Ch: 17

Rose Glasses and Purple Melons

The day was wearing to it's close, and Sesshomaru, Aatu, and Sky began looking for a place to spend the night.

"Another night sleeping on the dirt. How wonderful," Sky said sarcastically. "I wish I hadn't lost my pouch..." Sesshomaru did not respond, Aatu clinging to his tail, already asleep. The dog demon realized with a disgusted face that the baby was drooling. Picking it up, he plopped Aatu into Sky's arms unexpectedly, and she had to scramble to avoid dropping him. "Sesshomaru!"

"You wanted to keep him," was all he said. When he turned away, a clod of dirt landed in his hair. Sky was whistling innocently when he looked back. Growling, he ignored it. Something a lot bigger then a clod of dirt hit him in the back next.

Sky set down the sleeping Aatu in a very comfy looking bush. He giggled in his sleep as a leaf tickled his nose, grabbing a branch. Then Sky went into attack mode...

And tackled Sesshomaru around the waist from behind. Taken by surprise, they both crashed to the ground. The dog demon managed to twist around in her grip and land on his back rather then his face. He snarled at Sky, and realized... that she was smiling.

She wasn't mad at him at all.

"This has been so much fun. Even though Mara Rose and Rin got kidnaped, and my pouch is missing, this has been a lot of fun. And you, Sesshomaru, are a great guy. Whether you admit it or not." She smiled at him and his eye twitched.

"What has brought this about?" Sky looked thoughtful but didn't move, keeping him pinned.

"Nothing. I just thought it would cheer you up to know that. You always look so grumpy. Even Sir Gaiman knew you were a great guy. A bit rough, but not bad." His bafflement disguised as disgust became suspicion.

"What do you want?" He asked. She got off him and offered him a hand.

"Nothing, like I said. I just thought you'd like to know." He ignored her hand and stood with dignity. Now her eye twitched, though she was still smiling. It made a disturbing picture. "You wanna go, punk, huh? You wanna go?" Sesshomaru just stared at her as she started to walk agitatedly around him, repeating "You wanna go?" With a couple "huh"s and "Punk"s thrown in. Then...

She attacked him again, darting up and pulling his hair. There was no reaction. She tried a couple more times, but he didn't do anything. Finally she stopped, panting, and frowned at him.

"You're no fun." She went to go get Aatu out of the bush, but didn't get beyond a single step. Sesshomaru took his own turn attacking then.

They wrestled in the clearing, Sesshomaru snarling playfully (though it sounded dead serious and flipping scary), and Sky laughing. Their noise woke Aatu up, and for the first time, he started crying. The pair stopped their game immediately. Sky jumped up and ran over to Aatu, scooping him up in her arms and cooing.

"Oh, shush, Noble Wolf, shh, shh... it's okay, what's wrong? Aw, you're hungry, is that it? Yes, yes, I know, hold on a minute, shh..." She looked at Sesshomaru and hid a smile; there was a leaf in his hair and a smudge of dirt above his eye. "Um, Sesshomaru, do you have any idea of where to get food for Aatu?" The dog demon rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you know? You wanted to bring it."

"We have a deal. Silence is acquiescence, as they say. Lucky, lucky you, you get to help me take care of this pretty little boy. So; where do we find food?" At first he did nothing, eyes moving around the clearing. Then, he unleashed his poison whip and struck the ground. Dirt and roots flew up into the air, and came crashing back down. Sky put up an arm to keep the sand and rocks out of her and Aatu's face. When she looked up, Sesshomaru had a small smirk on his face.

"Do you suppose it likes melons?" (JSYK, I have no idea if they have melons in Japan, but now they do, because I said so, and YES, it does work like that) Bending down, he picked up a small purple sphere and held it out to her. "Klenter melon. Very rare." Two or three more littered the ground, but they were all on Sesshomaru's side of the rapidly darkening clearing. Sky raised an eyebrow.

"Did you have to be so showy?"

"What? I, Lord Sesshomaru, dig through the dirt? I'll pass." He waved it at her. "Are you going to take it or not?" Sky stepped forward so that she was within reach of the melon.

"Of course I am. Aatu's hungry, and if you say it's safe..." She reached out to take it–

And Sesshomaru snatched it away.

