He was running with all of his youkai speed. Running through the forest. Something was after him; after Rin! He had to protect her. So he ran. An inky black tentacle shot out from the darkness behind him, grabbing him, pulling him in. Sesshoumaru struggled, but he felt himself falling into the black void, the tentacle still wrapped around him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him, pulling him back toward the light. He tried to see who it was, but a bright red glow kept his rescuer obscured from Sesshoumaru's sight. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru caught a whif of a scent that smelled familiar: Cherry blossoms and Vanilla.
-

Sesshoumaru awoke with a start. He looked around, and found the other's still asleep. Sesshoumaru ran a hand through his silvery mane. He remembered having a dream somewhat like this one, but he didn't remember anyone rescuing him from the dark.(Alright. So he can dream like every other person. Don't hold it against me that I want to make him seem a bit more normal.)
What does it mean? he wondered.
And what was that scent of Cherry blossoms and vanilla? It smelled strangely familiar. Wait, that's Katara's distinct scent.
He sighed. Why was all this happening to him? These dreams? And now, these feelings? He felt things when he was around Katara that he had promised himself he'd never feel again. After his mother died, he swore that he'd never love again. The pain was too great. But now, this hanyou had come along, and everything had become confusing. Oh sure, he knew Rin had softened him quite a bit since he'd first met the eager little girl, but this was different. And he wasn't sure he liked it. He felt Katara stirring, and heard her get up. He didn't move a muscle, though. He was curious to see what the girl would do. Katara woke the fire again from the embers, and threw some logs in to fuel it. She was unaware that Sesshoumaru was awake, and was watching her, so she was as quiet as possible so as to not disturb everyone. After a while of warming herself by the fire, she leaped up a tree, and began jumping from branch to branch. Sesshoumaru didn't hesitate in following her, curious at the hanyou's actions. Katara kept leaping, always heading in the same direction, her nose sniffing the air. Sesshoumaru wondered at what she was looking for. Suddenly, Katara came to a clearing. Sesshoumaru saw that the clearing was surrounded by Sakura trees, all in full bloom.
That's right, cherry blossoms are her favorite. he thought.
Katara jumped down from the tree where she was, and sat at the base of one of the Sakura trees. She closed her eyes, breathing in the heavily perfumed air. It was almost intoxicating. She felt lightheaded, as if she was drunk with it. She had some thinking to do. What was happening? She was definetly feeling something around Sesshoumaru, but she couldn't be sure.
He's so cold. His amber eyes are always so full of ice and loathing. SO why do I feel like this? Maybe it's cuz we have so much in common. His mom died, and mine is gone as well.
Sesshoumaru saw Katara frown slightly, her eyes still closed.
I wonder what she's thinking? Maybe she's thinking about how terrifying I am. (Corny, I know. He's slightly egotistical at times.) he thought. He then realized that he didn't want her to fear him. (For lack of a better phrase.)
Then what the hell do I want? he thought angrily. An answer tickled at the back of his mind, but he did his best to keep it there.
No. I am the Lord of the Western Lands! I shouldn't associate myself with half-demons like her. (baka.)
He sighed. He looked towards the clearing, and saw that Katara was still sitting under the same Sakura tree. Her eyes were still closed, and he saw that a few rays of sunshine broke through the branches, illuminating her face.
She's quite beautiful. he thought.
If she weren't hanyou...
He quickly shook himself out of that thought. It didn't matter wether she was hanyou or not! He would not let these feelings get the better of him! A light wind fluttered around him, ruffling his clothes.
Katara caught a scent in the air. She took a few short, quick sniffs, and realized that she knew who it was. She leaned back against the tree again and called out in an amused tone,
"Alright Lord Sesshoumaru! Care to tell me what you're doing here?"
Sesshoumaru was startled, and not just cause she called him "Lord".
'Stupid!' was all he could think. 'I shouldn't have stayed upwind of her!'
He walked out from behind the tree he was hiding, and walked into Katara's view. She opened a light crimson eye.
"So, I don't think you like Sakura trees as much as I do. Now, why don't you tell me why you followed me."
Sesshoumaru bristled. He took orders from no one, especially not a half breed! Katara sensed that she had said something that upset him, but waited a few moments before talking.
"Whatever. Don't tell me if you don't have to. Just..." She sat up quickly, her nose in the air.
"What the fuck?" she muttered. Suddenly she realized what was coming.
"Sesshoumaru!"
She threw her whole body at Sesshoumaru, knocking him to the ground. When Sesshoumaru looked up, he saw that an inky black tentacle had Katara. He was startled.
What? What's going on? He quickly snapped out of his thoughts to the more urgent problem at hand.
"Sesshoumaru!" Katara's voice could be heard ringing through the clearing. Sesshoumaru unsheathed Tokijin, and hacked off the tentacle holding Katara. She fell to the ground with a thump, but quickly got on her feet again.
"Thanks." she shot the demon lord a thankful glance.
He acknowledged it with a nod of his head, his eyes not giving away any emotion. Katara suddenly saw another tentacle appear from the inky black demon. She could see it had extremely sharp spikes, and was heading straight for Sesshoumaru! He was busy with two more tentacles that had appeared, and was oblivious to his impending doom.
'Oh, no you don't!' she thought. Katara brought out her Kitsuira Boomerang. Sesshoumaru saw the spiked tentacle coming straight at him and jumped out of the way, but not before it sunk one of the spikes deep in his chest.
