ehheh... Sorry for the veeeeery long wait! Mmm... Well, I am back again! I've been thinking real hard all day and night for the past... eheh... –cough- couple months –cough- xD, and I still don't have any ideas. So I'm writing on impulse, then I'll change a whole bunch of junk, read it over, and do the same process ten times :D Well, I thought that my last chapter was a little icky, but I got sick of reading it, so I just decided to post it. Hopefully the chapters will get longer as the story continues, and I'll try! If you find something wrong in this story, feel free to tell me and I'll fix it as soon as possible.  I caught a few things that were wrong in there, but if no one notices them, I'm not going to bother fixing them. Onward, MARCH!

...: (Goodnight) :...

Early the next morning, the dragon, demons, and girl were awakened to a beautiful sight. Not to mention a very blinding sight. The ground was covered with a light blanket of snow, and as the morning sun rose, the light hit the ground, causing a bright flash. Of course, Bella and Sesshomaru hadn't gone to sleep, as they really didn't need it. As she heard the others stir, she sat up on the rock and stretched her arms, trying to avoid opening her wound. As she thought upon the past day, she suddenly realized how fast things actually went. She'd gone from stalking, to cowering, to following, to being a role model in a matter of a few hours. She'd even made a new friend! Bella smiled as she thought of Rin. The girl was so cute! But so young... 'I wish I could be that young again...' she thought as she looked around. She silently jumped off of the boulder, but found she couldn't move her legs. She landed on the ground with a plop. She tried time and again to regain feeling in her legs, but to no avail. She growled wolfishly, knitting her eyebrows.

Sesshomaru, hearing her growl, looked over to her. 'What's wrong with her? She can't get lazy now. It's hard enough finding a woman who will talk to Rin...' He, Sesshomaru, for once, didn't know what to do.

Feeling eyes watching her, she turned her head towards Sesshomaru. Her face instantly softened. She quickly looked back at the ground, panicking. 'What is making me act so weird?' she wondered. After a moment, realization hit her. 'The poison! But why can I only not move my legs? What is going on?' She'd never been this confused in her life! She finally decided that she needed to get off her butt and try to do something about that situation. But first she'd need a bath to get all of the blood off of her.

As if he was reading her thoughts, Sesshomaru suggested that she go wash the blood off. She nodded. "Where's Rin at?" she asked, looking for the young girl.

"She left while you were trying to stand."

"Oh... I suppose I'll go find her and get washed up as well," she sighed, thinking. 'Aha!' Quickly changing into her wolf form, she began to slowly move towards the path they'd been following. She knew those lands like the back of her hand, and there was a hot spring not too far off. She started off, moving only with her front paws, her hind legs dragging behind her.

'By the time she'd get to the springs, Rin would already be finished and it would be late into the morning.' Having the slightest bit of pity for the girl, he finally decided what to do. "Change back." He said. She looked at him for a moment, then changed back to her human-like form. He walked over to her and picked her up (An: yes, bridal style.) and walked towards the springs. He stopped about ten feet inside the forest, allowing Rin her privacy.

"Thank you." She said as he put her down. He nodded very slightly, and only once. She turned to the springs, using trees as her support. There was about five feet of clear land between the springs and the trees. She figured she could make it, so she began her long trek. She climbed over the boulders, and took off the leg warmers on her feet. The wolf paws turned into human feet, and she slipped in the water of a very small pool, clothes and all. She sunk down in the water until it was up to her eyes. All around her were swirls of red, all of the blood washing off of her. As soon as the blood was out, she climbed on a rock and looked around for Rin. Spotting each other, they both waved, and Bella made her way over to her friend. She sank into the water and shed the rest of her clothes, setting them out to dry.

"What happened to your legs?" Rin asked, full of concern.

"Before I met you, I'd been fighting with some wolf demons. Of course, the minute we bit into each other, the poison in their blood went into my body. For some reason, the poison took effect last night, and I can't feel my lower body." She said, running her arm through the water.

