6. Dreams

"Yori?" Some one was calling her. Yori opened her eyes and slowly looked around her. She was lying on the bare ground and there was a fire burning brightly in front of her. She tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved, she got immediate complaints from her side. She looked down at it. It was no longer bleeding, but wrapped in bright white cloth that gave off the soft scent of flowers. Yori sat up and grabbed her head which felt like something was beating it like a drum.
"Yori!" Oh please Rin, don't scream.
"Hey Rin." she said softly. The child threw her arms around Yori's neck and hugged her tightly.
"I was so worried. I thought you would die. That dirty Kagura, I hope Lord Sesshomaru finds her and rips her evil heart out." Yori smiled softly and looked at Rin.
"You shouldn't wish things like that on people Rin, it's not very nice." She looked down.
"Well, she hurt you." Yori patted her on the head.
"I know but I'm okay. And look at you; you were so brave bringing me my bow and arrows." she said remembering how the young girl had ridden Ah-Un and delivered her weapons.
"I thought you might have needed them." Rin said smiling.
"I did. And thank you for dressing my wounds." The small child looked perplexed.
"I didn't dress your wounds, I don't know how to. Lord Sesshomaru did." It was Yori's turn to be confused.
"He did?" Rin opened her mouth to speak, but instead an annoying voice found its way to Yori's ears. Jaken had been sitting on a log, facing the fire, and it was he who answered Yori's question.
"Yes, he did. After you fell unconscious and were of no further use, Lord Sesshomaru picked you up and carried you back to our camp and he made me carry your useless weapons. When we arrived, he dressed your wounds and laid you down so you could rest." he said.
"Alright, but where is he. And don't you tell me 'it is not your place to ask such things you foolish girl!' like you usually do." Jaken visibly flinched.
"Well your filthy human blood stained Lord Sesshomaru's clothing as he carried you. So he went to find a place to wash them off, if you must know." Yori stood up.
"Which way did he go? I would like to properly thank him for bandaging my wounds." she brushed her bloodstained clothes off and looked at Jaken's turned back. He pointed to the left. She started to walk off and then stopped and looked back.
"Thank you Master Jaken." she said.
"Do not thank me girl. I only did what I've done because Lord Sesshomaru asked me to." He began to mumble. "I honestly don't understand why he carries two human girls around with him. They're so useless and they get in the way of everything. And above all else, they cause me more stress than I've ever had in my life. Oh Lord Sesshomaru, why?" Yori smiled a crooked smile. Now here she was trying to make peace with the little imp by showing her gratitude. And what did he do? Instead of accepting it, he mumbled and grumbled about his apparent discomfort. Yori's temper flared, just a little, and she grabbed a rock. Not giving it a second thought, she hurled it at the little green thing. The rock struck him in the back of the head and knocked him off the log. Yori walked into the forest without a second glance at his twitching form.
"How far do I have to walk?" she wondered aloud. The forest seemed thicker at night, the trees bending together and tricking her eyes. Oh man, she did not like being in the forest alone, especially at night. It really sent shivers up and down her spine, knowing that demons lurked everywhere. And she left her arrows at camp. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yori mentally kicked herself. Now how was she supposed to defend herself if something happened? But her thoughts were cast aside when she felt a warm sensation on her skin. It was as if wet air had wrapped itself around her, like when she took a bath, or when she went to the spa, or was simply around hot water. She peered through the trees and saw a pool of blue. Steam rose and drifted on the top of the water and spray from a nearby waterfall filled the air around. A hot spring? Maybe he's here. She thought and then she looked to her right. In a neat pile by a tree were his clothes. She walked over to them and picked them up. There was a top and a bottom. I don't get it; Jaken said he came to wash his clothes. There is no blood on his shirt and even if there was, he would still have his pants on right? So why— oh my god he's bathing! That means…She turned back to the water and noticed his silver hair. She blushed a little and hid behind a tree, his clothes clutched tightly to her chest. Then, she stole a peek.
He was leaning on the bank, his elbows relaxed on the edge. His hair was touching the water and Yori could barely see his broad shoulders showing through his damp hair. She could tell it was damp. Not only did it stand to reason, but if she looked closely enough, she could just barely see the tiny droplets of water coating his head of silver. They clumped together, joining each other and creating a crystal drop that was strong enough to slide slowly down a strand of his hair and back into the water. She could only see the back side of him, but it was enough. Her legs almost turned to jelly as she watched him not move, so intent on whatever he was thinking about as he was always.
