The morning sun rose up high, lighting all of the earth below it. Hanako's happy face faded away as she heard the bad news.
"Oh…" she said quietly, "You are leaving again today?"
"Yes," Sesshomaru answered her, "The demons are still there, and I have not yet driven them out."
"Okay…" she said. "Then I will see you soon, I suppose?"
He didn't want to have to leave again. Partially because of the annoying demons that lay ahead, and partially because he felt strongly compelled to stay with Hanako, which he did not understand. But he knew that the Western Lands were his domain, so he had to take care of it. He said nothing and once more climbed on Aun with Jaken and flew off, leaving the poor Hanako once more by herself. Rin was taking a nap because she had been up so late last night.
She paced around the dirt, completely bored out of her mind without anyone to talk to. The sun was brighter than ever on this day, and the weather was perfect and warm, as if fate was about to bless her in some way. But so far, she did not feel blessed.
She decided to take a walk through the forest, admiring the cherry blossoms that were newly blooming on the trees. This was to be a warm spring season, and felt a glimmer of happiness when she thought of how she would spend it with her lord, which she regrettably had feelings for. She always did her best to ignore them, even though it grew harder and harder each day to suppress them. She would rather live in pain than she shamed by the whole truth of her love.
All of a sudden, she felt a wicked presence beyond the trees, and gasps for air, and rustling and what sounded like cries for help. She paused for a moment to listen, and then gathered up enough courage to see what was happening just beyond the trees…
"Is anyone there?" she called, peering through the trees.
The sun was shining perfectly on him, almost as if she was meant to see him there. A man lay on the ground, looking quite parched and gasping for air. Her turned to her, his face beaming with thankfulness. "Will you…help me?" he asked, unable to see her yet. His vision had been blurring for some reason.
"Oh! Are you hurt" she said, running up to the man who appeared to be a demon. She approached him with caution, and then bent down to get a closer look at him. He stopped breathing…
Who is this angelic woman? He wondered. He stared at Hanako in awe of her beauty, of her golden eyes and crystal hair, of her delicate and dainty figure and her caressing white hands. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. At that moment, the man fell in love with her. "Who… who are you?" he asked, still unable to breathe at the sight of this angel. She knelt down next to him, feeling his head to find he was burning up. His entire body quivered at her gentle touch. She spoke to him. "Who I am is not important right now," she answered, "You are burning with fever. How long have you been here?"
"Three days, but I am not sick. I simply have gotten hurt and cannot move my legs, so I have been burning here in the hot sun with no water…" He felt honored to engage in conversation with this lovely being. "But please, I must know your name…" he begged her. He wanted so badly to know the name of this woman that he fell in love with. She stood up quickly and began to run to the river. She turned her head while running. "I am Hanako!" she called.
He lay there under the tree, completely dumfounded. Hanako… it suits her…he thought to himself. His heart was racing, faster and faster each moment. It had been love at first sight, and now he was plotting ahead his entire life. He wanted to spend the rest of his days with this woman that he had just only met. He began to wonder if he, a demon, should really consider being with this girl, who did not appear to be human but had the scent of one. He threw those thoughts away behind him and simply did not care what she was, for she was the most magnificent creature he had ever seen.
She ran back to him with a bucket of water and a large spoon. Kneeling next to him again, she filled the spoon with water and lifted it, careful not to spill any. "Can you feed yourself or will I have to do it for you?" she asked, nearly shoving the spoon at his mouth. He took it slowly; wanting to touch Hanako's white hands, but did not want to show any signs of his new found love. He would do that later…
"Are you a demon, sir?" she asked.
"Yes I am. I belong to a clan of demons in the North. We traveled here looking for some other of our lost comrades, but unfortunately I got left behind when we were attacked."
"What name is yours?"
"I am Bo."
"Bo?"
"Yes…"
She observed Bo as he drank nearly all of the water. He was quite handsome; having thick dark hair pulled back into a low and long ponytail, and eyes the color of emeralds. His face was pleasant and approachable, and his body appeared to be quite strong. He began to standup, the light of the sun outlining every muscle on his body; only making him more attractive.
