And here comes June and, boy, was this one a doozy! Seriously, I made this one last minute cuz I didn't know how to write it out, seeing as how I totally forgot my original idea for it, and I was so conflicted on how it would sound. I even had to change the title. So finally I decided, 'Screw it', and wrote it out just the way it sounded "smiles broadly" Hope this means that it turned out okay.

I do not own Senkaiden Houshin Engi aka Soul Hunter, nor do I own its characters and plots, those belong to Mr. Ryu Fujisaki, I just own this little pairing and the cuteness that comes with it.

Winds of Change
By Daydreamer9

Sheets of linen blew in the wind, the sky above a rich azure color as golden sunlight bounced off the puffy white clouds, making the sky nearly blinding. The air was warm and lightly humid, it having rained last night and the garden out back had been well-watered by the shower…even if it had taken a couple of small saplings down with such a wind, but Li Inshi wasn't one to worry over small things like that, unlike her husband. Both trees were still in good shape and could be salvaged and that was all that mattered and, having that be said, their 'resident doushi' had chosen to volunteer.

It's hard to believe that he's been with us for almost a year and a half now, Inshi thought, watching the dark-haired doushi getting to work out in the rather vibrant garden out behind the main building within the Outpost.

Inshi herself had to be talked out of participating by her attendants, her husband, her 'guest' – who was currently doing the work – and, of course, her son. The reason for this was no doubt due to her 'summer cold', as the doctor had mildly put it, and she was still recovering and still got the chills every now and again. Though, that didn't mean that she wasn't permitted to take a small walk along the garden path…out of sight, of course. Her reason for being so interested was because the young doushi wasn't necessarily alone…

"Uh, okay," said doushi called over to his 'helper', "now pull on the rope, slowly…"

The red-headed boy assisting him, who had been inspecting the rope moments ago out of curiosity, slowly nodded over to the other and started hovering backwards, pulling the rope in his hands in the process. Attached to the other end of the rope was one of the fallen saplings, roots and overall leafy branches still intact, granted it wasn't very big to begin with, but still a healthy five feet and a half. It started to follow the rope, slowly being pulled to its roots, which were supposed to go into the small hole in the ground beside it, where it had been turned over before during the storm. The doushi helped to steady the small tree as it came up on its own, making sure that it went into the hole just right before smiling up at the redhead.

"Good job, buddy," he congratulated, "knew you were the right man for the job."

The 'man' of about thirteen-years old raised a slender scarlet red eyebrow.

"You were just too lazy to pull…again," he stated, dropping the rope.

Sweatdropping, the other tried to appear unabashed while, from her hiding place, Inshi had to smother a chuckle.

In all the time that he's been here, she thought, smiling at her son's actual success at making a – rather indirect – joke, Taikoubou seems to have had quite an impact…

After the hectic events last year that had brought her son back to her in the end, things had been rather calm and peaceful at Chintoukan…well, as much as they could be. Daily routine went on as usual, though Inshi couldn't help but notice the subtle ways that her son had changed. He seemed a bit more concerned with family affairs, more so than normal, and his curiosity about the world beyond the outpost had been awakened to the point where he began to actually start reading, something that he'd stopped doing around age six when he'd dubbed it as 'a dull pastime'. He even got into less fights with his father, but then she also noticed how he also appeared distracted, and despite how hard it was to tell with his daily habit of staring off into space.

But a mother knew how to tell the difference between being deep in thought and simply spaced out and, after thirteen or so years, she'd managed to master reading her son by now, more so than his father had, that was for sure.

"Aw, but you've got more muscle," Taikoubou mock whined in protest, making his was over to his friend, "seriously, have you been working out?" A mischievous glint entered his eye. "Especially with those leg exercises, with your lack of balance, you need it."

He then threw his arms over his head and ducked, pretending to expect an incoming blow from the redhead. For a second, Inshi wondered if she should reveal herself to stop the incoming 'predicament'…but was a bit surprised when it didn't come. Nataku merely gave Taikoubou a deadpan look before actually rolling his eyes.

"You're such a flake," he muttered, hovering past him…but was intercepted when Taikoubou jumped back up and wrapped an arm suavely around the other's shoulders.

