Disclaimer: The characters and world of InuYasha are not mine; they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. The Alien characters and movies are not mine either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter 21

Two days of travelling, by foot this time, carried Kitana and Sesshomaru closer to the Western land, a landscape that they both knew much better than the barren area they have been travelling with. On the morning of the third day, when Kitana awoke from her slumber, Sesshomaru was nowhere to be found. Opening her eyes, she discovered Rin and Jaken, occupied at preparing Ah-Un for leaving the camp.

"Jaken, do you know where Sesshomaru is?"

Eyes reduced to slits, the retainer answered bitterly.

"Lord Sesshomaru comes and goes as he pleases, a lowly servant is not supposed to inquire about the Lord whereabouts, a servant is asked to wait loyally for his master's return!"

"Well, in that case, I'll let you wait and see by myself what he is up to. Ah-Un and you are going to take good care of Rin, isn't it, Jaken?"

Eyes now menacing to pop out of his head, Jaken replied.

"Why you! I am not a babysitter you know, I am Jaken, retainer of his Highness Lord Sesshomaru! I am his most trusted advisor!"

"Kitana-sama, you don't have to worry. Master Jaken takes real good care of Rin, and Rin takes real good care of master Jaken. We are used to wait for Sesshomaru-sama, but he always return! If you want to go find him, then go, but don't forget to come back too!" said the smiling child.

"Caring for a human child, oh how low have you fallen Jaken, how low..."

With a wink directed to a giggling Rin, Kitana left. She sensed the presence of Sesshomaru somewhere near the camp, reasonably close, and immobile. She departed quickly, running and using the trees as jumping boards. About five minutes later, he came into view, standing graciously on a rocky ledge overlooking a green forest. The mountainous area where they found the rats' nest continued up here, but was now covered by vegetation, and valleys and hills were everywhere around them. The taiyoukai was breathing deeply, carefully sifting through the different scents that composed the air.

SSSSS

Unfortunately for Kitana, Sesshomaru wanted nothing to do with her on this beautiful morning. The taiyoukai had spent the last three days silently cursing her and the new link that had formed between them, and he would rather have tea with Jaken and Rin decorating him with flowers than spend more time with his female companion. Her ever changing emotions had proven hard to ignore during the day, but thanks to his tremendous control over himself and his deep knowledge of what constituted his normal reactions, he managed not to humiliate himself by giggling at Rin's antics or rolling on the floor laughing whenever Jaken was kicked or maimed in any way.

The problem was totally different at night though, as if Kitana herself was exerting a control over her own emotions during the day, but lost it completely under the spell of sleep. Her feelings were much stronger when she was sleeping, and absolutely different from what he knew of her, from what he felt from her during the waking hours. For three nights, he received wave after wave of unwelcomed feelings from her, most of them being totally inappropriate. Was she an anomaly, or was it really possible for a female to be so full of lust and desire? On the first night, after a couple of minutes spent sensing her ravenous appetites and her bloodlust, he left the camp, resolved not to let this link unsettle him. He soon found out that it would be harder than he thought, for distance didn't seem to deafen the connection. Days later, as the sun rose at the horizon, he was on edge, ready to lash out at something, anything.

SSSSS

"Hey, what's going on? Something in the air?" Kitana asked casually as she walked by the taiyoukai, wary of his darkened temper. While she did so, she also surveyed what was just under the ledge; yet to be seen, two energy signatures strong enough to belong to demons were swiftly ascending the slope toward them.

Sesshomaru didn't answer her casual salutation. Instead, he flexed his claws in a menacing way before turning and going down the slope, heading directly for the energies she sensed earlier. Puzzled and slightly insulted by his ignorance of her, Kitana followed after him.

Halfway down the path, the demons she felt appeared to her. Two males, of what species she couldn't tell, were running up the hill. One of them sported a white spike of hairs and wore nothing but chain armor and a fur pelt around his hips. The other one was short-haired, with silver hairs too but sporting a dark grey stripe above his forehead; this one wore mostly furs.

Upon seeing Sesshomaru, both demons stopped dead in their tracks and knelt on the ground, shaking as if the sky had fallen upon them. Scrutinizing Sesshomaru's bored expression, Kitana waited curiously for what was to come. Was Sesshomaru after these weird-looking demons?

Panting, the youkai with the spiked hair raised his head and spoke.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Please forgive us for disturbing you; it appears we have mistaken your scent for Inuyasha's!"

