Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Inuyasha.

Plot: Did you ever wonder why Hiten believed Kagome's story about Inuyasha loving her? Perhaps it was because he was once in love himself a long time ago. Here's the story of his first love.

Hiten's First Love

They ran.

What other choice did they have? Sorely outnumbered, they would be dead a hundred times over before either could summon an attack.

The air whistled in her ears, stung her eyes, but she couldn't slow down. The only advantage she and that bastard Hiten had was that they were not weighed down by armor, giving them that small bit of much needed speed.

When the lightning had struck, Taka had thought for a moment that Hiten had done it. Then she had turned to look where it had come from and she saw one of her father's younger lieutenants, Akio. Behind him, the clouds grew black and billowed up. She saw her death if she hesitated any longer.

Hiten needed no words for him to follow. They zigzagged in an effort to avoid the lightning and thunder attacks raining down upon them, but managed to get ahead out of her clan's reach.

Minutes later, the storm clouds were behind them but not gone. Taka knew they were still visible and put on more speed. Hiten sped up with her.

The wind pressed against her, nearly suffocating her, but she kept the speed up. She had to.

They raced northward throughout the night. As the eastern sky began to lighten, they saw the jagged range of mountains that was neutral territory. The larger mountains in the far distance behind that was Northern Thunder territory.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Taka slowed down marginally. Hiten noticed and turned to yell at her, but she didn't hear what he said.

They had just passed over a ridge and her entire focus was on the demons taking aim at them. Hiten was looking at her, mouth moving, but he didn't see them.

The lieutenant at the front of the small army raised his arm and signaled to fire. Arrows came flying at them, like a cloud of death.

"NOOO!!" she screamed. Fear made her faster. She smashed into Hiten and her entire left side suddenly felt aflame.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed an arrow sticking out of her shoulder and another below her hip.

Hiten grabbed her off her cloud and cradled her close as he flew in a crazy pattern to avoid more attacks. Lightning and thunder flashed and boomed around them, making her eyes and ears hurt.

Taka could feel Hiten's heart pounding in exertion against her. His breath came in short pants. She saw the thin line of blood across his right shoulder where an arrow had grazed him.

Then her vision began to blur. Her wounds began to burn. The air caught in her throat as the pain intensified when Hiten stopped short to avoid a lightning attack. She curled closer to him, pressing her cold face against the burning skin of his neck. His hands tightened their hold.

She felt his throat move. As if she was far away, she heard, "Hang on, almost there!"

Her ears began to ring. Black spots danced across her vision.

This was wrong. It was all wrong.

Her blood felt hot and cold. Her body did not feel like her own. Taka tried to tell Hiten, but her tongue felt huge and swollen.

Fear coursed through her. She had been shot before. It was an accident, of course, but it was nothing like this. Her fingers clutched at his shoulder.

"Just hang on!" The ringing made his words echo. The spots grew bigger and bigger, beating out the mess of colors her vision had become. Nothingness beckoned.

He felt her go limp and his stomach clenched tightly. Weaving through the attacks, he kept his eyes on the mountains, determined to get there. He silently cursed the distance between himself and the mountains. It would be another few minutes before they crossed into neutral land—minutes Taka could not spare.

As his clan and hers were at war with each other, Hiten knew what was on those arrows. His heart raced with the knowledge that she didn't have much time left. It pained him to leave the arrows in her, but he had not the opportunity to get them out nor the inclination to do so as the wooden shafts minimized the blood loss.

Poison was a common occurrence in all demon clans. There were measures to protect one's self against it, but he was certain that she knew none of them. Besides, it wasn't as if she considered the likelihood of being shot with one of her tribe's arrows.

Now if he knew which poison was on the arrows, he'd be better able to help her.

Her body twisted suddenly and he just managed to keep her in his arms, but altitude was sacrificed, allowing their pursuers the higher air purchase.

Thunder and lightning rained down upon them in almost fanatical precision. Her clan did not want them to escape into the neutral lands. Hiten didn't spare a glance at her, though he wanted to, but his eyes were needed to evade the attacks and govern a path amongst the treetops.

Taka's body twitched, her arm coming up and catching him in the face. Hiten struggled to maintain altitude. He began to dread the thoughts forming when she twitched again.

Muscle spasms.

Pushing the thoughts out of his head—he couldn't help her now—he saw the trees start to thin. The river, filled with mountain snowmelt, was coming up, signifying the true boundary of neutrality. Once they passed that river, the mountains were right there and then he was home free.

Hiten put more speed in his wheels.

Dodging past a particularly tall tree, the air around him began to buzz with raw energy. He barely had time to think a single thought before his body jolted, his nerve endings screaming.

Then it was over.

