San lay awake in the wolf's den wondering what was wrong with her. Why had she rescued this human being and then brought him here as well? Why was she afraid for his life when she hated humans so much? Will, she was still angry at him here for stopping her from killing the Eboshi woman in Tataraba. What was he thinking? Why had he put himself in danger for her? She didn't understand. And what she also didn't understand why he was so completely different from the other humans. He didn't correspond at all to the image she had formed of humans over the years.

San lay on her side to get a better look at him. Slowly and carefully, she reached out a hand to the young man who lay sleeping next to her. But before she could touch him, she stopped. The hand hovered over the wounded man's forehead. What was she doing? Why did she feel the need to touch his face? What were those feelings, anyway, creeping inside her? She had never had such feelings before.

The wolf princess withdrew her hand and wondered what this was all about. If she now started to have feelings other than hatred for a human being, then maybe that meant that she was becoming more and more human herself, and she just couldn't let that happen. She couldn't allow these feelings because she wasn't one of them! The wolves were her family, and her home was the forest. Humans were their enemies because they posed a threat to her family and her home. And yet this young man was so completely different from the others.

Wait, was he actually still alive? Ashitaka lay far too still for San's liking. The wolf princess put her ear to his chest and listened. She needed certainty. And yes, she heard a heartbeat. It was a little weak, but it was there. This Ashitaka human was strong. He would probably survive. She would make sure he got through. But what would happen after that? Would he return to the city again? What did she even care what he did afterward or where he'd go? 'A lot,' was the simple answer, because this young man meant something to her, even if she couldn't put her finger on how.

The wolf princess wondered what a life by his side, swapped with her life with her wolf family, might have looked like if the forest weren't going through such a difficult time. And she herself might only have a few days to live; the fight against the humans was not far off, and when it came to that, she would go into battle for the forest god and her homeland, even if there was a high probability that she would die in the process. In any case, she was certain that she would choose to fight. She just knew what her duty as a wolf was, for she was no human.

San straightened up and looked into Ashitaka's face. She probably didn't have much time left to take care of him, so he had to make a quick recovery from his bullet wound. However, she could do nothing against the curse that was slowly eating away at the young man. It seemed as if fate had given them both only a very short life.

Suddenly, Ashitaka opened his eyes, which had a feverish glisten about them. But he seemed to be able to recognize San's face very clearly, because now he raised one arm and lightly put his hand on the cheek of the wolf princess.

"San," the young man breathed. He tried to keep his eyes open so that he could continue to look at her, but then his strength left him again and his hand threatened to slip from San's cheek. She put her hand on his, holding it in place.

She sat like that for several minutes with Ashitaka's warm hand on her cheek. With her other hand, San approached the young man's face again. This time, she stroked his hair, much like her own, and traced the lines in his forehead caused by his uncomfortable fever.

He made a small noise. It was not certain to San whether the young man was consciously aware of either her touch or her presence, or if he was simply dreaming. He just has to get well again. She felt his hot forehead under her palm, but she refused to give up on him.

Eventually San lay down again, but this time she didn't leave much of a gap. Now she lay so close to him that their shoulders almost touched. San felt herself slowly but surely dozing off, though she fought against it. She wasn't allowed to sleep because she had to watch over him. And she wanted to remain in his presence for a little longer.

Yes, that too.