Sesshomaru lost his platonic expression and frowned, raising his right hand, about to let his poison whip terminate the life of the insolent youkai who dared liken him to his loathed sibling. To his utmost irritation though, Kitana arrogantly stepped between the wolf and him, her back turned to him, thus saving the life of the lowly creatures.

"What do you want with Inuyasha?"

The two wolves sat on their haunches, studying the strange woman they had never met before. She had a stern, hostile look on her face and was blatantly ignoring the threat of the powerful dog youkai standing behind her. The wolves had not really mistaken the great taiyoukai for the hanyou; Inuyasha's scent was definitely upon him, along with their sister's scent and the rest of their pack, faint but present nonetheless. However the older brother had never been known to be kind to the hanyou or to his friends, and was in a class of demons so untouchable that even their leader would be in danger was he to face the Lord, so the demon spoke with hesitations to these beings who could very well end up being enemies.

"We ran into one of Naraku's incarnations not far from here and our leader, Kouga, is fighting with the thing at this moment. We believe he has some jewel shards and thought that our sister could sense them for us, her scent was in the air this morning."

Upon hearing these words, Sesshomaru's bored expression came back, and he went round the wolves to continue his descent down the hill. Kitana did not pay him any attention, for what the wolves said had aroused her curiosity.

"Your sister?" asked Kitana, puzzled.

"Yes, Kagome, sister of the Eastern wolf tribe."

"I see. Well, I think Lord Sesshomaru is after this Naraku you speak about, so your leader might receive some help after all..." She looked at Sesshomaru's back, who was going further and further away from them, entering the woods at the foot of the hill. The only feelings she could sense emanating from him were an intense irritation and a hint of what was probably her own curiosity, reflected back at her through their link. "Or not..."

Her attention returning to the wolves, she did her best to calm their anxiety; as far as she knew, they were not lying and she had no reason to act against friends of Kagome.

"Inuyasha and Kagome are far from here, it might take you days to reach them. I'll follow Sesshomaru; I want to know what will happen. Why don't you come? Your Kouga would certainly like having his companions with him in this fight, wouldn't he?"

She then took off after Sesshomaru, decided to see the end of it. The still panting and puzzled wolves looked at each other, then reluctantly followed suit. They were not great fighters despite what they would want others to believe, and Inuyasha's scent had given them hope in a desperate situation. Now, however, they weren't sure about their future anymore.

Sprinting amongst the tree, it was not long before Kitana caught up with the taiyoukai.

"Care to enlighten me, oh my Lord? What the hell is going on with you?"

Sesshomaru, walking casually amongst the tree, spared her an aggressive side look. Her playful curiosity and her confusion were in total contradiction with his mood, and he did not want to be distracted from his task.

"Naraku's horrible scent was on the wind this morning, for a short moment. However, the wind turned and the track was lost. Those wolves might have resolved this issue."

That being said, he urged forward, following an invisible path through the woods. As they reached the outskirts of a human village, he stopped, his moves mirrored by the onyx creature. Ahead of them, Kitana could feel the energy of a strong being, a demon for sure. There was another demonic one, weaker than the first, and one that was very hard to define, as if it was in perpetual change... Sesshomaru, his gaze fixed upon the houses, spoke to her.

"You shall not interfere. This fight is not your fight."

Then he was gone. Sighing, Kitana followed slowly after him, heading toward the village. He said nothing about not looking, did he? And she had never been good at listening to orders, anyway. So she followed, climbing the side of a house to reach the roof, hoping to gain a better viewing point, curious to finally meet the dreaded Naraku.

The village was dead. Corpses left to rot everywhere gave up an unpleasant smell of decay and death. Sesshomaru headed toward the small central place, where he could smell both Naraku's scent and that of the wolf leader, who was still alive if he could judge by the curses and shouts that reached his ears. He ignored the panting and whining of the two underlings who were now reaching the first empty houses; those were cowards not worth the value of the pelts they were wearing.

Both companions reached the central place at the same time, one on the roofs, and one on the ground. Their reactions to what was ahead of them however, were different. The taiyoukai gave a disdainful look to the small boy with a spear who was standing on the ground, surrounded by a strong barrier, before setting his bored gaze upon the larger, white creature that was fighting with the wolf. Kitana, on the other hand, was much more interested in the boy than in the fight itself. This small child-like being was harboring so much energy that it was hard to believe he was really what he seemed to be. She had learned that youkai could be cunning creatures, and disguising as a child seemed like a distasteful, but very possible thing to do for a youkai. Was this boy the terrible Naraku everyone talked so much about? Or was it the tall, expressionless white figure with its shifting, changing energy?

