite her face and desperately tried to bluff her way through… whatever this was. She gave a casual shrug and smirked up at him.
"I'm sure you will think of something. But first, you have to prove I took anything from you," she stated sassily. A smirk twisted his lips sexily, and he leaned closer, tilting her head to the side. Ali swallowed a gasp as his lips claimed the side of her throat, his tongue and gently-scraping fangs sending her brain directly into lala land.
"This Sesshomaru has all the proof he needs right here," he said as he pulled back and dangled the red tassel in front of her eyes. Ali pouted, disappointed that he'd found it so quickly. Sesshomaru tucked the tassel into the waist of his hakamas and returned his attention to her with that wicked smirk still gracing his face. "You are correct. I have thought of something you can do to—" he began to say. Ali used the moment he sat up to put away the tassel to cool her rapidly heating blood, and when he returned his attention to her, she flipped them so that she was straddling his hips. A stunned look had replaced the smirk, making her giggle.
Before Ali could make a clever remark, she heard Jaken wailing for Sesshomaru. She made a face and sighed before climbing off the still-stunned demon lord. She began walking back to the camp, ignoring Jaken when she passed him on the road. As she walked, she shoved the whole incident aside to analyze later. Now was not the time to have her brain melt. She had a feeling his revenge wasn't going to be very nice.
"I thought I took this back from you," Sesshomaru said, clearly remembering the incident as well. Ali grinned wickedly at him.
"You did that day, but the next day when we stopped because Jaken wanted to eat, I took it from you again, right off your armor. I was going to give it to you after we ate that night, but, well, that was the night I got scared and ran away," she explained, the smirk only fading a little when she thought of her stupidity.
Sesshomaru stared at the blush that stained Alithia's pale face a brighter red than normal and wondered if she knew she was blushing. He guessed that she didn't from the way her head tilted in genuine confusion, one ear tilted sideways and toward the ground. Normally both her ears were upright or tilted back, not to the side. She only did that when she was confused about something.
Sesshomaru refused to think about how close he'd come to seducing her the day she'd taken his father's tassel and run. He seized onto that thought viciously and held on for dear life. "What does this have to do with my father?" he asked in a grumbly tone. Alithia's face became serious.
"That tassel means so much to you because it was your father's, wasn't it? It was because of him that I was able to escape from Eddie this time. I had that tassel, and I—I think I was very, very close to dying," she said gravely. Ice slammed into Sesshomaru's chest at her words. Had she really been that close to death?
"You are not leaving my side again," he said before he could stop himself. Alithia blinked in surprise and lifted an eyebrow. "You end up in too much trouble otherwise, and I have duties to attend to other than saving you or worrying about your wellbeing," he added more bluntly than he meant to. *Nice time for your eloquence to fail you,* he thought sardonically.
Ali didn't know what to make of Sesshomaru's statement at first but decided to take it at face value. She wasn't strong enough to fight on her own yet, but with his help, she would be. She was getting really tired of being injured or in need of rescue. She wasn't freaking Snow White, she was Mulan. Or she would be if she had anything to say about it. She gave him a sharp nod of consent and changed the subject.
"Why were you so upset when I said Inuyasha had licked me? I mean, you licked me once before that incident in the cave," she said, fighting another blush. Sesshomaru's eyebrow lifted in confusion.
"When did I do that?" he asked in a tone that implied he believed she was lying. Ali hesitated—maybe she'd imagined that he'd healed her. She did have accelerated healing. Her face scrunched thoughtfully as she tried to assess whether or not it had actually happened. She did occasionally have fantasies about Sesshomaru. She shook her head in resignation.
"I apologize. I must have dreamed it," she murmured uncertainly as she rubbed her eyebrow. Ali hoped that she wasn't going crazy. Feudal Japan was not the place to be a complete nut job—not unless you had a great deal of magical or political power. She had neither, so if she went crazy here, she'd likely meet an unpleasant end. Her ears went flat against her skull as images from years of history class invaded her brain. Having a vivid imagination was overrated sometimes.
Sesshomaru blinked as he remembered the incident to which she had to be referring. He'd been so annoyed by the impulsive action that he'd forgotten it entirely. A small whimper drew his attention back to Alithia. He had no idea what she was thinking about, but it was clearly scaring her. He leaned in and kissed her eyebrow gently.