Sky stared at the dog demon, bewildered. What had gotten into the guy? He wasn't his usual somber, assassin, I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-enjoy-doing-it attitude. It was almost like the demon was high

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W.W. - Any of you know potheads? I do. My best friend (one of them) is a pothead, while two others have tried it. Well, I guess I should say that she was a pothead. She's given up smoking herb. Her reasons are so... pure, too. Not really like her. But it's so cute... Lol Anyway, the point of this was to say, I love potheads, as long as they're not having a bad high. Even then, it's amusing... as long as the pothead doesn't have sharp objects around...

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or something. He smiled at her; a smile dripping with EVIL!

"What are you gonna give me in exchange for this lovely melon? Like I said, it's rare." (Now stop thinking bad, people!) Sky didn't know what was going on, but she knew this game. She tossed her head and walked away.

"Maybe I don't want your stupid melons. What about that? What are you going to do now?" But Sesshomaru wasn't buying.

"Of course you want the melons. You want to feed it, don't you?" She turned and marched back, getting right in his face.

"What do you want for the melons, Mr. Sesshomaru?" He scowled at her for putting the ball in his court. Then he grinned.

"What are you willing to pay?"

"I'll give you a deal." This was the end of the whole pre-game; now it was going into the second quarter. "We'll play rock-paper-scissors. Two out of three. I win, I get the melons. Free. You win..." She thought a minute, then sighed and made the only bet she could at the moment. Reluctantly, she continued, "and I'll give you one thing of your choosing in exchange. It'll be an IOU, or something, okay?" Sesshomaru nodded, and Sky shifted Aatu to one arm, sticking the other out in front of her. Sesshomaru did the same, minus the baby, instead shifting a melon. "One... two... three!" The alien had paper, and the demon threw rock. "Aha! Now you count."

"One... two... three!" This time Sesshomaru won, with scissors. "Do you like paper, or something?" The last count they did together.

"One! Two! Three!" And it went to Sesshomaru again; rock beats scissors. He smiled evilly (but he's so hot when he smiles...). "I win." He held out the melon to her, and she took it resentfully.

"Thanks. What do you want?" 'If he says a kiss, that would be so cliche... But so sweet...' He looked at her.

"I'll think about it." The demon said ambiguously. Sky exploded.

"WHAT! THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER AND YOU KNOW IT, SESSHOMARU!" He just grinned at her and stooped to collect the rest of the melons.

Using her hands, Sky broke the first one in half, then split that half right down the middle, pretending it was Sesshomaru's head. It made her smile, but she knew she didn't really want to break up Sesshomaru's head. It was just too pretty(lol). The scent was heavenly; rain and tropical flowers, with a sweet, light tang to it. The alien woman wished for a knife to cut the melon with , then scooped out a small bite with her fingers, and held it in front of Aatu's mouth. The baby boy sniffed it, mouthed it a little, then ate it with joy. He cooed adorably in happiness.

"He likes it!" Sky said triumphantly. Then, curious, she tried it herself.

A small explosion of fruit filled her mouth, tangy and enticing. The fruit itself was incredibly light. Delicious. "I can see why..." The rest of the melon disappeared between the two of them. Once Aatu was full, he fell back asleep, a small ring of juice around his mouth. Wiping it off with her sleeve, Sky smiled at the sleeping face. He was so adorable!

"We're getting a very early start, so you should get some sleep," Sesshomaru said briskly from behind her, making her jump. Then she sighed.

"But I don't want to sleep on the ground..." She eyed the trees. "Sesshomaru, which tree is the best to sleep in?" The dog demon gave her a look.

"You want to sleep in a tree?"

"Why not? You do it. Inuyasha did too. Neither of you seem to wake up as sore as I do when I sleep on the ground. So, which tree is best?" Sesshomaru pointed to a tree with no branches close to the ground, and was almost a bush twenty feet up.

"Don't do one of those. Ever. Those 'branches' at the top are not really branches, just a massive wad of poisonous vines. Now, a tree like this one..." It also had no branches close to the ground; in fact, the first one was fifty feet up. The branches were broad, and spread apart, with plenty of leaves. "...is perfect for sleeping in. You just have to get up there." Sky was already shinning up the three, feet bare, fingers and toes digging into the cracks in the bark. She had placed Aatu behind her neck, and, still sleeping, he had grasped the material of her shirt with all the strength of a baby monkey (I.E. - plenty enough to hold on and not fall. If he hadn't been doing the same thing to Sesshomaru's tail all day, Sky would never have tried it). Sesshomaru

watched her go.

Soon she had reached the first branch, and hoisted herself up.