Approaching the fight, Sesshomaru unsheathed his sword. The exhausted wolf was having a hard time with the tall creature, which was doing its best to get at his legs. Multiple pieces of pale flesh were littered everywhere on the ground, but they were moving and pulsating suspiciously. The taiyoukai addressed the being.

"The wolves were right; you are merely despicable detachments from Naraku's body. I shall dispose of you quickly."

The small child did not even bother turning his eyes to face Sesshomaru; his attention was kept fixated on the fight before him.

"Kukuku! I am Hakudoshi, and this is Moryoumaru, not a mere detachment. But, do as you please, Sesshomaru-sama. You are in for a surprise, though!"

Suddenly, the child fiercely attacked the taiyoukai. The strikes from his long spear were fast and furious, but he found his match in the person of Sesshomaru. Tokijin singed its song of death as a blast of energy was sent right toward the small figure of the young boy, who would have taken the full strength of the blast if it wasn't for the barrier around him.

"Really, Sesshomaru-sama, for a being that Naraku wanted so much to absorb, you appear quite weak to me. A blast of energy, eh? Tell me, have you ever tasted your own medicine?"

On these words, the barrier around him reacted and a strong lightning-like energy blast was sent hurling to Sesshomaru, who simply side-stepped it. The blast ended up on the ground, making an explosion that sent dirt and rocks flying everywhere. Following the flight of a larger rock, Hakudoshi saw other beings looking at them, the two weaker wolves from earlier, and another creature. Scrutinizing the black figure that was blatantly looking at them from the rooftops, as if the fight was nothing but a mere entertainment, a flash of recognition passed in the child's eyes.

"Moryoumaru! Leave the wolf alone, you could always take his shards afterwards. Naraku wants this creature more than anything else! Go after her, now!"

He was interrupted by a furious Sesshomaru, who attacked his barrier with multiple physical strikes from the Tokijin. The child dodged them all and laughed as he witnessed his creation turning toward the woman Naraku wanted so much. The taiyoukai could do nothing to stop him, Hakudoshi, and it pleased him a lot. Wanting to keep the game interesting, he started retaliating with his spear. Soon both fighters were nothing more than flashes of colors and light to the human eye, fighting with a speed and strength rarely matched on this ground.

Under Kitana's very eyes, the creature named Moryoumaru left the half-beaten wolf behind him to come toward her. Kitana couldn't believe it, what had she done to be the target of so many attacks in such a short length of time? According to Sesshomaru, these two were not even the real Naraku, so why this obsession with her? It just wasn't healthy.

Kouga, momentarily left alone, gathered his bearings and jumped at the back of the creature, striking deep in its flesh with his claws. The soft white flesh only separated under his blow and quickly reformed around his hands, forcing him to push out with his legs. White jelly-like tendrils grabbed him by the legs then, and seemingly unaware of that fact, the creature continued toward Kitana without faltering, not caring about the wolf that was being absorbed into its back.

"You bastard! Fight like a real man, not like some jellyfish, it isn't honorable!" screamed the angry wolf youkai. With a stronger push, he freed himself from his enemy, who was now totally ignoring him, and took a closer look at the newcomers. The dog youkai he could replace as Inuyasha's sibling, but he had never seen anything like the black female, who was perched on a roof just like a… sitting duck. What was she doing, he thought?

Kitana didn't want to hinder Sesshomaru in his fight; it was obvious to her that he desperately needed to vent his aggression on these enemies. However she would not let such a weird thing hurt her down, and after the showdown at the rat's nest she wasn't in the mood for a fight. Sighing, she concentrated her energies and looked intensely at her attacker with shining golden eyes; eyes that soon lost their sheen and opened up widely in surprise.

Kouga couldn't believe it. Was this female stupid, or what? The freakish jelly youkai that he had been fighting moments before was coming straight at her, and yet all she managed to do was look at it? Did she think that her looks could kill?

He was about to jump to her help when suddenly she disappeared from her spot, letting the monster destroy the roof of the house with a swipe from his huge hand. Kouga blinked once, then twice, and found her right beside him, looking at him with a concerned frown on her face.

"Youkai, you should leave this place. Your friends are worried about you."