"I had forgotten about that. What are you frightened of?" Sesshomaru asked as he cupped her cheek. Alithia shook her head and went red again. She wouldn't meet his eyes, so he tilted her chin up until she did. "Do not lie. I can see something is bothering you." Alithia stared into his eyes for a long moment and let out a small sigh.
"For a moment, I thought I was losing my mind and imagining all the things that could happen to me. I am gifted with a vivid imagination. In my time period, history has many records of people who went crazy and the things that happened to them. I don't want that to happen to me," she said in a trembling voice. Sesshomaru snorted.
"I will kill you before I allowed that to happen to you. I swear if you lose your mind and are a danger to others, I will kill you. I already said that man is not going to lay another finger on you—no one else will either. Do not worry yourself any longer," he said with a scowl on his face. Alithia flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his throat, sliding off her rock until she straddled his lap.
"Thank you," she breathed. He smiled into her neck and wrapped his arms around her ribs to hold her close. They remained that way until a breeze made Alithia shiver and cuddle closer to Sesshomaru. He suddenly became aware of their intimate position and pulled away, gently setting Alithia back on her rock. He stood up and faced away from her so she wouldn't be able to read his expression while she answered his next question.
"Exactly what happened when my father's spirit saved you?" he asked coolly.
"I was lying in a pool of blood desperately praying that you'd find me when I saw a bright light…" Alithia began softly.
Two days later
Ali swallowed her irritation as Sesshomaru knocked the katana from her hands for the fifth time that morning. She was not a swordswoman by any stretch of the imagination, but this was honestly pathetic. She dodged Sesshomaru's next sword swing and kicked out at the back of his knee. He swiveled away from the blow and threw a punch at her chest. She dodged that blow as well, and for several minutes they exchanged barely-missed kicks and punches. Sesshomaru sheathed his sword and began to attack her earnestly. She purposely backed away from his aggressive stance until her foot found her staff, which she managed to kick into her hands without bashing herself in the face. She'd been practicing this move for several weeks and three out of four times she'd hit herself in the face with the staff because she had kicked it too high.
Sesshomaru smirked as she shoved the end of the staff toward his stomach, easily dodging. He picked up a thin branch that was nearly the same length as her staff and blocked the blow Ali directed at his head. For nearly half an hour they fought with their staffs, Sesshomaru landing more blows than she did.
Sesshomaru could see that Alithia was getting tired and decided to end the practice. Alithia had nearly finished healing but wasn't quite her old self. He teleported behind her and rushing her from behind, gave her a firm wack across the lower back. He heard a yelp of pain, and then her staff end was whistling past his ear as he dodged the blow to the back of his head. Sesshomaru felt his eyes go wide as Alithia pulled back her staff, which had transformed into a scythe with a wicked looking blade. He instinctively grabbed the handle of the scythe as it arched toward his throat and tried to push it the other way as he leaned backwards. A moment later he wiped a trickle of blood from his throat with his free hand and bit back a smile.
"Are you alright?" Alithia's concerned voice penetrated his amusement, and he put his mask of indifference back on. Holding her scythe with an iron grip, he turned and gave her an evaluating stare. She didn't squirm under it like most people would but met his gaze evenly. "It would be foolish to reveal all my fighting secrets at once," she said in reply to his unasked question. He gave her a sharp nod and turned his focus to the intricately carved scythe handle. When he attempted to pull it from her grip, the scythe glowed brightly and a column of fire sent him flying backwards into a tree.
Ali stared in horror as Sesshomaru's body flew backwards through a tree. She dodged the falling branches and tossed aside the scythe and ran to his side when he didn't immediately get up. Swallowing a whimper, she gently cradled his head in her lap. "Maru? Maru, are you okay?" she asked anxiously. He let out a grunt, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She ran her fingers over his face gently as he pulled oxygen back into his lungs. His eyes closed, and he allowed her to gently stroke his face and throat. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and smirked up at her. Ali felt her eyes go wide with alarm, and she shoved his head away and attempted to scramble backwards but wasn't quick enough.
Sesshomaru had not been so humiliated in centuries. He knew better than to go about touching magical weapons. He lay on the ground cursing his own stupidity while he tried to get the air to return to his lungs. Terrified purple eyes blocked his view of the blue sky. He could distantly hear Alithia's anxious voice calling his name. He grunted to let her know that he was ok. Against his will, Sesshomaru's eyes drifted shut as Alithia's delicate fingers traced patterns over his face and throat.