"Are you sure you should be standing now? Is the water all you needed?" she asked him, pulling on his arm to have him sit down.
"I can stand. I wasn't hurt so badly. I believe I was just dehydrated." He smiled at her. "I thank you dearest Hanako, for saving my life."
She almost fell over laughing at being called "dearest" but instead just said, "You are welcome."
He looked down at her once more, not wanting to leave this beautiful maiden behind. He sat down once more. "Maybe… I shall stay a bit longer…" he said, "But I do not need your help, just your company." He smiled at her. The only feeling he had now was pure love for her. He wanted to hold her in his arms. She smiled back. "'Kay then. I was quite lonely anyway because my lord has gone away and Rin is asleep…"
"Lord?"
"Yes," she said, "I am a slave to Lord Sesshomaru, the lord of the Western Lands. Have you heard of him?"
"No. I'm afraid not." He felt slightly disappointed to find that such a lovely maiden had been enslaved.
"He is fighting a war and has left me and Rin behind."
"Rin?"
"A child who travels with us as well."
"I see…"
She gazed at him for a few moments and then asked him a question. "Would you like to stay here with us? I am sure that Lord Sesshomaru will let you stay. We can help you find the rest of your clan. But if you would rather go alone, that it okay as well…" she wanted him to stay so badly, she would do anything for company.
He was very pleased with the offer to stay with Hanako, and agreed to it without a second thought. "Where do you live?" he asked her.
"No where really… we travel all the time. You don't mind sleeping on the ground, do you?" she asked him.
"No, not at all," he replied. Normally he would mind, but anywhere with her was a paradise to him. "And why do you travel?"
She shrugged. "I know not the whole story, but my lord is looking for a demon called Naraku that tried to entrap him once before. He wants to defeat him." She reached for the spoon and bucket. "Do you mind if I have the rest of this?" she asked him. He shook his head. "No, please do. You got it after all."
It was a beautiful spring day, and the two sat under the shade of the tree, talking and laughing for hours on end. Bo felt that they could talk about anything, and that their chemistry together was immense. Hanako was truly the woman he loved. He decided right then and there, that when the time comes that he does find his clan once more, he would ask Hanako to be his mate. He wanted nothing more in the world then to be father to her children, and spend every day and night just like this day, talking and laughing and perhaps doing more. He found himself falling more and more in love with her with each word she spoke, her personality absolutely appealing to him. I am so in love with this woman… he thought, staring into Hanako's vast golden eyes as she was telling him funny stories that she had heard.
The sun was now just beginning to set. Hanako was pulling Bo around the forest by the hand over to the river. All day they had been with each other and had become fast friends.
"Wait here!" she said, going into the water, "I will get us dinner!"
He followed her into the water. "I would like to help you. You are not my slave so you are not obligated to serve me."
"Fine then," she said, sticking out her tongue, "But I'm probably better than you are at getting fish!" she teased. She took two spears that she had carved before and gave one to him. She smiled at him, her eyes making fun of him. "We'll see who wins…" Bo laughed. They began trying to stab the fish; Hanako hitting all of them and Bo struggling to just stab one. They both laughed as Hanako tried to grab a fish from the water with her bare hands. A loose rock in the water gave way, causing Hanako to trip and fall into the water. Bo caught her in his arms right before she hit the ground. He looked down at Hanako in his arms. She burst out laughing. "Sorrrr-y! I am really clumsy hm?" she got up and looked at all the water al over her frock. She had gotten it wet once more. "I'm soaked again," she giggled, "My lord shall scold me!" Bo stared at her once more, his arms never leaving her. She noticed them there and laughed at him even more. "You may release me now! I wont fall again I promise!" he reluctantly lowered his arms, his eyes never leaving her now. He picked up his spear and this time successfully stabbed a fish. "Hey look I did it!" he laughed. Hanako clapped for him. "That's good! Too bad I got so many before you, eh?" He turned around the place the fish on the ground and felt cold water all over his back. He turned around to see Hanako filling up a bucket of water to once again splash him with it. "Hey!" he shouted to her, "What do you think you are doing?"