"What? You think I'm the one here in need of rescue? I-"

His phrase was cut short when another attack by Moryoumaru came his way. He was so distracted by the female's words that he didn't saw the white tendrils and tentacles coming, and she had to push him out of the way. Him, a wolf youkai of his status, rescued by a mere woman, he couldn't believe it!

Kitana was annoyed by the wolf. He was clearly a very macho character, and the male pride that radiated around him made her sick. Furthermore, the result, or rather absence of result, of her energy attack on Moryoumaru unnerved her. She tried to make its heart and brain burst under her energy, to no avail. She was tired of fighting against dead or undead creatures, it was way too creepy. Adding to that the fact that the wolf's anger and Sesshomaru's rage were starting to rub off on her, cutting her patience furthermore, and it explained her reaction when the said taiyoukai appeared at her side, furious, crouching in preparation of bouncing toward Hakudoshi.

"This Sesshomaru told you not to intervene in this fight. Leave."

Her eyes glowed a deep flashing gold and a hiss escaped her lips. The wind, which was absent until now, started to blow strongly around her.

"What did you say?"

Moryoumaru, as soulless as he was, knew a good opening when he saw one. The offered back of the black female was an invitation to strike, and so he did.

Instants before the creature made contact with her, a very strong gush of wind pushed him away, as if he had hit a wall. He fell down on the ground and the houses behind him were blown away by the strength of the winds. Kouga was speechless, and Sesshomaru had to divide his attention between Kitana and an amused Hakudoshi.

"In case you didn't realize it, I was the one being attacked here! I did nothing to provoke this giant blob of jelly, and –" she sent another wind attack to the said blob, who this time disappeared under the rubbles that once were a set of three houses -" and he comes straight at me, unprovoked, and you have the nerve to come here and order me to leave? Well, let me tell you that I would really love to be anywhere else in the universe, right now. I'm tired of this place, tired of the monsters waiting behind every tree to have a go at me, tired of fighting fights I don't even understand! If it were only me, I would have been gone a long time ago. The one that needs convincing though is this thing, not me!"

That being said, she turned to face another attack from Moryoumaru. The last attack. Not even blinking as the whitish mounds of flesh that were previously scattered around the village gathered together at her feet and started climbing upon her, she took up Sesshomaru's aggressive feelings and let them merge with her own deadly emotions. Expertly, she turned all this hatred, all this fury into a whirling blast of energy that engulfed the flesh at her feet as well as the monster and the shattered remains of the houses in front of her in a barrage of flames.

"NO!"

The scream came from Hakudoshi. Panicked, the youkai child surged forward, desperately trying to save his creation from the inferno that was consuming it. At the last moment, he grabbed Moryoumaru by the hairs and with his spear cut his head off from the rest of his burning body. Sesshomaru reacted instantly and was on them in a flash, but Hakudoshi was faster. He reformed his barrier and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from the scene.

Kouga, flabbergasted by her success against an enemy that gave him immense difficulties, was about to say something bitter to Kitana when Sesshomaru turned their way, his youki flaring around him in a very threatening way.

"This Sesshomaru had been very clear. How dare you take on my prey?" he asked with a growl.

Kitana bared her teeth at her companion, hissing, her inner jaw exposed through her parted teeth.

"You should have told them they were yours, not me. Clear your head Sesshomaru or I'll have to shake your eyes open! Don't you see I simply reacted to an unprovoked and unjustified attack?"

Unexpectedly, Sesshomaru lunged at her, poison dripping from his claws. She clumsily dodged the attack and the wolf, who was after all an expert at surviving, quickly moved out of the way. He joined his comrades who were waiting for him at the periphery of the destroyed village, hidden behind a crumbled wall.

The anger inside Kitana was so strong it was painful. It coursed in her body like a wild torrent, and resistance was futile, she had to give way to this rage or be engulfed in it. She spun on her heels and lashed her tail blade at Sesshomaru, who quickly blocked it with his now drawn Tokijin. He retaliated with a growl, and both of them became engaged in a battle of strength, speed and will that finished to destroy what was left of the village.

The wolves couldn't believe their eyes; the fight was so fast, they could only see the taiyoukai for short moments before he started moving again. His blows were so powerful that each of them resulted in thunderous sounds of metal scraping against rock and dust, sending parts of the demolished houses flying everywhere. Kitana was trying to take advantage of the ruins to dissimulate herself and attack by surprise, before hiding again; she was no match against such speed. Sesshomaru followed her so closely though than most of their battle was in the open. From their hiding spot, Hakkaku spoke to the others, coughing under the effect of the particles in the air.

