Sesshoumaru awoke, happy to be back in his body. 'I'm glad Katara managed to fight that demon inside of her. But why is it in there in the first place?' He yawned, and then realized that he was laying right beside the hanyou. His hand was still grasping hers, and she was leaning in toward him a little. He ran his other hand lightly through her hair, feeling the silky smoothness. He heard her stir, and quickly got up. 'I have GOT to get over this...infatuation. She's hanyou, I'm demon, end of story. NOTHING is going to be between us.' he told himself firmly. (A/N: Why is Sesshoumaru in denial? I don't know. Ask just-a-little-crazy when she wakes up. All I know is that he doesn't want to love. How badly that's turning out for him:)
Katara rolled over onto her back, and gave a soft moan. She sat up on the bed, rubbing her temples.(Beds were on floors back then. Remember that.)
She looked up at him, and amber eyes locked onto crimson. "Kami, Sesshoumaru! I have such a killer headache." She looked away from him, like she always did when he turned his gaze 100 on her. It felt as if his eyes could pierce a hole right through her. She got up, and stood in front of him. "I-I mean, about what happened...well, thanks." Sesshoumaru didn't feel akward anymore when Katara thanked him for something. He had grown acostumed(spelling?) to accepting her thanks. But somehow, this was different. Katara looked up into his eyes again. "You know what? I think I need to tell you everything." she said, grabbing his hand. This definetly startled him. Katara's hand was warm underneath his, and he really didn't expect her to explain to him what had happened back there. He thought that everyone deserved to keep some secrets to themselves. Katara practically dragged him down the hall, stopping only to look in on Rin. She was still asleep. 'Good.' she thought. 'This will give us more time to talk.' She walked into the library, unaware that she was still holding a very surprised Demon Lord's hand. When she realized that, she quickly let go, and began to blush profusely, something that Sesshoumaru noticed. 'It's kind of funny. She does all these things like she doesn't even think them through, and then she's embarassed.' he thought amused. Katara noticed that his expression had softened slightly, almost as if he wanted to smile. 'I wish he would. He would probably look handsome if his face wasn't always so serious. I mean, he is handsome, but smiling wouldn't hurt.' She walked over to the window looking out into the garden, aware that Sesshoumaru's eyes were following her every move. Sesshoumaru was anxious to find out what had happened last night, but he could tell it was hard on her. 'No matter. I can wait.' he thought.
Katara looked out the window absentmindedly. She was trying to put together everything that she needed to tell him. She had never told anybody her secret, but Sesshoumaru had saved her, in a sense, and she felt like he should know more about what had happened last night.
She turned around and faced him.
"About last night...Kami, how do I explain this?" Katara took a deep breath.
"Sesshoumaru?" Even though he didn't answer, she could tell he was listening. His eyes were attentively on her.
"Do you think, maybe we could...go outside?" Sesshoumaru knew that Katara felt more comfortable talking if she was outside. Hadn't they done just that a little over 3 days ago?
"Very well. Let's go then."
Katara smiled, and walked out of the library, Sesshoumaru on her heels. They walked out through the grand entrance, and headed toward the garden.
From inside the castle, the garden had seemed beautiful to Katara. But now that she was standing in the midst of it, she could see it for what it truly was: magnificent. It was in full bloom, and a thousand smells assaulted her nose. Daffodils, Snapdragon, roses, and then faintly underneath all of those strong smells, was a soft scent that Katara knew well. "I don't remember seeing a Cherry Blossom tree from my window." she commented to Sesshoumaru. His face remained stoic, though his voice leaked a bit of amusement.
"That might be because there has never been one here." Katara looked puzzled.
"But then...where is it coming from?" she asked, looking around. Suddenly, a cold gust blew through the garden, rustling the trees and flowers. Katara looked at Sesshoumaru.
"Does that wind smell...natural to you?" she asked him. The same stoic expression remained on his face, though Katara saw that he was frowning slightly. (Picture him when he thinks about Inuyasha. Yeah, that's how he looks now.) Katara saw cherry blossoms fly by her, settling on the wind. "I thought you said there isn't a Sakura tree around here!" Sesshoumaru's frown deepened. "There isn't."
"Then where..." Katara saw the cherry blossoms swirl around in front of her, forming a pillar. Suddenly, the wind died down, and the cherry blossoms settled around the feet of a woman that was now standing in the middle of the garden. Her hair was a silvery white, her skin was pale, but still beautiful. She had a purple four-pointed star in the middle of her forehead, and two crimson stripes on either side of her face. To Katara and Sesshoumaru, the mysterious woman smelled like a demon...and did not. She was something else entirely. The most startling thing about the woman, was that she had pale crimson eyes, just like Katara.