"Ugh.", Katara heard him say in pain. She couldn't stand it anymore. Her eyes glowed a darker red now.
"KITSUIRA BLIZZARDAGA BLADE!"
She sent the boomerang flying, and Sesshoumaru felt the air in the clearing become very cold. The boomerang struck the demon, freezing it completely. Katara caught the blade again. She shot an urgent look at Sesshoumaru.
"NOW! SHATTER IT WITH YOUR BLADE!"
Sesshoumaru lunged at the demon, and shattered it with one blow. Frozen ice went flying everywhere, and Katara saw a Shikon jewel shard hovering where the demon had been. She caught it as it fell down to the ground, and put it in the leather bag at her waist. Suddenly, she heard Sesshoumaru groan, and fall to the ground. She rushed over to him, and examined his wound.
"Oh wow, this looks bad.", she said to him.
"I've had worse.", he grunted. She looked at the spike, and found that it was deeply buried in his chest. Luckily, it had missed his heart.
"I can't take this out now, or you'll start bleeding too much. I need to get you back to camp."
She took his arm and put it around her shoulder. She hoisted him up to his feet, and began walking. Sesshoumaru was surprised, though he forced himself not to reveal it.
"But, you're wounded. You can't take me back like this, it'll tire you out!"
Katara looked at the wound she'd recieved from battle. A gash was running down her side, all the way to her waist. It wasn't very deep, but she could feel herself losing blood.
'No, I need to get Sesshoumaru to safety first!'
Amber eyes locked with crimson.
"There is no way in hell that I'm leaving you out here another minute. We are going back to camp, whether you want to or not!"
With that, she began walking again, helping Sesshoumaru along. Inwardly, Sesshoumaru was startled. Was she this loyal to everyone? She was willing to put off healing herself, in order to take care of him first.
'She's so full of fire. Yet, she puts everyone else before herself. Even after the way I treated her.'
He tried to put her out of his mind, but how could he? Her arm was wrapped around his back, supporting him. Her hand was holding his, the one that was on her shoulder. How could he put her out of his mind, when every step he took was supported by Katara?
Little by little, step by step, they made their way back to the camp. Rin and Jaken were waiting there, worried out of their minds. Rin ran up to Katara, her little brown eyes huge with shock.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru! Are you alright?" Sesshoumaru nearly smiled at her, the little girl looked so worried.
"Yes, Rin. I'm fine. I just have a little wound, but I'll be fine."
Rin let them pass by, looking after them worriedly. Jaken chose to not say anything. He merely sat by the campfire watching the yokai and the hanyou. Katara walked over to a tree by the camp fire, and though she was sorely tempted to just toss him there, she forced herself to carefully set Sesshoumaru at the base of the tree. She was exahusted, but she knew she had to mend his wound first.
"Sesshoumaru, hang in there. That spike will be out in no time."
Katara went and found some clean linen from where they kept their supplies, and a bowl with some water to clean his wound. She knew that once the spike was out, there would be a lot of bleeding. She prayed that everything would go right. She kneeled down by Sesshoumaru, unsure about how to do this.
"Umm, Sesshoumaru?" He grunted to show that he was listening.
"You're going to have to remove the top of your Kimono so that I can bandage you."
He complied, and removed the top of his robe, allowing it to slip around his waist. Katara let a small gasp escape her lips. She had been wrong. He wasn't just hot. He was beautiful! He had light skin, and every muscle on his bare chest was chiseled to perfection. She shook her head to clear it, and snapped back to the task. Sesshoumaru was secretly pleased with her reaction, and was amused to see that she was blushing furiously. She grasped the spike with one hand, and attempted to pull it out. It budged a little, but she didn't dilodge it.
'This is going to take all of my strength. I'll be surprised if I don't pass out from the strain. I guess healing myself will have to wait.'
Sesshoumaru saw Katara lean back, and reach for the red jewel pendant she wore around her neck. She closed her eyes, and he saw her brow furrowed in concentration.
'What is she doing?' he wondered.
He almost gasped when he saw a red misty tentacle reach for the spike burried in his chest, and slowly pull it out. Sesshoumaru saw that his wound was beggining to glow red. Slowly, it began to fill in, to close. Sesshoumaru stared at the girl in wonder. 'How is she doing all of this? And what is that jewel?' The wound closed completely, leaving no mark or scar of the spike that had been lodged in his chest. The glow around Katara began to fade, and she opened her eyes to look at her handiwork. She was examining the place where the wound had been, checking to make sure that it wouldn't open again, when the exahustion caught up to her. The strain of helping Sesshoumaru back to camp, combined with the effort it took her to heal him. Sesshoumaru saw Katara black out, and she fell forward but he caught her. He was surprised at first, but then he got up, and carried her to a cot. He set her down gently and wrapped a blanket around her. He smoothed a strand of silvery blue hair from her face.
"Thank you, Katara."
He heard her mumble in her sleep.
"Sesshoumaru..."
'Is she dreaming of me?' he wondered.
'She's so exahusted. She deserves to sleep.' He caught himself yawning.
'Wait, why am I so tired? Must be an after-effect of her healing. I think I'll...just...'
Too exhausted to move away, he fell asleep right there beside Katara, breathing in her sweet sakura and vanilla scent.