"Hey Ginta, how come they are fighting like that? Weren't they travelling together when we met them, aren't they allies? They sure looked like it to me, after all he spared our lives when she intervened!"

"Hey, bro, how do you want me to know? All I know is she was damn efficient on that big white guy, she nearly destroyed it without even paying it any attention!"

"Hmm, she knew not to touch it, and she can control fire. I bet she wouldn't have been so brilliant had she been the first one to fight it, like I was!" said Kouga, arms crossed.

The two underlings looked at each other for a moment, sharing similar feelings of confusion and fear. In front of them, the battle was raging. Sesshomaru sent a powerful blast of evil energy toward Kitana with Tokijin while at the same time catching her by the waist with his fur pelt, and then throwing her against a half crumbled two story house.

Air left her lungs when she hit the wooden planks of the wall and broke them in half, and her momentum carried her in the middle of the house. Sesshomaru left her no time to react before attacking again, this time dissolving the two last beams that barely kept the house from collapsing. His Dokasu quickly ate through the thick wood and the chaos that followed was total. The large house seemed to implode, with its main support totally lost the thin walls couldn't take the pressure of the construction and collapsed in a cloud of dust and a deafening sound.

"Men, no way! How can she loose to him, she destroyed the huge thing and then this mangy dog gives her a beating!"

On these words from Kouga, Sesshomaru turned toward them, his narrowed eyes starting to take on a reddish coloration. The wolves tried to flee, Hakkaku and Ginta grabbing Kouga by the arms even though it was clear that their exhausted leader already regretted his words and would not stay to pick a fight against the taiyoukai. Survival was always first priority, even if his pride told him to meet the challenge of the dog he once met and acknowledged as a worthy opponent. In his weakened state, he would be destroyed as easily as the black female, so he turned tail and left in a small whirlwind, his friends following closely behind.

As the wolves reached the woods, fleeing for their lives, the crumbled house exploded for the second time; Kitana surged from below the ruins unscathed and jumped at Sesshomaru, aiming for his throat. Her anger had morphed into an intense desire to kill, to dismember this arrogant dog that disregarded every word that came from her mouth as if she was nothing but a disgusting being not worth taking notice of.

As she was about to grab him, the taiyoukai descended Tokijin upon her head. All she could do was block it, capturing the sword's blade between the spikes on her forearms, and try to counter it with her own strength. Snarling, her eyes became golden again.

"Sesshomaru, you won't survive this fight! I will kill you!"

On these words, his fury seemed to increase even more and he put all of his strength into his sword arm, forcing her to push firmly on the ground for balance. She was struggling intensely to contain the power of the dog youkai while concentrating her energies for an attack that would surely end his days. She could not to let go of the sword or she would receive the full strength of the strike on her throat, and Sesshomaru couldn't retire either for his blade was caught. He wouldn't have anyway, for his mind was blinded by his rage.

In his rage, the taiyoukai started to feel an intense wave of energy trying to harm him, to increase his body temperature. In answer to that treacherous attack, he called upon his youki, pushing the foreign energy away from him in winds of demonic energy. His eyes now totally crimson focused on the creature that was bold enough to try to burn him as she had burned other feeble enemies, he pushed his youki into his sword, adding a terrible energy to the evil blade.

Angrier than ever after her attack was repelled, Kitana resorted to physical means by snaking her tail up around Sesshomaru's throat, in a death grip that would be the end of him. Not deterred by this situation, Sesshomaru did the same with his fur pelt, ensnaring her throat in a powerful knot. The battle of will and strength would have continued until the end of one of them, if realization had not struck the onyx skinned female; her eyes suddenly opened up widely.

"Shit! That's it!"

With that, she closed her eyes and brought her arms down, avoiding the strike of the Tokijin by an inch. She swiftly wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru's shoulders, in a posture similar to a hug. Her tail left his throat to ensnare his sword arm capture it beside his body, before snaking down below to wrap tightly around his legs, disarming him almost completely. Sesshomaru's fury doubled when he saw her like that, when he felt her body so closely in contact with his own; had she no shame to use such a underhanded tactic in a fight? What was she thinking?