"But if you can't even walk, how'd you get here?" she asked, puzzled.

"Sesshomaru carried me here."

Rin seemed to squeal. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Bella looked at her suspiciously.

"Nothing... nothing at all!"

Bella growled slightly.

Rin's eyes grew large. "Well... I... You... He... Oh never mind! I can't even form a sentence very well so it's no use trying to explain to you!" she said in one breath.

Bella shrugged and dipped under the warm water. This was going to be a long day.

..:( later, evening ):..

Bella positioned herself between two rocks and watched the sun as it quickly slipped beneath the horizon, giving birth to a new day somewhere else. But now it was night. She heard a sound off to her right. She turned her head and the sight of Jaken struggling to start a fire made her giggle slightly. She watched him struggle for a few more minutes before deciding to help. She started to get up but was stopped almost instantly. 'Oh yeah... they still don't work...' she thought. She looked over to Jaken and continued grinning. Rin walked over and sat behind Jaken, scaring him half to death. While he was busy lecturing Rin, Bella snapped her fingers and the fire was lit. She shook her head slightly and turned back around, only to be greeted with the wondrous sight of Sesshomaru standing in front of her. Not that she was complaining, or anything.

"Are your legs better?" he asked quietly. The taiyoukai (AN: demon lord) perched himself on a short, flat rock next to her.

"I'm beginning to lose the feeling around my hips, now that you've brought it up..." she said, watching him.

"Report to me in the morning with how you are feeling." He said, emotionless.

She nodded and wrapped the warm blanket around her tighter. She laid her head on the edge of the rock that Sesshomaru sat on, but there was enough room there for Jaken and Rin to sit with plenty of room.

Jaken, however, was about to scream in protest at how close his Lord and that girl were to each other, but he was stopped by our own little Rin. "Jaken, don't ruin this for them!" she said, smiling. "You want our Lord to by happy, correct?" She skipped off, dragging the poor toad demon behind her.

Poor, poor Jaken.

(..:-x-:..)

The next morning, Bella found she could move from the middle of her stomach up, and she could feel the rest of herself going slowly numb. A panicked look struck her face.

Upon seeing the demoness frightened, Sesshomaru silently inquired what was wrong, simply with one glance.

Before she could say anything, he picked her up (bridal style lol) and started off into the forest. Of course, he was going to take her to the best healer, even IF it was a filthy ningen (human). Half way to the village, she spoke. "It's getting worse..." she said. By now she had a fever and was sweating quite a bit. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, as keeping her eyes open would only accomplish making her dizzy. He sped up his pace, and the normal two-hour walk was reduced to five minutes. She felt the air seemingly part for them, and it felt so good on her skin. Feeling everything stop, she opened her eyes. Of course, now she couldn't move anything. Great. Just great...

She heard someone talking.

"Sesshomaru... What are you doing here?" a loud, masculine voice said. She heard the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath.

"Inuyasha, calm down..." a female voice said to him.

After a few minutes of silence, she heard a faint "Keh..." and the sound of a sword being put back in its sheath.

"So what'd you come here for then?" the one called Inuyasha asked.

"I seek your woman. She is a healer, correct?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Yeah, Kagome is. But why would you need her?" Inuyasha asked.

"One of my companions is hurt." He simply stated.

"Oh, is it that little Rin?" Kagome asked. "What happened to her? How bad is she hurt?"

"It is not Rin. Nor Jaken, nor Ah-un. It is Rin's friend." 'Oh, so now he can't even use my name?'

Without a word, the 'Kagome' person got some big metal box with a big red cross on it. "Where is...?" before she could finish, Sesshomaru had carried Bella over to her. "What happened?" she asked. She motioned for them to follow, and she led them into a hut. A monk and a demon exterminator were seated inside, as well as a little neko and a fox demon. Sesshomaru set her down on the mat Kagome had set out.

"What's wrong?" the monk and exterminator asked at the same time. Everyone looked at Sesshomaru, who was looking at Bella.