"Who's there?" Oh my god, the question was directed at Yori. How did he know I was here? Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter. It's probably better to just respond.
"Um Yori, my Lord." she said without moving.
"Yori? I'm not familiar with that name."… Ouch. Yori had traveled with Sesshomaru long enough to know that his sense of smell was amazing. But the water must have masked her scent. So instead of responding to the question, she simply stepped out first and looked at the ground. She still held his clothes to her chest and she walked to the edge of the spring.
"Oh, it is you." She nodded her head slowly. Her blush spread across her face and colored it a light pink. "Why are you here?"
"I came to thank you for dressing my wounds. It was very—" He cut her off.
"Yori, when you speak to me, I want you to look at me." She looked at him. Bad idea. Yori could now see his chest and her face turned cherry red as she stared at his chiseled body. The water ran down his visible torso, tracing the indentions and lines of his abs. Holy snap he was hot!
"What is the matter? You've grown silent." he said, turning his eyes on her.
"It's, I just, um, well—" She was stuttering like an idiot. She couldn't seem to make her lips form honest-to-God words, so she just gapped at him.
"Fine, if you cannot speak, just listen." Yori nodded her head. "Thank you for saving me." That was all he said. And that was enough. Yori had to take a few steps back in order to keep her balance and not fall unconscious. Had he just thanked her? That had to be unheard of, Lord Sesshomaru thanking someone especially a human. What was going on in his mind? She just stared at him, at a complete loss for words. But he begun to stand up and that's when she remembered how to speak.
"No! Lord Sesshomaru, please don't stand up!" she shouted. Yori stared at his body as the water cascaded down and met the ground in soft thuds. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly; it was all she could do to keep from looking at him. Her face had to be a grape's identical twin as she held out her hands in a silent motion, begging him to take his clothes. She felt their weight disappear and she waited for the okay to open her eyes.
"Yori, you may open your eyes." She slowly let her eyelids part and she saw Sesshomaru flipping his hair from out the back of his shirt. The wind blew softly, making the branches of the trees sway slightly and Sesshomaru turned slowly, and begun to walk away.
"No! Lord Sesshomaru please wait." she called after him. He stopped in his tracks, but did not face her.
"What?"
"When I was trapped in the castle, Kagura was my guard. She spoke with me while I was held captive." Yori started. She had no control of the words that were pouring out of her mouth, and she didn't want control of them.
"And why is that of any importance?" He faced her now. Yori swallowed and continued to speak, hurriedly and with an apprehensive tone.
"She comforted me when I cried." He took a step near her.
"And what were you feeling then?" He asked, coming all the more closer.
"Fear."
"Why?" he asked, now close enough that Yori could feel his soft breath on her cheek. Her thoughts weren't jumbled this time, she wasn't afraid to speak this time.
"Because I was afraid that you weren't going to come for me." His eyes widened a bit. And Yori looked down a little. "When Kagura offered you the choice of me or Rin, you chose Rin. I thought that perhaps you didn't care about me. I thought you were going to leave me there and in a very short period of time, Naraku would kill me. But still, Rin's words played in the back of my mind." Sesshomaru had been absentmindedly twirling a piece of Yori's hair around his finger as she spoke. He inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, as if he'd wanted to take all of her in. He would never admit it, but her scent intoxicated him; the smell of lavender and fresh flowers.
"And what did she say?" Yori looked up at Sesshomaru.
"She said that you would never abandon me. And you didn't— you came for me, as she said you would. And Kagura said the same thing. In truth, though she wounded me, she was the one who helped me escape. She took me out of the room I was in and to the courtyard where you and Naraku were... And Kagura, she also said something else." Yori paused and realized that she'd moved closer to him. His body was pressed against hers softly, and she couldn't help but place her hands on his chest. She was very surprised when he actually let her do it.
"What else did she say?" Sesshomaru's eyes were glossed over with wonder. Unbeknownst to his will Sesshomaru had slid his arm around Yori's waist and brought her closer to him. Their bodies were now pressed against one another's in a very sensual manner. Yori swallowed as little shivers traveled up and down her spine.
"She said that she could see the way we acted around each other." Sesshomaru leaned in closer and tangled the fingers of one hand in Yori's short black hair. He touched his lips to hers softly.