For a long moment after he'd regained his ability to breathe, Sesshomaru lay with his head in Alithia's lap and inhaled her intoxicating scent. *I'm doing it again—I'm letting her affect me. This is ridiculous. This stops NOW,* he thought savagely. He wondered how he was going to get out of this situation without upsetting her—he didn't need her to run off and get herself hurt again. Settling on a course of action, he opened his eyes and gave Alithia a wicked smile. Her expression changed from concerned to alarmed, and she shoved him out of her lap. He rolled to his hands and knees and charged at the retreating figure.
"You should never let your guard down," Sesshomaru rumbled once he'd pinned Alithia to the ground. She glared at him defiantly.
"I thought you were hurt. You better not have been faking," she growled. Sesshomaru chuckled at her outraged expression. He smirked down at her and watched with amusement as she tried to fight a blush.
"You still owe me an apology as well," he murmured sensually, caressing the bridge of Alithia's nose with a claw. Her face went crimson for a brief second, and then it was Sesshomaru's turn to be alarmed as a devious smile graced her lips.
"Is this a good enough apology?" Alithia murmured before lifting her head up off the ground and kissing him fiercely. Sesshomaru was shocked by the aggressive passion she displayed—she was the one who always pulled away from his advances. It made him angry; had she been faking her shyness this entire time? He returned the kiss harshly, nipping her lip when she tried to pull back. A few moments later, he pulled back to get some air and glared down at Alithia. She blinked dazedly at him, making him even angrier. He kissed her again, putting all of his seductive power behind it. For once, she didn't pull away but met his kiss with equal passion. At some point, her hands drifted from above her head where he'd pinned them to tangle in his hair. Awhile later, she gave his chest a hard shove.
"Jaken's coming," she gasped. He leapt to his feet and tried to calm his racing heart as Jaken's voice reached him.
Ali clenched her trembling hands and tried to remember what breathing was. She hadn't intended for things to get so out of control. *Pretend it didn't happen. Pretend it didn't happen,* she thought as Jaken chattered at Sesshomaru. She gathered the weapons from their morning practice and began cleaning them. She left her scythe where she'd tossed it; she hadn't wanted to attack Sesshomaru earlier—the scythe had done that on its own.
Later that day when they stopped for a short break, Sesshomaru watched Alithia from the corner of his eye. He hadn't spoken to her all morning, choosing instead to just observe. He came to the conclusion that she'd been bluffing when she'd kissed him so boldly. She was a sneaky little fox, but not intentionally devious. Sesshomaru snorted to himself. He was beginning to see why Edward had been fascinated with her—she had the potential to be a perfect lover. Not that the self-centered bastard would ever know that now. He shook off that train of thought and frowned as Alithia rolled her shoulder for the fifth time. He also realized that he didn't see her elaborately carved scythe anywhere.
"Alithia, where is your weapon?" Sesshomaru's deep voice startled Ali. He had been so upset at her pathetic attempt to surprise him that he hadn't spoken to her all day. She stopped rolling her aching shoulder and blinked up at Sesshomaru.
"Oh, I left it back there. It attacked you when I didn't mean for it to," she said with a shrug. Sesshomaru stared at her and then let out a sigh.
"Come here," he ordered softly. Ali blinked and, after a moment's hesitation, took Sesshomaru's outstretched hand. She swallowed a squeal as he yanked her against his chest firmly, and they were enveloped in a bright red light. "You can open your eyes now," Sesshomaru murmured into her ear. Ali opened her eyes and blinked as she saw the tree Sesshomaru had destroyed earlier that day during their weapons practice. "Retrieve your weapon and bring it here," he ordered.
Alithia obeyed him curiously. When she stood in front of him again, he held out his hands. "Now give it to me willingly." She placed the scythe into his hands gently. Sesshomaru inspected the intricately carved staff closely for several minutes. It was a beautiful weapon. "Show me how you release the blade," he said. When she moved to take the weapon back, he wrapped his arms around her and turned her the other way so her back rested against his chest.
Ali forced herself to remain calm as Sesshomaru's strong arms encircled her. She wasn't going to allow there to be a repeat of that morning—she wanted to stay by his side for a long time, and episodes like that morning were going to ruin any chance of that. She wrapped each of her hands over his and showed him the way to twist the staff so the blade sprang free. "Do not throw away this weapon again. We were fighting earlier, and it was merely protecting you," he said quietly. She nodded mutely and held the scythe against her chest. "Close your eyes—we will return to Jaken now," he murmured and held her close again.