"She said she was in a fight with other wolf demons, and when I found her, her left shoulder was the worst, and she had other injuries. From what she had said, there was poison involved." He said. Kagome wasted no time.

"If you are male, GET OUT." She said, taking down Bella's hair. Sesshomaru left without a word and sat in the shade outside, quite a way away from the hut in which his companion was being healed. Miroku and Inuyasha exited, both saying how it was kind of scary when Kagome yelled like that.

Back inside, Kagome and Sango were busy undressing the demoness. "She's beautiful..." the exterminator said, untying the bow around her waist. "And she must be strong..."

"Yeah, no wonder Sesshomaru-sama chose her to be his companion... Or maybe she's his lover..." the girls looked at each other and laughed.

"I don't think he's capable of loving..." Sango said, continuing with the work.

"I bet she thinks he's handsome... and dashing and stunning and any other word you could think of." Kagome said. "I mean, if I didn't know him very well that's what I'd think!"

Sango agreed. As they took her kimono out from under her, they saw she had a strange set of clothes on underneath: a corset-type shirt and a short, short skirt (all in shades of gray, white, and black) over a black halter cat-suit. After removing her extra clothes, they saw that the majority of her was bandaged already.

Kagome took out some plants from the metal box and began to smash them. They formed a white mush that began to give off an aura of healing. By now Bella was only half-conscious, only barely aware of what they were saying.

Kagome began to unwrap the bandages as Sango held the demoness up. "She looks very sick," Sango said, gazing at Bella.

"Her hair is so light, it's almost white. She almost looks like an albino. What color are her eyes; I wonder if she is..." Their random talk continued until her bandages were discarded into a pile. Kagome spread the "mush" along the wounds, her touch always gentle. After they were finished, the women noticed the scars on her body. Kagome quickly grabbed a navy container out of the metal box, spreading some of the contents along the scars. After ten minutes, they used

"What do we do now?" Sango asked.

"We wait," Kagome replied. The girls laid a blanket over Bella and sat down on either side of her.

(..:-x-:..)

(Bella's POV)

A few days later, I am up and have regained every bit of strength I'd lost, and maybe even more. But now my legs are a little weaker. Oh well... I have just woken up, and I am laying on a futon, covered with a blanket. My skin feels wonderful; it looks wonderful and it feels like a child's skin. I sit up and look around, humming a tune to myself. No one is in the hut with me. I stand, stretch, and make my way to the door, squinting as the bright sunlight hits my eyes. It is strange. I could've swore it'd just been snowing out, and now it feels as hot as summer.

"Oh, good, you're up!" I don't recognize the voice at first. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. I'm the one that healed you, along with my friend Sango." I blink and don't say anything.

"Are you feeling okay?" asks the other girl, Sango. I blink a few times before I realize I do have the ability to speak.

"Yes, I'm feeling very good..." I say slowly, looking around. To the normal eye, I'd just be looking around, but of course I am really looking for Sesshoumaru. Okay, I will admit it. I do have one of those human... what are they called... oh yes, "crushes" on Sesshoumaru. I don't see him.

"Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are at it again," Kagome says. As I actually listen, I heard the sounds of swords clanging together, along with various curses from Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru isn't much of a talker.

"Inuyasha, SIT, BOY!" Kagome yells, making sure Sesshoumaru isn't about to strike him. Kagome has a strange power over him that I can't understand. Sesshoumaru looks toward Kagome as she storms over to Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru lowers his sword. This fight was between Inuyasha and himself; he wasn't about to get a human involved. I'm not to familiar with the titles, but I think Kagome is a 'miko'.

I don't know how to act around other demons because I grew up mostly alone. When I was young, maybe two years old, I was abandoned in some woods near a village in the Far West. I grew up stalking the outskirts of that village, wishing I could be a part of it. I knew I was different. The children and adults knew I was different. I couldn't stay there. I don't like to talk about my past.

