A/N: I think this will be the normal update time from now on, unless I get really behind on my writing or something. In fact, Friday night is the only night of the week that I'm guaranteed to have no responsibilities looming over my head and that I can work on my writing all I want, yay! Of course, the updates might not be on the site until sometime Saturday.. Oh well.. I'm rambling again - if you keep reading this fic, you'll see just how much I ramble.. oy. I'll shut up now..
Disclaimer (which I've forgotten about until this chapter.. heh..): I don't pretend to own any of the characters from Inuyasha, for any I've ever created pale in comparison (I bow deeply to Inuyasha's ingenius creator). However, I do own Maina, and any ideas associated with her, including the nature of her powers and the mythology I've created concerning her kind, and I own whatever other characters I may add in later. In other words, I will wreak havoc on your plagiarizing ass if you dare to steal my ideas. (wide grin) And now, with all the technical crapola out of the way, onto the fun!
Chapter Three - Dawn's Cruel Irony
On the morning of the third day, Maina awoke just before sunrise. She could see from an eastern-facing window that the sky had just begun to lighten. She let out a long, breathy sigh. 'Sesshoumaru will be leaving today..'
She rolled over, meaning to get out of the bed on the western side since her clothes had been thrown there two days ago, but was surprised to find Sesshoumaru next to her, still sleeping. She stayed still for a minute or two, just watching him. He looked so relaxed, so calm, while he slept - as if all the weight on his shoulders had been lifted away. There was no feigned indifference or false irritation - no pretense at all.
She had only seen him sleep deeply like this two or three times since she'd met him. Sure, he would sleep for a little while next to her after their escapades had depleted his energy, but he slept lightly - he even held the same blank expression that he usually did while awake - and he woke up in no time. If she was awake as well, they would often just repeat the whole process, having sex again and again, usually for several hours straight, before one of them ran out of energy and fell asleep. If he awoke before she did, as was the norm, since he didn't really need or want regular sleep, he would wander around the hut until she woke up. But now, he was fast asleep, and had been for several hours already, she knew, for he'd fallen asleep first that night. Like so many of the other little things he'd done on this particular visit, it wasstrange for him.
He looked so sweet as he slept…
'Spending two full days in bed with him is nice, but it's not nearly sufficient.. Nor does it happen often enough..,' she thought, another sigh escaping her lips.
A little reluctantly, she crawled out of bed on the eastern side, a part of her not wanting to leave the sight of his peacefully sleeping form. It was a miracle that the slight sounds of her movement over the bed had not alerted his sensitive hearing, and she did not want to chance walking over the floorboards near him to get her clothes. His haori was draped across the bottom corner of her side of the bed, and so she donned it instead. Holding it closed with one hand, since she didn't want to bother looking around for an obi, she walked over to the window and watched the colors of the sunrise filter though the trees, casting soft stripes of light over the room and herself. It was a beautiful sight, promising a beautiful day to come.
'Nature is just as cruel as he,' she thought with a smile, 'bringing the world around me such beauty on the day that he is to leave me again..'
Suddenly, she felt something move across her stomach, and jumped a little. She looked down to a pleasant surprise: the familiar strong arm, with a clawed hand and youkai markings on the wrist, had slipped around her waist. She hadn't heard him approaching at all.
"Did I startle you, Maina?" he asked softly.
"Just a little.."
"Mm.." He pulled her against him and rested his head upon hers. She smiled to herself. He hadn't bothered to cover his own nakedness, as she could easily tell. She waited a moment, expecting him to direct her toward the bed and take her again - one last time before he left her forest for, well, even the gods didn't know how long it could be. But he didn't do that. He stayed right where he was, holding her against him, his cheek resting near her temple. A knotted warmth rooted at the pit of her stomach, and she happily watched the sunrise with him, trying her best to savor each moment of this bliss and carve it into her memory.
When the sun had mostly risen, and the pinks and purples of dawn had been dispelled, Sesshoumaru finally moved, gently pulling her along with him. Surprising her yet again, he went around the bed and into the second room on the western side of the hut.
"Care to join me in a bath?" he asked her playfully.
"Of course. I'm sure we both need one," she replied with a grin. She opened up the side door, just outside of which ran the stream. Her hands began to glow as she effortlessly fashioned a simple barrier in the shape of an open tube. She slipped one end into the water, positioning it so that gravity would do the work for her, and extended the barrier-tube until it reached the tub. Once it had filled, she would remove it and use it later to drain the tub.
"It's fortunate you have such a great mastery of your powers; otherwise we'd be hauling water until sundown to fill this tub," Sesshoumaru remarked. As the tub was being filled, he opened up a sort of trap door in the floor of the bathing room, which led to the fireplace that would warm the bath. Soon enough, they had a full tub of comfortably hot water to bathe in.
Sesshoumaru, having returned from tending the fireplace, was the first to enter the bath. He nodded to Maina a moment later, letting her know that the water had reached the correct temperature, and she slipped his haori from her shoulders. The corners of Sesshoumaru's lips curled upward involuntarily. He wasn't able to control his expressions very well around her - something he'd found out long ago - especially when she stood before him like this, in her full glory.. 'Something mere mortals do not deserve to see,' he thought, almost laughing aloud, as he was once again reminded of that night, many years ago, when he had told her so.
"Just what are you smiling at? Happy to see me in my 'true glory' again, I take it?"
"Hmmph. You tell me when I arrive that I've changed since last we met, and yet here you are, still able to read my mind.."
"Read your mind? That glazed-over look in your eyes is more than enough for me to tell what you're thinking," she replied with a smirk as she slowly climbed into the tub opposite him.
"Then I suppose you know what I'm planning to do to you, do you not?"
