Because the day had been so action packed, only an hour or so after the hand games, Kita was napping peacefully on the futon back inside the hut. Kaede watched her. It was hard to believe such a small girl could hold so much power. Saramaru also found herself watching Kita and thinking the same thing 'So much power, and yet so young. She never ceases to amaze me.'
"Is the girl untrained?" Kaede asked the demoness suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Yes." She replied, "Nobody at the village she was in would have been able to. And even if they could I don't think they would have."
"It is dangerous to have a miko with such powers untrained." the old woman told her, "Ye could teach her. If ye do not wish to though, I will. It would be a shame not to use such raw power."
"Don't Kagome's skills need to be sharpened as well?" Saramaru asked.
"Aye they do." Kaede replied, "But she has a hold of her powers and knows how to use them. Though I should show her more simple spells." Kaede replied.
"I see. I will teach Kita. And if I left her here, Sesshoumaru would come and kill her, knowing full well that I am now attached." Saramaru replied, sighing a bit.
"Sesshoumaru usually only attacks when Inuyasha is near him." she informed Saramaru, "He is not known for seeking Inuyasha out. Perhaps that will be the same with ye and Kita."
"Perhaps, but if it were the case, then we would never cross paths. I have a feeling as if his mother imprinted on him long ago that I and my family should be destroyed, and so I am a main target." Saramaru replied. "I wish this never happened."
"What?"
"Our mothers fighting, our childish hate for each other. I wish Sesshoumaru and I were still like cousins. Even Inuyasha and I have grown a part, and he was my favorite little cousin. Though I know this is neither mine nor his fault." Saramaru smiled a little. "I miss the old Sesshoumaru, and the old Inuyasha. I guess I just never expected my life to change."
"Everyone's life changes, like it or not." the old miko said, "Sometimes it's like your life, changing for the worst when it comes to family. Sometimes it's like Kita's life, changing for the best. It depends on the person."
Before Saramaru could answer, Niiro-ichi came into the hut. "Saramaru, he is no longer at the meeting, and he is headed this way." He said, panting. Saramaru stood up. "How do you know this?" She asked. "I was flying, and about fifty miles away, I saw him climb on Ah-un, headed in this direction." Niiro-ichi said hurriedly. Saramaru let out an agitated growl. "I'm afraid that we must leave, Kaede."
"Why don't ye lead Inuyasha and the others to the jewel shards ye hid for them?" Kaede suggested, "Then ye would leave with a purpose."
"Good idea. Thank you for your hospitality, Kaede. It is well appreciated." Saramaru walked over to where Kita was sleeping, and picked her up gently, so as not to wake her. "Do you know where Inuyasha is?"
"In his tree." Kaede said, "Or with the others. They are somewhere around."
"Thank you." Saramaru turned to leave, but looked back. "Oh, and Kaede, If I need any help training this one, I'll come here, if that's alright with you?"
"Of course." Kaede said nodding, "Ye are always welcome here. Come anytime if ye need me."
"Thank you, Kaede." Saramaru smiled. 'I think I'll try that tree first...' Saramaru thought as she walked outside.
"Oi!" Inuyasha called down from the tree, "You look like you're going somewhere! Are you going to bring us to the shards or something?"
"That, and the fact that your brother and my cousin are coming this way, and I don't feel like sticking around." Saramaru replied. "So get ready, ok? He's only about forty five miles away now."
"Sesshoumaru, coming here?" the hanyou demanded, "I say we stay and fight him!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Kagome said walking up to them with the others, "It's stupid to not move away from him if we have a chance!"
"I agree fully with Kagome. Especially when I am playing guardian to a five year old girl who has already fallen victim to my bastard cousin. So, are we going now, or do you guys want to take a little bit of time to pack up?" Saramaru asked, as she put Kita on Niiro-ichi back, adjusting her so that she didn't interfere with his flying.
"Well I'm always ready to go because Inuyasha is so annoying!" Kagome said glaring at Inuyasha.
Saramaru let out a quiet laugh. "Then lets go." She said as she climbed on Niiro-ichi, behind Kita.
Kita opened one eye. "Where are we going?" she asked sleepily.
"We are leading Inuyasha and his friends to the ten jewel shards that I hid." Saramaru answered simply as Niiro-ichi flew into the air.
"What jewel shards?" the girl asked.
"Oh, that's right. To make a long story short, the first day the Shikon jewel broke, I found shards of it, and hid them, knowing that someone I cared for would want them." Saramaru replied, smiling at the soft breeze on her face. "Isn't it so nice to fly?"
Kita looked over Niiro-ichi and down at the trees below. "We're up very high." Kita commented, "Everything looks so small!"