A ribbon of blue flashed beneath him and he was struck with the memory of Taka's blue silk ribbon and the blue energy that had encompassed both his and Taka's body moments before. Hiten knew he was hit by a lightning bolt and it didn't help her any that she too was affected by it. He forced away the pain and his youkai began to heal him.

Her muscle spasms worsened.

Hiten glanced at her, now that the worst of the danger that was dogging their heels was past. His stomach clenched again when he saw her pale skin begin to flush red. Now a different danger was upon them.

Muscle spasms, then fever. After the fever, she would then get the chills and her muscle spasms would stop. Once the fever took hold of her, it would be too late.

She had two arrows in her body. That meant double the dosage. Leaving them in meant longer exposure. This poison was fast acting. She had three strikes against her and that was not good. Okay, four strikes. She likely did not have any defenses against any type of poison.

Hiten flew through the first mountain pass and looked for shelter. His keen eyes spotted a cave and he whisked towards it with abandon. Taka had mere minutes left before her fate was sealed.

He landed on the ledge and took a careful look at the entrance. He saw no recent scuffmarks in the dirt, nor any droppings.

Cradling Taka close, he ventured closer. His body thrummed with the urge to rush into the cave and do something, but he could not endanger Taka any further with an animal defending its home.

Hurry up, his mind shouted at him.

He sent his senses out, feeling for anything. A second later, he rushed into the cave. He had felt nothing. They were in no danger here.

Laying her on the ground, he removed the arrows quickly and efficiently. Tearing his top into strips, he bandaged her wounds. Hiten then laid a hand on her forehead. She was slightly warm. She was still in the early stages of fever. He could still save her.

The only question was how.

He had no way to treat her. He didn't have the antidote for this poison. They called it the Restless Sleep. Once infected with it, victims never woke up. Add that the key ingredient for the antidote was rare and death was guaranteed.

Hiten racked his brain for a solution. Time was running out.

Looking around the cave in desperation, he saw a white flower, a weed really, at the entrance.

"Papa, why are we picking flowers?" Hiten asked, gazing up at his father.

Shikotsu grinned widely, his hands full of white flowers. He crouched down at eye level with Hiten. "These are your mama's favorites."

Hiten gazed at the flower in his small hand. It five petals were silky soft in contrast to its rough stem. "But they're weeds."

His father chuckled. "That they are, but they carry a special meaning for your mama. When I first met your mama, she did not like me."

He frowned. "Why? Were you mean to her?"

Shikotsu sighed and sat down. He patted the ground beside him and Hiten settled next to him. "No. It was the circumstances upon which we met and she did not like that. When you are older, you will understand, Hiten. Anyway, she did not like me. I did not like her very much either."

"Do you like each other now?"

"Yes, son, we do. We love each other." Shikotsu pulled playfully on Hiten's braid. "If we didn't, do you think you would be here listening to an old man?"

Hiten laughed. "You're not old, Papa!"

"You'll be changing your tune in a few years." Shikotsu held up a flower. "We were married and when we had our first fight, she left me and went back to her father. My father was not pleased with me. Your mother is not…" he paused. " Your mother was very proud and my father was ashamed that I had let her leave. So I went after her. When I was about to see her, I grabbed the first thing I saw. You should never see a woman without bringing her a gift. Remember that, Hiten.

"She entered the room, her head held high, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Your mother may not be the conventional beauty you see in the courts, son, but there was something about her. She greeted me like I was a bug on the bottom of a rock and I pushed what I had in her face. It was then that I saw they were flowers. Well, weeds. Her eyes sparked with surprise and accepted my gift. I told her that I was sorry and that she was right. The woman is always right, son. Remember that, too. It will save your life.

"I told her that I wanted to give our marriage a real try, if she was willing." Shikotsu broke off with a distant smile. "And since then, if we argued or if I just wanted to surprise her, I would pick these for her and remind her of the day I truly made her my wife, my mate. Our strengths became one and we grew stronger. These make her so happy, Hiten. It is the simple things in life that make it worth living."

"…the day I truly made her my wife…my mate…we grew stronger…our strengths became one…"

His father's words echoed in his mind. Hiten swiveled back to Taka. The flush on her face worked its way down her neck and past the neckline of her top.

"...my mate..."

He couldn't believe that he was considering this, but it was the only possible solution. She didn't have time for him to make it to his lands, either with him or on his own. He didn't have time to find all the ingredients.

"...grew stronger..."

He couldn't let her die.

Sighing, he pulled her onto his lap. Hoping her instincts were still keen, he gathered his youkai and his energy. Thanking the gods when he felt her youkai rising in response, he did one simple thing that would change their lives forever.

He kissed her.

I can hear you all moan, "Finally!"

My muse has left me for Colin Farrell. Not that I can blame her, but she has taken my inspiration and ideas with her. Think I can bribe her to come back?

TG