"That's even easier to see." Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he shot her a devious little grin.
"A pity. I was hoping to startle you again," he said, pushing off from his side of the tub and casually floating over to her. He positioned himself over her, his hand hanging onto the edge of the tub, and kissed her deeply.
"Don't worry," she said, breaking the kiss momentarily. "I'm sure you'll find some other way of making me jump.."
Maina's wolf servants had just removed the dishes Jaken and Rin had eaten lunch from, and Rin was just about to ask him how the wolves had managed to prepare all that food, when Sesshoumaru's voice boomed through the castle from outside.
"Jaken! Rin! Come, we're leaving now!"
Rin hopped right up and ran through the halls of the castle, but Jaken took a bit longer to get going, and soon the wolf servants were pushing him along with their noses. When he did get outside, his lord was standing before the castle, Rin and Ah-Uhn by his side, politely speaking with the lady goddess. All conversation stopped as Jaken came waddling out with the staff of heads and a trio of black wolves at his back, pushing and nipping at him as he tried in vain to bat them away. Sesshoumaru was always amused by the way Maina's servants made sure that the imp followed his commands, though he of course did not show it. Instead, he adopted an irritated look.
"Jaken.."
"Forgive me, my Lord, for not coming out faster, but we were just finishing lunch and.."
"And now you dare to interrupt me as well?"
"Uhp.." Jaken thought for a moment - indeed, Lord Sesshoumaru had begun to talk to him! And hehadinterrupted! "Forgive me, my Lord!"
By this time, Sesshoumaru and the others had already started down the trail that led out of the forest, accompanied by two wolves.
"Your castle is amazing, Lady Maina! It has more rooms than Rin can count, and all of them are different, and they've all got so many little statues and pictures and things in them!"
"Thank you, Rin," Maina said, laughing lightly. "I'm glad you enjoyed your stay."
"Oh, Rin loved it! Rin got to play with the black wolves too - they're a lot more fun than Lord Jaken!" As if on cue, it was at that moment they heard the imp screech, "Wait for me, my Lord!" from somewhere behind them.
"Almost anyone would be more fun than Jaken, unless of course you prefer to step on people for entertainment, because in that case, there's no one better," Maina told the girl with a smile. She turned her gaze to Sesshoumaru. "I rather prefer your young charge to your old vassal, Sesshoumaru."
"Hmmph. She's just as noisy," he replied flatly, "though I must admit, her voice is much less irritating than Jaken's." Rin giggled, ecstatic that her lord had complimented her. Maina smiled to herself. 'He seems.. Warmer around her, I think. She's a sweet child, of course, and she obviously adores him, but..' Her face straightened for a moment. 'Could it be that she's the reason Sesshoumaru seems to have changed?'
They continued quietly down the path, and Maina dropped a bit behind Sesshoumaru and Rin. Ah-Uhn, with Jaken, who had just caught up, alongside him, walked just behind her, moving at her pace. She watched in silence the way the little girl in the orange and white checked kimono followed the taiyoukai like a shadow, keeping as close as she could to his legs but avoiding being kicked, as she seemed to know every detail of the way he walked. Suddenly, it hit her. The way she followed him, that adoring look in her young eyes, it was just like..
Maina's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she felt the liquid-like embrace of her barrier. They'd come to the edge of the forest and passed through the barrier without her even noticing how far they'd walked.
"Farewell, Lady Maina," Sesshoumaru said politely, stopping and turning to face her. "I thank you for your hospitality toward Jaken and Rin during my stay."
"You are quite welcome, Sesshoumaru," she replied, polite and stone-faced as he. She then bent down towards his young charge. "I very much enjoyed meeting you, Rin. Make sure that your lord comes to visit again soon!"
"I will, Lady Maina!" Rin said with a bow.
Maina straightened, ready to wave them off, when suddenly Sesshoumaru's face grow intensely serious. "Sesshoumaru?" she questioned apprehensively.
"Naraku.. His scent is in the air," he said quietly. "Get back inside the barrier, all of you." Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Uhn began to run back into the forest, but they hadn't gotten within a foot of its boundary when a white blur swooped down, seemingly out of nowhere. Before anyone, even Sesshoumaru, could react, the thing scooped up Maina and took to the sky again. The creature stopped for a moment in the air above them, and Sesshoumaru immediately recognized the familiar white baboon pelt. In his arms, Naraku held Maina, who seemed to have been knocked unconscious. A second later, he was rushing off towards the east. Sesshoumaru growled menacingly at the sky in the direction Naraku had gone.
"M-my Lord?" Jaken stammered.
"Take Rin and go back to the castle. You are to stay there until I return." With that, a swirling cloud formed around Sesshoumaru's feet, and he lifted off the ground and sped away eastward.
A/N: Sigh.. there's a cliffhanger and the happy fun stuff is over.. See, I thought I would write this fic a little backwards, namely by having the happy (near)lemon stuff in the beginning and the danger and complications afterwards instead of having the couple go through all the danger and complications before getting a single happy lemon moment.. Hehe. Of course, things will change between our protagonists by the time it's all over - that's what love stories are for after all! - but isn't it fun to go about it a little differently? Ah, well, fun for me at least - and more to fantasize over, ne?
Pervert.. I heard that.
I could always go against my 'no lemons' promise, you know.
What do you mean?
I'm being nice to you by leaving your more.. personal moments.. to my reader's imaginations. It's not like I can't just edit a little here and there and give them some more details about your, let's just say, 'bedside manner..'
...you wouldn't dare.
Oooh, wouldn't I, Sesshie, wouldn't I?
Don't call me 'Sesshie,' you pathetic human..
Oh, look who's acting like a person now instead of a personified voice in my head.. (grins)
... you really are irritating, you know..