"Sesshomaru! It smells good up here!" She yelled back down to him. There was a flash of light.

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here." Sky shrieked and jumped again. The voice was right beside her. Arms flailing wildly, she scrambled to regain her balance, and glared at the too-innocent looking Sesshomaru.

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W.W. - Hah. Sesshomaru. Innocent. Yeah...

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"That was so... mean. I'm moving to a different branch." She was as good as her word; Sky settled on the next branch up. Shifting Aatu around to the front, she held him tight as she tried to get comfortable.

Thankfully, this wasn't hard. The junction between limb and trunk was gentle, at a comfortable angle, the bark up here was smooth, and the branch was as wide as a ordinary twin bed. Soon Sky was asleep.

She didn't notice Sesshomaru on the branch directly behind hers. Once he heard her breathing even out, he slipped over to hers and lifted her head, placing his tail behind it. He was glad that it was long enough to reach around the trunk and still be comfortable. The dog demon went back over to his limb, and watched the heavens turn magnificently above him, twirling, whirling, the dark sparkling blanket wrapped around the world. Eventually he slept too.

111111111I would like to take this scene change to thank all my reviewers. Cry Thank you! Thank you! You've all been so kind! cough back to our regularly scheduled scene break11111

Sky woke slowly, comfortable and warm. It was still dark, and she didn't feel like moving; the little body curled up on her chest was very comforting. It dawned on her eventually that she was not at home in her own bed, with her own fluffy pillow, and one of her many friend's random kids passed out on her. Instead, she was lying on a branch with a fluffy pillow, and a strange baby was sleeping on her chest.

Well, she had thought it was sleeping. When she looked down, she saw two glowing white eyes staring back at her, fanged mouth gleaming beneath them. Two pale horns reflected the moonlight. And she remembered.

"Aatu! Did you wake me up?" The baby giggled at her. She smiled back. "You're so cute! Is it time to go already?" She felt behind her head, touching the pillow, curious. It felt so familiar, yet not at all like hers back in her own time. It was softer and squishier... "Sesshomaru's tail!" She exclaimed in surprise. Then she squealed and hugged it. She just couldn't help herself; it was so soft!

Sesshomaru was woken up by her loudness, snapping awake, immediately sitting up, and just as quickly laying back, head pounding. There was a tug on his butt as Sky pulled on his tail, but he ignored it. There was a massive pain in his skull, like someone was driving a hundred knives into it, and his eyes were heavy and felt like they were filled with sand. He covered them. What had happened?

Random bits of yesterday popped into his head, and he was appalled. What could have caused him, Sesshomaru, Lord of the West, unfeeling inu youkai to the extreme, to do such things? Sesshomaru had always prided himself on his emotional control; for such a thing as yesterday to have happened was humiliating. Searching his memory, he realized what the cause was.

'The flowers...' In his head, he groaned. When Sky had tackled him, he had been pushed into a bush of bright blue flowers. And even though his face hadn't actually come into contact with the plants... their pollen must have gotten into his nose anyway. The bright blue flowers were part of a plant called Rose Glasses (-). If that pollen had gotten into his system...

Well, a little less emotional control was one of the least of the bad things that could have occurred. He could have decided that clothes were inhibitory to his breathing...

With a vicious jerk, he pulled his tail away from the other branch, sitting up as he did so. To his surprise, there was a woman and a baby on the other end.

"..." There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Um... Hi?" Sky said, clinging to the string of fluff. She looked around. "Is it just me, or does this seem familiar?" As a matter of fact, it did, but two things were very different. One, there was a baby. Two, instead of wearing her shoes, they were tied by their laces to a belt loop. Growling, Sesshomaru moved his tail over his branch, and plopped them down on the limb.

Well, Sky sat on the branch. Aatu did not relinquish his grip, and landed on the dog demon's chest, pulling the end of the tail with him. Thankfully the baby missed the deadly spikes on the lords armor. Sesshomaru looked down at him, disgust in his eyes, but the baby only cooed and grinned toothlessly at him.

"Should we get going, Sesshomaru? Or should we rock-paper-scissors over the right to sleep some more?" She yawned and grinned mischievously at him. He stood on the branch, face impassive.

"We go. Do you forget the reason we are travelling?" Sky flinched and her face became solemn.