His surprised waning, he started to struggle against her as she was probably preparing a trick of her own, when he slowly felt his emotions coming under control. His anger melted away, replaced by a feeling of calm and peacefulness. Puzzled by the phenomenon, he became immobile, his body still captive of Kitana's grip, his fur pelt around her neck trying to strangle her, but the attack became less and less threatening as his desire to kill slowly disappeared. Finally, Kitana opened her eyes and looked up into the taiyoukai's now golden eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Hey, it's okay, don't you feel it?"

Looking around them, full realization of what he had done, of what could have happened in his fury, hit him. His arm went limp and his sword fell down on the ground, while he removed his fur pelt from the throat of his companion. Kitana raised an arm and passed it behind his neck, moving her other arm from his shoulder to ensnare his waist, hugging him tightly against her. She pressed her left cheek in her chest above the armored plate, not caring about the pressure the spikes put upon her throat. Before he realized it, his arm found its way around her slender waist and he lowered his head, placing his chin atop her head. They stayed that way for a short while, slowly breathing in and out the calm and peacefulness that they both felt, when in a whispered tone full of confusion, he spoke.

"What just happened?"

Kitana moved back a little, enough to put her hands on his chest plate and meet his eyes; he did not relinquish his hold on her though. She spoke in a hushed, sad tone of voice that he disliked instantaneously. Such a noble creature should never have to use a tone like that, he thought while a frown marred his face.

"It's my fault, Sesshomaru, and I am ashamed I pushed you this far without even realizing it. I feel so stupid, I acted like an angry child and I fear what could have happened because of me."

While she spoke, she couldn't look at him in the face. Her eyes fell on the ground, and if it hadn't been from Sesshomaru's pelt lifting up her chin, she wouldn't have found the courage to do it by herself.

"Explain."

"It's the biggest danger of this link we share. If we both feel the same way, and are not careful about controlling ourselves, we can throw the similar feelings to each other again and again, amplifying it with our own emotion at each pass, creating an immense, uncontrollable storm of feelings. Today my anger added up to yours, then you sent it back to me and I didn't separate it from my own rage. You felt this raging emotion, recognized it as yours and took it all in, before throwing it back at me again. The cycle repeated itself again and again until we both… well… couldn't keep it in check anymore."

"What did you just do, to calm This Sesshomaru so fast? What happened?"

His hand that left her waist to settle on her shoulder, was firm and she knew he was not angry anymore, just puzzled. Even though he would never voice it out loud, he regretted attacking her and wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Reassured by his attitude, Kitana continued.

"I simply broke up the cycle. When I finally realized what was happening, I reached into myself and sent you waves of emotions in complete contradiction with what we were felling at the moment, and it worked. Peace, calm, serenity. It helped a lot that you did not really want to hurt me, that you wanted to gain control over your acts again, for without that desire I might not have succeeded."

She hesitate an instant before adding what she knew he would not take well.

"This is the danger of this link. It will wear off eventually, I assure you, but in the meantime we cannot ignore it. These feelings can't be simply shut down or buried or disregarded, if we do that then they just grow and grow and reach uncontrollable heights. We have to acknowledge them, accept this link that is between us now instead of fighting it, and then calm ourselves down when we do not want to feel in a certain way."

Sesshomaru's frown was deep now, his eyes reduced to narrow slits, and he detached himself from Kitana, backing away a step or two. Slowly, a small smirk reached the corner of his mouth, and he looked her straight in the eyes.

"So, you are telling me that tonight if you dare plaguing me again with your ludicrous randy feelings, I can simply imagine the most disgusting sexual intercourse ever and it will fade away?"

Heat pooled up in her cheeks as Kitana took in the words of her partner. Randy? Sexual? Shame came down on her when she realized what effect her innocent dreams may have had on the taiyoukai and she turned rounded eyes to him while she tried to stutter a coherent, honorable answer. With a shrug, he disregarded her discomfort and cut her pitiful tentative of explanations and excuses with a stoic declaration.

"This Sesshomaru has nothing to learn from you in emotion control. Like I already told you, I am well trained in that domain."

Regaining her bearings, Kitana sighed.

"It's like I said. You are very skilled at ignoring emotions, but obviously not at managing them. I can take that responsibility and try to do it for you, but the danger of us having the same intense feeling at the same time is still very present and very real. I know it's hard to take, but this link between us can become a dangerous liability as well as an asset. It just depends on how we manage it."

"Hn."

With that, he turned his back to her and made his way to the camp where he would find the rest of his group.