"Meow."
Half buried beneath the snow, he almost does not see her, but he most certainly feels her.
That unmistakable vibration that marks her; that links them.
Reaching down, Sesshomaru pulls her small, leopard-printed body from the chill, tucking her quickly into his kimono.
She cries pitifully, drawing his attention, and he is intrigued by her cobalt eyes.
Her small body tremors violently against him, and he allows her to take his warmth for her own.
With a burst of ki, he flashes to a nearby cave, lit and warmed by a sizable fire.
Though the air is warmer within the cave, Sesshomaru does not release her from his embrace. And slowly she begins to warm, her trembling yielding to grateful purrs.
"Who are you?" Sesshomaru wonders aloud, eyeing her as her small head pokes from the part in his clothing. "How is it that you inevitably find me?"
She opens her mouth, releasing a small squeak that reveals miniature teeth. Her eyes reflect the firelight with an otherworldliness not lost upon Sesshomaru.
"Could it be that you are simply meant to be mine?"
As if in response, she ducks back into his kimono, tiny paws and claws kneading his chest before burrowing into him.
Blue eyes close, and her purrs lull him into drifting, peaceful thoughts.
"Aoi. That is what I shall call you."
Sesshomaru would use her name often in the years to come.
Like a favored companion, she remains by his side. During travel, while in battle, bathing, hunting, resting – she is always nearby.
A living, breathing constant.
Through contact, he learns her in this life.
The spot behind her ear she likes scratched. The particular place on her stomach he knows to avoid.
Her high-spirited exuberance.
Sesshomaru learns that the sporadic flick of her tail means she is feeling impish.
And at the end of every day, the beginning of the night sees her curled nearby or upon him.
This served Sesshomaru fine for he knew, as he knew the sun would rise and set, that she, too, would someday fall.
She would leave him as she had so many times before.
Aoi remained, faithfully, for what seemed to him the blink of an eye.
And though he shed no tears when she inevitably surrendered to the cycle of life, he felt her absence more keenly than ever before.