"We are up very high. This is the same feeling I get when I transform. Everything gets so small. See that giant oak down there? When I transform, I could step on that like it was a twig. Well, maybe a little bigger." Saramaru said, grinning as she observed the scenery.
"Are you scared when you transform?" Kita asked, brushing a bit of hair away from her face, "You must be really big to step on a big tree like a twig!"
"Scared, in what way?" Saramaru asked, slightly confused.
"You're up so high!" the girl insisted, "I'd be scared if I was that big! I wouldn't want to hurt anything!... And heights scare me!"
Saramaru chuckled. "Well, when you're standing all by yourself, there isn't any natural way by which you can fall. So you see, it's just like being a human, because to ants you are huge, and yet to you being tall is not scary. And it's just like walking. And sure, you step on a couple trees, but then when they decay, they make the soil around them rich. Do you understand?" Saramaru asked.
Kita nodded. "How long are we going to be flying?"
"A few hours. It a good time to sleep." Saramaru replied.
Kita leaned back on Saramaru. "Are you going to take care of me now?" she asked, already being pulled back into slumber land, "Cause I hope you will."
"Of course I will. You have nothing more to worry about with me. Alright?" Saramaru said, hugging Kita close.
"Promise?" Kita mumbled, fighting the sleep that the soft wind in her face was bringing.
"I promise, with all my heart." Saramaru said. Kita smiled in her sleep.
Niiro-ichi landed next to a large rock. Kilala touched down behind them. "Is this the place?" Inuyasha asked, jumping off.
"Yes. It's this very rock. Only you, Inuyasha, can break it, with the Tetsusaiga." Saramaru said, as she jumped off Niiro-ichi, being careful to put Kita comfortably on his back.
"He can't shatter the shards with Tetsusaiga, can he?" Kagome asked, "There's enough protection in the rock, right?
"Right. And it will be the only thing strong enough to break it." Saramaru said.
"Good." Sango said nodding, "Try it out Inuyasha."
"Way ahead of you." Inuyasha said grinning. And he was. Tetsusaiga was over his head, ready to strike the rock.
Saramaru watched, waiting to see what the Tetsusaiga could really do. Inuyasha brought Tetsusaiga down on it. There was a flash of light and the rock was gone, revealing ten new shards.
"Wow!" Shippo exclaimed," That's a whole lot of shards!"
Saramaru smiled. "Inuyasha, aren't you glad I put all those spells on it to protect it from other demons, such as Naraku?"
"Hell yeah I am!" he said picking up the shards.
"No cursing." She said gently, "I knew you would be. But if all of those spells had killed me, would you have been happy with it?"
Inuyasha didn't answer, in fact, he didn't really move from his position. "I don't think Inuyasha's capable of answering that question." Kagome said, taking the shards from Inuyasha, "It's too complicated."
"No it isn't!" Inuyasha yelled, snapping back into reality.
"Then what would you do?" she retorted.
"I wouldn't care!" Inuyasha said, "I didn't even know Saramaru was still alive!"
"Something tells me that wasn't a good response." Miroku commented to Sango.
"Ten yen, Inuyasha gets hurt... badly." the demon slayer responded.
Saramaru looked pained for a second. But then she turned on her heel, and said, "Niiro-ichi." Niiro-ichi walked over to Saramaru, let her pick up Kita, and then whirled around on Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, the whole point of that question, was to see if you were still the cousin that I knew and loved. Obviously, you aren't. If you honestly wish to change your answer, and I mean honestly, as in from your heart. Please do so now, because it was hard knowing that my little cousin got pinned to a tree and there was nothing I could do about it." Saramaru said.
"The real Inuyasha is still there." Kagome said, "Under his tough guy act. He rarely lets it show through."
"That's not true!" Inuyasha exclaimed, "I'm the real me right now!"
"Inuyasha. Your answer." Saramaru demanded, her voice breaking.
Inuyasha sighed guiltily. "The truth is," he said, "I missed you. I would care if you died. I just thought you didn't care. I thought you'd be on Sesshoumaru's side because you're a full breed."
Saramaru turned around, smiling, though her eyes were full of tears. "Thank you Inuyasha... and you'll never be a half breed to me. You're stronger than a full breed. And not because you possess Tetsusaiga. It is because you, little cousin, are emotionally strong. Nothing is stronger than emotion. Remember that."
"Feh." Inuyasha replied, "Whatever."
"And tough guy Inuyasha is back." Miroku said, "That didn't last long and I did expect it too. Sango, I believe you owe me 5 yen."
"Well, I should be going. There is a place I want to bring Kita to, and it's quite far from here." Saramaru said, a little sadly. She didn't want to leave her cousin so soon, but there were places to go, and people to see.
"Where are we going now?" Kita asked, waking up just as Saramaru had begun to speak again, "Did we already get the jewel shards?"
