Disclaimers apply.

*****

Almost as abruptly as it came, the prickling vanished. She turned at the crackling of a twig, seeing only darkness for a moment before a darker shadow moved to stand in front of her.

"Zhe Yan."

"Xia?" she squinted her eyes, trying to see the figure whose voice she remembered in her dreams.

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I came to see you." She suppressed the rising joy in her heart, trying to remain calm. It's been years since he left. She wasn't sure if he changed or not; if she could really trust Eu-meh's word that he still loves her. "It's… about Eu-meh."

"Eu-meh?"

"She told me something tonight. That you and the other youkai with you were planning to attack the town."

Silence greeted her statement. And then, "It won't change things."

"Ne?" she started. "What do you mean?"

His shadow loomed larger, his voice louder. "Our plans won't change. Whatever you say to me; it won't change anything."

"But-! The town! And everyone we've known-!"

"Has been attacking us ever since we left."

She stiffened at the interruption, her mind freezing as his words sank in. "N-Nani…?"

He placed his hands on her shoulders as he came nearer. His breath blew several strands of hair away from her face, filling her nose with his pine scent. He was so close she could almost kiss him…

And then he did; his warm lips brushing against hers in a brief contact. Yuen felt heat rise to her cheeks, right before he pulled away. Her mind spun at the suddenness of it, her lips tingling. "Xia…"

"G…Sumimasen…Yuen." His hands fell to his sides.

"Xia, I-"

"Don't come back here, Yuen. It's dangerous for you." His shadow kept growing smaller as he stepped back.

"N-Naze? Matte kudasai…!"

He paused a moment. Yuen tried to close the distance between them but his voice stopped her.

"Don't, Yuen."

"Demo-"

"I said don't! You can't be with me, Yuen. Not anymore."

"Demo, Eu-meh said-"

"Never mind what Eu-meh said. You can't be with me. And I can't be with you. It's…the way things are."

She could almost feel the tears coming at the resigned tone in his voice. In all the years he had been gone, she had secretly hoped… And now to have him say it…

"Xia. What do you mean, by 'the way things are?'"

His sigh was audible in the near-silence of the night. "I've told you, Yuen. Humans and youkai can no longer mingle together like it was before. An imperfection in a butterfly's wings can no longer become as perfect as it once was no matter how much you redo it."

"I don't understand. What happened…in between you leaving and now?"

A brief silence, followed by a reply so soft she had to strain to hear it. "The townspeople…happened." He stepped closer to her again, and then she felt his hand take hers. "Come. I'll show you."

They moved through the forest, or in Yuen's case, dragged in it. There was so little light underneath the thick canopy she could only see blackness everywhere, with the darker shadows of trees imposing on it. Xia's steps though were quiet and sure, his grip powerful around hers. She stumbled in her first few steps before she decided to trust his night vision completely.

She wondered where Xia was taking her, what he wants her to see. Something about the townspeople? What about the townspeople? 'Has been attacking us ever since we left,' Xia had said. Did he mean the townspeople, everyone she's known since childhood, has been…?

Xia couldn't mean it, could he? He couldn't.

And yet…Yuen knew that it was possible. Her mother's hatred of the youkais - and Xia in particular - was only a part of it. She had seen the stares often enough, when the youkai had just left. She had also seen the fear whenever there were rumors of a youkai attack. It was possible there were human attacks as well.

"We're here." She looked up at the sound of his voice, and her thoughts immediately froze at the sight that greeted her.

The moonlight shone clearly enough on this clearing, shone brightly on the numerous bodies that were strewn all over the place as thought someone just scattered them at whim. Discarded weapons glinted here and there, some still with the dark stain of dried blood on them.

The night breeze suddenly shifted course and brought the coppery scent to them. Yuen was too stunned to even take a step back from the overpowering smell. She had handled enough meat while working that she could easily recognize the scent, but not enough that she could breathe it without nausea rising in her stomach.

"Look closely," Xia murmured. She had to step forward to do so, forcing herself to breathe shallowly to keep from puking.

She didn't see anything different at first until she saw sharp nails in their hands - and the tapering ears. She was staring at youkai corpses, ranging from the very young to the very old, with only one or two humans among them. And then these humans were adults.

"They attacked one of our settlements a few days ago." Xia told her in a low voice. "Killed everyone they saw. We weren't expecting them to come so early and with so many." He let out a noisy sigh. Yuen wondered how he could bear the scent of the carnage. "It's been like this ever since we left. The townspeople would attack and we would defend as much as we can. We daren't try to attack them. Not only do they outnumber us, but they've also the advantage when it comes to fortifications."

"Haven't you tried talking to them? To the officials?"

"We did. Those we sent were killed outright."

"What if-"

"It won't work, Yuen!"

She spun to face him at the anger in his voice. But he was looking at the ground, not meeting her gaze. "Some of us have already left to live elsewhere. But we know it's the same everywhere else. So some of us decided to stay here, take our chances at surviving alongside them." When he looked at her again, Yuen thought tears were glistening in his eyes. "This is our home too, Yuen. We can't just leave."

"Xia…"

"You should've stuffed that sentimentality sooner, youkai scum."

They both turned at the rough voice, seeing no one. And then, amazingly, one of the corpses moved. Yuen jumped back in fright, feeling Xia pull her behind him as a handful of corpses rose from the ground – only to fall back and reveal bulky shadows. They were hiding beneath the bodies, Yuen realized as the shadows charged towards them.

"Run!" She was roughly shoved away – her foot caught on something on the ground – and Yuen felt herself falling. The impact with the ground knocked the breath from her lungs. She slowly sat up, gasping. Xia and the others were chaotic shadows in front of her, dashing about to and fro she couldn't make out the individuals it was composed of.

She wanted to call out, to find out which one was Xia. She wanted to help him. But her throat closed up as soon as she gathered enough breath to cry out.

Light flared to one side, becoming a white beam that blasted one of the entangled shadows away.

"Daijoubu desuka," the familiar, gentle voice spoke behind her. "Yuen-san?"

"You…!"

"I thought I saw you sneak away from the inn." Light again flickered in his palm, illuminating his kind face. "Don't you know it's dangerous to be out at night?"

"How-"

"You, whoever you are!" They glanced towards the shadows grappling with each other. The brightness in the other's palm was enough to illumine Xia and the men he fought. He was as she remembered him, his normally unruly hair tied at his nape, almost worn clothes that covered his well-muscled body. His blue eyes were staring at the men in front of him – humans, by the curve of their ears – but his voice was directed towards Yuen and the green-eyed man. "Take her back to the town quick!"

"Demo, Xia-!"

"Go!"

She felt herself hefted onto a pair of strong arms, and then the wind flew past her as they ran. "Xia!"

"Daijoubu, Yuen-san," the green-eyed man murmured. "Xia can handle them better without you to distract him."

"Nan- Are you saying that-"

"Iie. Nothing like that, Yuen-san." He chuckled lightly. Yuen was taken aback that he still had the breath to laugh. "Demo, Xia wouldn't have to concentrate on controlling himself if you're not there. He can fight better that way."

It hit her then, what he was talking about. And instead of feeling relieved, it only increased her fear. For Xia.

"You…You sound like you know how it feels like, oniisan." she whispered.

"Hai," his tone was serious. "I do. And it's Hakkai, by the way. Not oniisan."

Yuen could only nod silently, feeling strangely contented that she recognized what Hakkai truly was. She could feel herself smiling at the thought that she had only found out his name that night.

But the smile left her when she felt the prickling of youryoku at the back of her neck.

*****

A/N: I'm trying to get back my inspiration for this fic. Really.