"And what do you think she meant?" Who cares? Yori wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru's neck.
"I think she's under the impression that we are… interested… in each other." Sesshomaru gnawed softly on her lower lip.
"How foolish." he whispered and then kissed her fully, on the mouth. He seemed to have lost control of his actions, and was driven by some deep, inner, dark desire. He let his hands roam her back and she tangled her fingers in his soft hair. He pushed her softly against a nearby tree and ran his hand along one of her thighs. Their tongues were touching, caressing each other's sweetly. He pulled one of her legs near his waist and she wrapped it around him, as if they were dancing a silent tango.
Yori's mind was reeling, what was going on? He was kissing her, okay. But why? Did it matter? Well, yes because you don't just kiss a person or touch them this way without a reason. But she couldn't give the whole situation that much thought though because all of a sudden, Sesshomaru pulled away. Not abruptly though; he unwrapped her leg from around him and gently pulled his face away. His eyes were closed as he inhaled once more.
"We will be missed." he whispered and then he was walking back towards the camp. Yori sighed. Damn, he was a great kisser. But it was something more than that. And as the wind ceased to blow, she could not think of what it was.

That night, dreams of the blue light plagued her sleep. She kept seeing it, no matter if it appeared in a case scenario as it had in real life or something completely made up. She dreamt of a woman who looked almost like her, dressed in the clothes she wore now. Bows and arrows flew everywhere, blue light erupted out of no where, and Yori woke up coated in cold sweat. She whipped her face off, calmed herself down, and then fell into a dreamless sleep, one that was worse than the nightmares.
When morning finally came, something was not right. She was moving, but she was laying down. "Huh?" She opened her eyes and looked up. Sesshomaru's face was the first thing that came into view. She blushed when she realized that he was carrying her.
"Um, Lord Sesshomaru, why are you carrying me?" she asked softly.
"We had to continue traveling, but you were still sleeping. We were going to lay you on Ah-Un but I was afraid that you would fall off in your sleep. So Lord Sesshomaru decided to carry you." Rin said with a smile. She was on Ah-Un's back and turned around to face Yori. "Wasn't that nice of him?" Yori nodded, a little numb with the feeling of his arms around her.
"It was very nice. Um Lord Sesshomaru, you can put me down now." His hold on her tightened ever so slightly.
"No." She raised an eyebrow at him as he continued walking. "Your wound reopened in your sleep. You shouldn't walk with the state it's in." Mm-hmm. There was nothing else said after that.
That same night, after the group had eaten, after Sesshomaru had left, and when everyone laid down to rest Yori unwillingly let herself fall into a deep sleep.

"You must come." Who was that? It sounded like the voices of a group of children, all speaking in unison. Yori looked around. She could see nothing but darkness and she could hear nothing except her own thoughts and that voice.
"You must come." they said again. Yori spun around, but there was still nothing.
"Hello?"
"You must come." The voices seemed to be morphing into something different, a different sound, a different person speaking.
"Who are you?" Yori began to run. She ran no where in particular, she just ran. She wanted to follow the voice, but it echoed around her, making pinpointing an exact location impossible.
"You must come." It was solid now, the voice of one woman. She sounded strong, independent, but panicked. Something was wrong. Yori turned to what she thought was the left and continued to run.
"Where are you?"
"You must come. You must come." Yori came to a sudden halt. In front of her seemed to be a castle, huge and made of a soft pink crystal. But she gasped as it slowly morphed into a huge, circular orb. Is that the Shikon Jewel? It turned from its beautiful pink color to a deadly black. What's going on? Then a blinding blue light came from the sky, the light that always surrounded Yori's bow, and it struck the jewel. The black seemed to melt away, but not before the force of the collision of the light and the jewel caused a huge explosion. Yori screamed as it blew her back. And in the midst of that explosion was the voice.
"You must come. Hurry."

Yori bolted up and sat stunned as she looked herself over. Her hand was stretched out, reaching for something that it couldn't grasp. Her whole body was covered in sweat and her heart was pounding fiercely against her breastbone.
"I have to go the Sacred Lands and speak to the High Priestess." she said softly to herself, and she knew, as soon as the words left her mouth, that that was her final decision. She flipped the covers off of her and winced in pain when she stretched her wound. But that didn't matter. Yori looked around. Sesshomaru was gone, and she sighed. She had to find him. She had to talk to him. She had to tell him that she was leaving.