Chapter 7

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Twenty-four hours later, they still remained in Feudal Japan, having not seen neither hide nor shiny hair of the time hounds. Once Lady Kaede had decided they were trustworthy enough to go off on their own, Heero went for a walk, bringing Ami along. He didn't want to leave her anywhere alone even though he knew she could protect herself, it was just something he felt deep down inside that he had to protect her. And besides all that, he wanted to be with her whenever possible. He loved her more than anything or anyone he had before.

Now they sat in a spot they had found not thirty minutes into their walk. Not far from the village, a bit a ways through the forest, there was a small clearing, no more than ten feet in any direction, but it ended right at the edge of a short plateau facing west. So there they sat, the trees behind them and the grass under they, as they watched the sun set together. Ami had her head resting contently on her shoulder and her hand on his as he held her around the waist. This was the most peaceful they had been since the mess had started.

She sighed. "Sometimes I wish our world was like this," she whispered to him.

His response was just as hushed, his words tickling her ear. "Calm, tranquil, and unpolluted."

A short giggle. "Basically, yes. That's about it. But look . . . isn't it beautiful?"

And it was. The sun was no more than half below the horizon, what remained visible was a hemisphere of flame, playful yellows intertwining in each other only to spread out to darker oranges. A vibrant red took up another large portion of the sky until it faded into a dark, majestic purple and beyond that was black. Long shadows cast by trees below them danced through the luscious greens of nature. But Heero only had eyes for her.

"Yes," he agreed, "You are."

Again she laughed, a melodious sound he could never tire of hearing and a playful grin lit upon her face, making her only more beautiful in his eyes. "You are without a doubt the sweetest man I have ever known and I love you for it. Among other things." She kissed him briefly, her lips lingering near his. "I told you that lately?" Her tone was joking, but her meaning was not.

His was the same. "Want to make up for it?" He watched as her eyes lit up and before Ami even had time to respond he met her mouth with his in a gentle, butterfly kiss that soon began to heat up. She slowly wound her arms around his neck as his found their way to her waist, passion slowly increasing as he began to kiss his way down her throat. Her head arced, eyes clouded, and she buried her fingers deep in his hair before seeking out his lips with her own once more.

"Feh. You stupid mortals."

Heero jumped at the same time she did, both of them whipping their heads around to face the intruder and both blushing like two high-schoolers caught necking in the bushes. At first glance he thought the man facing them from the forest was Inuyasha, but a second glimpse proved him wrong. This white haired youkai was much more . . . feminine looking than Inuyasha, and he had several stripes across each cheek. His style of clothing was much more refined and he had something fluffy thrown over one shoulder. "Where is Kagome?" he demanded.

Ami was just a little taken aback at his attitude. "How should we know?"

"I smell her on you. Now tell me where she is, bitch, or I, Sesshomaru, will gut you."

His arrogance was rewarded by a cage of ice.

And just before things began to get nasty, Inuyasha arrived. He was not at all in a good mood. "Kagome's not here," he answered tersely.

The other man, Sesshomaru, simply raised one eyebrow set on sardonic. "So my half-breed little brother has shown up to protect his love interest?" Ami and Heero exchanged a look that plainly said, 'well that explains a lot,' and went back to listening because the older demon was not done speaking. "You already lost, mutt. She chose me."

Then, from deeper in the forest, there came another sort of growling, this one much more guttural and menacing than either of the brothers could have managed at that point. Stifling a sigh, Ami stood and helped Heero to his feet, then turned to the quarreling youkai. "Don't mind us, we've just got more important matters to tend to. Inuyasha, tell Kagome thank you for getting us a place to stay and that I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better." In the silence that followed she and Heero stalked off into the trees and all Sesshomaru and Inuyasha saw from where they stood was a flash of light followed by a painful howl and then it went black once more.

The moment they landed, Ami had another portal ready and waiting for them to go back through once more. This time, however, Setsuna was there and alert when they arrived but still, Ami was quicker. She closed the original escape portal and opened another directly below her feet. Forcing a grin as she fell, Ami waved, saying, "Ja ne, Setsuna-chan!"

"Why you little-" was all they heard before the portal closed over their heads.

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ok I asked for 8 reviews, I got 6 so until I get 2 more, no chapter 8. I am laying down the law here. Sorry people. And how many more realities?!?

on with responses:

serena yuy: i'm not sure if anyone's ever reviewed my stuff as 'kewl' before. anyways, keep reviewing!

fluffy pink bouncy bunny: woah. lesse here, i don't read evangline (heard it's good), don't read sakura, or that yu yu whatever. am a die-hard starwars fan and that crossover could become a possibility. seriously, thanks for the idea. and sorry, but Heero won't be monosyllabic much longer--he's no fun to write that way.

sakura&mona: mallets rock my world. but don't hit the poor thing too hard.

minimerc: dbz, slayers are no. i don't know either of them well enough. and i think i'm gonna stick with one takahashi--i've got plenty of SM/GW ideas going to last me. but thanks for reviewing!

kaiya: 'if there's something around here more important than my ego, i want it hunted down and shot.'

suisei no mitsukai: i think i've finally learned to spell your name without having to check back every third letter!!! anyways, 3-4 realities is a definite. glad you like the story.

lizarloo: *somebody's* got their panties in a twist. It's called a coincidence, look it up if you have to. read: couples are not copyrighted, nor are they uncommon.

And about that vampire fic: I've started it, but the characters aren't too nice. As in seriously not very nice. And I will state right here and now that yes, I got the basic idea of a vampire fic from rogue angel barton but none of the ideas are taken from her work.

Example of how my characters are evil:

-as usual, ami's in charge. Now she's just a ruthless killer

-hotaru is a mute murderer

-haruka's a druggie

still want me to continue??