Sesshoumaru's gaze slowly lands on me. I can't help but blush slightly under his golden gaze. He puts his sword back in its sheath and walks toward me. "You are healed. Our business is done here," he stated simply. He walks past me and I follow like some puppy following its master. Really when you think about it it's pathetic.

A few hours later, we are back with Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un. Jaken still gave me strange looks, and Rin still gave me adoring looks. Ah-Un just looks at me.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Bella! You're back!" Rin exclaims, apparently quite happy. I wonder if she's always this happy to see Sesshoumaru.

"Jaken, Rin, Bella, climb on Ah-Un. We're going back to the castle," Sesshoumaru says. He says it like it was no big deal, like, 'Yeah, I have a castle, so what?'... My jaw almost drops when I hear the word castle. Almost every demon lord I have run into over the years has never had a castle, and they were some pretty high-ranking demons, no doubt.

As we all climb aboard Ah-Un, even Sesshoumaru, I feel my stomach lurch as the dragon lifts itself into the air with ease. I feel bad for Rin. She rides the thing all the time! It's definitely going to be a long ride, no matter how fast the dragon goes.

Seven or eight hours later, I lost count, I find myself carrying Rin inside Sesshoumaru's wonderful castle.

"Jaken, where should I put Rin?" I ask, not even wondering where I would be staying. He gives me directions and I soon find her room. I see Sesshoumaru walk into a room. I'm guessing that's his room. He only comes out once. And it's to speak to me. Rin's room is only two doors down.

"You are to sleep in the room to the left of Rin's." And then he was gone. And as I lay the girl down into her bed, it hits me that I am to be sleeping in the room next to Sesshoumaru's. It's strange how that excites me...

I tuck the covers around Rin's small body and smile at how peaceful she looks. I may be a demon, but hey, I have feelings too. And I'm sure Sesshoumaru does, also, but he doesn't show them. Maybe I should tell him that Jesus loves him. A child once told me that a long time ago. I don't know if he was serious or if he was just making fun of me.

I'm vaguely aware of singing a lullaby to Rin. As I turn around I see Sesshoumaru at the door, and my heart seems to skip a beat. Of course, I know that it's just something that happens for awhile, then stops. Some humans call it 'chemistry'. I have probably been with humans for too long. But Sesshoumaru has been with this girl for at least five years. Sure that's kind of a short time, but very long for a human. Maybe my heart skipped because he scared me.

We just stand and stare at each other for a very long time. I don't know what's going through his head. I can't tell. Eventually we both move, and I go to my room, laying down, and I'm out cold.

(..:-x-:..)

Well... Another chapter finished. I think I finally have my mojo back. But it kinda kills me when I only have one review in like six months. I mean, I wasn't expecting hoards of reviews, but maybe at least five? I've finally realized why authors beg for reviews. It's like their food. I do want to thank Risika Tziporah for reviewing, though it was one of those anonymous not signed reviews. Oh well. This chapter was longer than the last by about two pages. I'm working on getting up to eight Microsoft pages. The first chapter was four pages long. This chapter is five pages, exactly. Not counting this little author's note. Ah well. Maybe now that I've updated the review train will start moving again. Now to finish the next chapter for my other story... –sigh- oh well. I've been in a Bella/Lord Fluffy mood lately, so that's what inspired me to write this. And I've been drawing Fluffy/Bella pictures like crazy. If you put their names together for pairing, you get BS. D Okay, so thirteen-year-olds are strange. Well, I am at least. Oh well. I DO finally have a somewhat plot for this story. It might be bittersweet, but I LOVE bittersweet things. Such as the Inuyasha movie, Affections Touching Across Time.

In this story in Bella's POV, towards the end where she tucks Rin in, I mention that she vaguely remembers singing a lullaby to Rin. It's the song 'Goodnight' by Evanescence. I'd post the lyrics, but I don't want my story to be deleted. But hey, you never know. If you go to and search, I'm sure you can find it.