She smirked with another full bucket of water. "What's up with you being all dry, hm? If I'm all wet, then you will be too!" she threw it at him again and they both laughed at each other soaking wet. Their fishing contest then turned into a splashing contest.
…
"Lord Sesshomaru! I am glad that you have finally drove out the demons!" Jaken said happily. Sesshomaru headed Aun closer to the ground, and gracefully got down off of him. "And what a battle it was!" Jaken exclaimed, "But you ended up killing every one of those demons. Another glorious victory!" Sesshomaru said nothing in response to the imp. It had been an annoying battle and not in any way glorious. He approached Rin asleep under a blanket. He gazed at the innocent sleeping child for long silent moments, until they were interrupted by laughter coming from the river. Hanako? He thought curiously, passing Rin by and going to the river. Jaken followed him. "Where are you going Lord Sesshomaru?"
He saw Hanako with another man splashing each other and laughing as they did so. Who the hell is that? He thought, watching as they continued to play. The man soon was almost in front of him, his back to him. Hanako filled up a bucket with water and attempted to throw it at him, but the man dodged it, and much to his dismay went all over Sesshomaru instead. He backed away both shocked and soaked. Hanako looked up to see him standing there wet and immediately dropped her bucket and went over to him. She got on the ground and bowed. "Lord Sesshomaru! I am so sorry! I didn't see you there I swear!" He glared at her. "May I ask you what in all the hells you are doing?" he growled at her, angry that his clothed had gotten soaked. She glanced up at him to see if he looked as angry as he sounded, but alas, he had his same solemn expression of blankness and tranquility. She reached over and got a towel and handed it to him. "Um… here?" she stuttered. She was almost afraid of him now, thinking she may be beaten.
He wiped the water off his face with the towel. He looked over at Bo who was still in the water. He had been keeping quiet the whole time, for he too was fearful of the demon that was Hanako's lord. "You…" Sesshomaru boomed, causing Bo to twitch, "who do you think you are to have the right to be playing around with my slave?"
Bo tried to stand up straight but fell face first in the water. Sesshomaru glared at him, his eyes almost looking like they were burning him.
He stood up once more, now even more wet than before, but still tried to show respect. "M-my name is Bo…" he said nervously, "I am a demon from the North…" Bo wondered how Hanako was supposed to convince this guy here to help him find his clan.
Sesshomaru looked down at Hanako, who was still on her knees. "A friend of yours, I assume?" he asked her. She nodded. "Um… actually…" she said shyly, "He got separated from his clan… and I was thinking maybe we could…um…"
"Yes?" he said, a little surprised and hurt that she was afraid of him.
"Um…"
"We could what, Hanako?"
"Help him find his clan?" she said, finally getting out the rest of what she was trying to say. He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere out of my way to help anyone."
Hanako grabbed his leg and looked up at him with a pathetic face. "Please?" she implored, "You don't have to help. I will do it myself. Please don't make him go away already…"
Sesshomaru kicked her off of his leg and turned away. "If that middle class demon does not interfere with my doing… then I suppose I don't have a problem with it…" The last thing he wanted was to have that demon with them, but if he was only there for a short while and did not bother him, than it wouldn't hurt to let Hanako help him (or so he thought).
"Really?" Hanako said. She turned to Bo. "You see Bo? I told you we could help you!" she smiled her usual heartwarming smile, but this time it was aimed at Bo, which made Sesshomaru feel a twinge of jealousy. "Because Lord Sesshomaru is so nice!" she got up and went over next to Bo in the water. Jaken coughed at the remark of Sesshomaru being "nice" and Sesshomaru kicked him down. Sesshomaru looked over at Hanako with Bo, who were talking and laughing, which looked to him like flirting. His eyes narrowed at them as he felt twinges of envy seeping up from the bottom of his heart. Where was his big welcome back that she always had given him whenever he returned from a journey?
It was then he decided he despised this "Bo" person…