"You're right. We should hurry; we lost time because of my stupidity yesterday by the river." She started toward Sesshomaru, to get to the trunk of the tree and climb down. But before she could touch the trunk, the dog demon snatched her up and leapt off the branch. They plummeted toward the ground like... a lot of rocks. Sky shrieked and clutched Sesshomaru, almost hitting her head against the spikes on his armor. Almost immediately though, to Sesshomaru's surprise, she began laughing. Reaching the ground, she disentangled herself, and punched him lightly - truly lightly - on the shoulder, still smiling.

"That was very mean. Can we do it again?" He looked at her, suspicious.

"Are you honestly insane enough to have enjoyed that?" The falling out of the tree part was enjoyable, but to Sesshomaru, not to have control over the fall would suck all the joy out of it.

"Well, yeah. And it doesn't make me insane. It's not like it was dangerous." Sesshomaru realized at that moment that this woman trusted him with her life; and not only hers, but that of the little infant she was so fond of. It made him pause, and even take a step away from her. Sky looked concerned. She reached out a hand. "Sesshomaru?" He ignored her hand and voice.

"Let's get going. We have no time to waste." He started walking briskly, so fast that Sky had to jog to keep up. She kept beside him as much as she could, sending concerned glances at him. After things had been going so good, how had it wound down to this dead end? He was radiating contempt. Was it for her?

No. It was for himself.

For Sesshomaru had looked and found a disturbing fact.

Not only did this woman trust her life to him; he trusted her with his as well. He, Sesshomaru, with all those fancy titles, acclaimed hater of humans, trusted this one completely.

Shit.

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Maliha had finally reacher the site. The remains of her sons and husband trudged wearily behind her. They were tired. But Maliha seemed possessed with energy, absolutely overflowing with it. Searching for the largest tent, she found it, and began marching determinedly toward it. The few people there saw her and her anger, and stayed well out of her way, not even bothering to question whom this regal but scary woman was.

She tore open the tent flap.

"WEST!" She roared into the enclosed space, shaking the tent poles. The captain shot out of his chair.

"What is the meaning of this? What the hell is going on?" He bellowed. Suddenly a tiny woman was two centimeters from his face, so close she could have bitten off his nose. But her proximity did nothing to quiet her voice. Just as loudly as before, she yelled,

"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?" West immediately sat down to get away from the noise. It was just bad luck for him that she followed. "WHERE?"

"WHO'S YOUR DAUGHTER?" The captain shouted back. Maliha, with a huge effort of will, didn't continue screaming, but retreated and sat in an opposing chair. Her eyes flashing with anger, she sniffed as her face contorted with disdain.

"You don't have to shout, you know. It's quite rude. But to your question. My daughter is Anata Sky Pyre. I–" The captain interrupted her with a sneer.

"Oh, yes. That one. She turned up missing a couple of days ago. Nothing I can do. Good–"

"Want to bet, West? How much do you want to bet on that?" Her voice was quiet and at least a 100 times more scary them when she had been yelling. West wilted.

"Uh, I, I mean, um, see–"

"What you are going to do, West, is very simple. You are going to allow me, my husband, and my sons full run of this compound. We are to be able to go, see, and get answers about anything we want. We're not interested in your real reason for being here," West's face paled considerably, but Maliha ignored it and continued, "so don't worry about that. I just want my daughter back. Once this is accomplished, we'll be gone. No mars on her employment record either. Do we have an understanding?" The mountain man entered the tent behind her, and put his hands on the little woman's shoulders. Soon the sons flanked them. West blinked.

"Are... those your sons... and husband?" Both boys cracked their knuckles with obvious menace. Maliha shrugged.

"They are. Do we understand each other?" He nodded weakly. "Say it, young man."

"I grant you, your husband, and your sons free rein around the compound, and to get any answers you want. I'll put out word immediately to my people." She lifted an eyebrow.

"And?"

"And... no black marks on her record."

"Good." Maliha nodded sharply, satisfied. She stood. "It's been nice meeting you, Captain." She turned and began to walk out, her husband and sons going first. West thought that that would be the end of it, he'd never have to see this frightful woman and her family again... then the woman turned around. "I look forward to seeing you again, West. I feel like a checkup sometime in the future might be necessary." He gulped and she exited the tent, with one last shot over her shoulder. "And don't let size fool you, West. Your real threat here is not my sons or my husband... it is I.." His head fell into his hands.

Damn, but that had been a scary woman.

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'Of course,' Sesshomaru thought bitterly. 'Nothing ever goes as planned.'

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W.W. - I just thought I'd leave you with that lovely hangnail... - I love my terminology...