"Yes, we got the jewel shards, and we are going to the eastern lands, the place Sesshoumaru least likes." Saramaru said, smiling slightly.
"Oh." she replied, "Is Inuyasha-sama and the others coming with us?"
"I'm not sure. Does my cousin and his companions want to come with us?" The last part was directed towards Inuyasha.
"Sure." Inuyasha replied.
"We're always going somewhere." Miroku said, "Why not go with a beautiful demoness such as yourself?"
Saramaru growled at that. "Alright then, you can come, as long as someone keeps HIM occupied, or else he'll be dead." Saramaru said, while glaring at Miroku.
"That's my job." Sango said sighing, "Don't mind the monk. He's harmless... most of the time."
"Most of the time." Kagome agreed, "In other words when he's not groping, peeping, or asking girls to bare his child."
"Kita, do you want to stretch your legs or anything before we take off? It's going to be a very long ride." Saramaru asked.
Kita nodded, squirmed out of Saramaru's grasp, and ran over to Shippo. The two started another game of tag.
"Well, hopefully she'll be tired enough to go back to sleep when we take off again." Saramaru said, watching Kita chase Shippo around.
"She does seem to sleep a lot." Sango said.
"Kita's probably just still getting over Sesshoumaru's poison." Kagome put in, "Do you have any ideas, Saramaru?"
"Same as Kagome. I believe it is still wearing off. And she is probably not used to all the action around her." Saramaru answered. "Her life is going to be much more active now that she is with me."
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Inuyasha asked, "How I see it, it could go either way."
"True, it could... But I think it will be more good then bad." Saramaru smiled a little, then she frowned slightly. "But there will still be that bad part."
"But you'll be there to protect Kita from the bad parts." Kagome put in, "And if you aren't, we will. But maybe you should teach her to defend herself with her powers too."
"I will. And thank you for your support." Saramaru said. 'I think I'll like traveling with these people, more than just Niiro-ichi and me.' Saramaru thought as she looked up to the clouds and smiled.
Kita and Shippo came running back to the group. Each carried an armful of flowers. Shippo's flowers went to Kagome while Kita's went to Saramaru.
"There's a really big field over there!" the exclaimed, pointing east, "And there were lots of pretty flowers in it!"
"These are pretty. Mind taking me to see this field?" Saramaru asked Kita, as she smiled at the flowers.
Kita took Saramaru's hand, or more like her pointer and middle finger because her fist was too small to hold the demoness's whole hand, and led her towards where she and Shippo had found the flowers. The other followed.
Saramaru eyes softened as they reached the field. There were flowers of every color and kind. "It's beautiful..." She whispered as she watched the flowers sway in the slight breeze.
"And look at this!" Kita exclaimed, letting go of Saramaru and running across the field. She stopped where the field sloped down and rolled down it, laughing.
Saramaru laughed as she watched the girl's antics. "Just make sure there are no rocks sticking out!" She called.
Kita's ride ended and she looked up at her guardian. "I didn't feel any." she replied, "You try!"
Saramaru thought for a moment. Her mind was saying, 'That's immature for a demoness of your power!' And her heart was saying 'GO ALREADY!' Saramaru shrugged and walked over to the hill. She rolled down it, just her luck, "OW!" She yelled as she jumped up. She looked at what had caused her pain, and found a rock. Saramaru growled and raising her hand, broke the rock to pieces. She dusted off herself, and looked around at the flowers once more, while muttering, "Damn rock."
"Oooooh!" Kita said giggling, "Saramaru-sama cursed like Inuyasha-sama!"
Saramaru sighed. "It runs in the family, although some of us have more mental control than that." She said the last part loud enough for Inuyasha to hear.
"I've never heard Sesshoumaru curse." Kagome said thoughtfully.
"He's too thick to curse." Inuyasha said.
"I wouldn't use 'thick' to describe Sesshoumaru." Miroku said, "He is quite smart."
"Shut the hell up monk." the hanyou grumbled.
Saramaru laughed. "He is right Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru is smart, but he has no sense of humor. You fill up that quota very well."
"Course I do-HEY!" Inuyasha started, "What did you mean by that?"
"He's smart, you're well..," Saramaru coughed a bit, "Not so smart, but I wouldn't call you stupid... And he's boring, and you're a riot." Saramaru answered, laughing a little.
"I'm not sure that's a complement." Inuyasha replied, but he didn't say anything else.
"Why don't we spend the night here?" Sango suggested.
"Sure. Sesshoumaru is moving in the opposite direction, so it couldn't hurt." Saramaru said thoughtfully. "What do you think Kita, should we stay here?"
"Yeah!" Kita said running back up the hill to roll back down again. This time Shippo joined her.
"There you have it folks. We're staying." Saramaru said smiling.