"Don't I know it," he agreed, grinning with mirth, "but that's why you put up with me, right?"

Nataku just huffed and Inshi actually found herself getting those motherly tears of pride in her eyes; her son was actually interacting with people, something that she had waited thirteen years or so for. This particular change seemed to occur the day that the doushi entered the Outpost; he needed someplace to stay, but had no money to do so, and, after he'd helped quell the dispute between her husband and son a year back, Inshi didn't even hesitate to agree. He'd work for it, of course, he and Li Sei had insisted on it, as a form of compromise and the dark-haired doushi had become one of the many garden attendants that worked for the Li Clan. He was fairly good at it, though there were those moments where he would slack off from time to time and a hilarious display between him and her husband would take place.

But, all in all, she had to admit that he'd brought many changes with him…

Nataku has been…nicer, less confrontational and private, ever since Taikoubou returned, Inshi mused as she watched the dark-haired doushi ruffle her son's hair, and…is it my imagination, or is…

A strong gust of wind blew by, warm and spelling of the rain that had come in the night, ruffling her robes and causing her thoughts to drop for a moment as she hugged herself, forbidding herself to sneeze or succumb to another chill. The wind was felt by the two doushi as well, causing Taikoubou to hold his cloth hat down while Nataku's scarf ends flailed crazily in the wind behind him, like a pair of obscure wings. Squinting at the strong, yet small gale, the emerald-eyed doushi of the duo managed a tight smile.

"The winds are changing…" he commented, almost absently, "the stormy season is due to start again…last night was just a warning."

Nataku said nothing as he waited for the wind to fade, shrugging it off as he hovered forward a bit…only to be met by another gust of wind, just as strong and just as humid. Caught off guard, Nataku halted his movement as the powerful gust knocked him off-kilter causing him to wobble in the air a bit. Normally, whenever it got windy this bad, he would go inside as, being only capable of hovering when not in motion, it was a pain trying to stay focused with air currents slamming into him, making balance hard…like right now. He wasn't moving the first time, so he was fine, but this time he'd been caught in mid-motion, and he was pretty sure that he was about to fall back on his bottom…

…when someone stepped in front of him and grabbed him by the arms, shielding him from the wind and keeping him upright.

The wind took five more seconds to stop, but to Nataku, they felt a little longer as he found himself in what appeared to be a protective hold. As strange as it was, being this way…he almost felt a small shiver run through his body, even though he wasn't cold. The feeling passed quickly and Taikoubou pulled away, smiling down at the redhead, who looked up at him almost questioningly.

"That could've been nasty," the dark-haired young doushi stated with a wink.

Nataku only blinked owlishly a couple of times as Taikoubou walked away from him a ways, looking at the work they did with the saplings before turning back to him.

"Looks like things are okay for right now, but I'd recommend tying them down for a while until their roots get their grip back," he said in an all-business type of manner, "I've got a hunch that we might have another storm within the week."

Nataku only stared at him, oblivious to the wind that blew by, oblivious to the fact that a certain parent was watching him and smiling a very special motherly smile of appreciation towards Taikoubou. Yep, oblivious to all that as he watched the dark-haired doushi turn to give him a smile over his shoulder.

"Well, that's done," he said, making a beckoning motion with his hand, "c'mon, your Mom wants us to check out the dandelion patch next, hear there's some water damage."

Absently nodding, Nataku hovered after his friend as he tried to shake off that weird feeling again, wondering to himself why the air suddenly felt warm around his face. But to the young mother a ways away, she had seen it all and had nothing to say as she watched the two move on past one of the taller trees in the small grove. Inshi took a step away from the shelter of the shrubs and smiled after her son. She had nothing to say, nothing, except for…

"My baby is changing…" she whispered, smiling after the two boys…before finally succumbing to a sneeze.

Yep, that's all ladies and gents "smiles" Sorry if it came out lame and the like, I just figured that I ought to squeeze in Inshi. I figured it would be good to show how things are progressing from another's point of view, plus I figured it'd be a good way to explain how Taikoubou came to be there in the first place. It's month six and signifies a turning point coming up for our two doushi, one that I might make more known in July! "winks"