Someone Who Completes Me

The words of the half goddess echoed through Sesshomaru’s head. *Who is Naraku? Why did they not tell her about him, especially given that it is suspected He’s returned from the dead?* Sesshomaru thought with a low growl as he stared into her confused purple eyes in shock. “I know that name- It was something Kagome said the day I came here. It was something to do with my parents; my memories of that day are really fuzzy and I don’t really remember anything else other then you saving me. If this Naraku had something to do with my family’s death, then how is that everyone knows it well enough to be scared? Is everyone from the same place as kagome and I? And what exactly is there to fear? I say that because Sango-”

 

Sesshomaru reached up and gently placed two fingers on her soft lips to stop the stream of words flowing out of her mouth. “My brother knows more about Naraku than I do, so we will return to his home and have him explain it. Why they haven’t spoken of this to you is beyond me. Naraku wasn’t my enemy until just before we destroyed him… but apparently we failed.” He said, pulling his gaze from hers.  “We walked past a cave once, remembers? You were frightened of it and I told you that an ambitious half demon was born there? Naraku was that demon. He possessed another name, but I do not recall it.” Sesshomaru said as he finished stitching her wound.

As the demon lord applied a salve to the wound, Ali gave a soft sigh. “Did I hurt you?” Ali looked over at Sesshomaru as his fingers hovered over the stitches.

“No.” she said. He continued to rub the salve on her arm gently. Ali felt her ears droop as she thought about how much she did not want to go back to Inuyasha’s village. As Sesshomaru began wrapping her arm in a fresh bandage, Ali stared into the small fire Jaken had built.

Sesshomaru wiped the remaining salve off his fingers and watched as dread flickered in Alithia’s eyes. “What is the matter, Alithia?” he asked, making her jump. She bit her lip before she spoke.

“Do we have to go back? I mean, can’t you just tell me what you know about Naraku?” she asked finally. Sesshomaru’s chest tightened at the vulnerability filling her face. This time Sesshomaru couldn’t fight the urge to comfort her. He brushed hair off her forehead and then cupped her cheek and turned her face towards his, ignoring Jaken’s squawk of surprise.

“It will be alright Alithia. It is very unlike my brother to make someone like you leave his home. Who saw you go full goddess?”Sesshomaru murmured. He glared at Jaken until the toad demon scurried off into the bushes. Alithia pulled away from his touch and buried her face in her hands, letting out a broken sob before speaking softly.

“No one made me leave. I didn’t feel welcome there anymore, not after what Sango said. She was with me when I was a full goddess, and so were Miroku and Inuyasha. They’re afraid of me now, and Sango said I was no better than Naraku. She doesn’t want me near her children, and I think your brother feels the same way- they returned to the village before I did, and Inuyasha hid everyone.” She whispered quietly.

Sesshomaru sighed softly. Having seen for himself the way Alithia lost her human emotions when she was full goddess; he didn’t doubt that she’d frightened the others, especially his brother. He sighed again and ran his claws down her cheek, ignoring the way she flinched until his claws brushed across her skin. “Perhaps if I knew what happened exactly, I could tell you why my brother acted the way he did.”

Ali chewed her lip and exhaled shakily. “Inuyasha, Miroku and Songo wanted to teach me how to kill a demon, so we headed to a village that Sango knew of. About half a mile outside of the village, I heard someone calling for help, and then Inuyasha and I both smelled blood.”

Sesshomaru listened with a lifted eyebrow as Alithia briefly described what had had happened in that village. “And why did you attack a mounted warrior with the few combat skills you possess? You could have been killed.” He stated coldly. *Not that this Sesshomaru particularly cares about the suicidal half goddess.* “You are fortunate that you were wounded enough to awaken your full goddess powers before your demise. This Sesshomaru’s Rin would be very sad.” He added. Alithia slowly stiffened and turned her gaze back towards the fire. Sesshomaru watched as she seemed to brace herself for her next words.

Ali let out a sigh. Grateful as she was for the Demon Lord’s tenderness, she knew it would vanish once she told him the truth. “I was already full goddess when that happened. I chose to be a full goddess this time. At that moment, I understood why you hate humans.” She confessed.  Ali grew nervous when Sesshomaru didn’t even move. Her eyes closed and she waited for him to kill her on the spot or tell her to never go near Rin again should she wish to live.

To Ali’s eternal surprise, the demon lord only spoke one word. “Why?” the simple question spoke volumes. Why had she chosen to go full goddess? How did she dare to think she understood his reasons for hating humans? Why had she run away? Ali glanced at the demon lord with a great deal of apprehension. Unlike his brother, he did not rest his hand on his swords as he waited for her to explain herself.



“I made myself change into a full goddess because of the villagers. The men I killed that day- they were unworthy of the status they’d either given themselves or had stolen. They slaughtered the men of that village, and then left their bodies to rot as a warning to those who would defy them.” Ali said, her eyes blazing as she remembered that tiny little hand that had hung out of the stinking mass of dead men. Sesshomaru snorted.

 “You chose to go full goddess over that? It is a normal part of war for such things to happen.” He said callously.

Ali sighed. “I know. I don’t really like that aspect of war, but I understand it. But this wasn’t a war-this was their own neighbors and children. When I said they slaughtered the men in the village I meant ALL of the men in the village. Even the infants, Maru. How could anyone just kill a helpless baby like that?” she said as her fingers curled into fists.

Sesshomaru stared at Alithia for a long time. Part of him thought her to be soft-to allow her emotions to dictate her actions- it was weakness. Then there was the part of him that was reminded that Rin was human- and that she’d just had a son. If anyone dared to hurt his ward- he’d slaughter them without regret. Sesshomaru wrapped his fingers around her arm and turned her to face him.”How did you know what had happened in that village? If Inuyasha’s pack knew, they would have helped- the demon slayer in particular.” He stated.

Ali stared into Sesshomaru’s cold gaze, unsure whether her surprise stemmed from the fact he’d asked her that particular question or if it was because he still touched her, even after what she’d done. Then she blinked as she realized she had no earthly idea how she’d known about the concoction between the bandits calling themselves samurai and the village they’d effectively destroyed. Ali let a sheepish smile cross her face, making him exhale an annoyed sigh.

“You have no idea how you acquired the knowledge, do you?” Ali felt her face flush and she turned away from him. Before she could form any sort of response, Jaken’s shrill voice pierced the air. Ali swiveled an ear towards Jaken, giggling behind her hand when she realized he’d gotten stuck in mud. Scrambling to her feet, she hurried over and freed the imp. Jaken spluttered at her that it was not her place to touch him. Ali rolled her eyes and returned to Sesshomaru’s side to gather her things, ignoring Jaken’s squeals of outrage that she dared to walk beside his master.

The next evening

 Sesshomaru flicked the blood from his claws and made his way back to the small camp he’d told Jaken to set up for Alithia. She’d been very quiet and very slow all day. He knew part of it was her reluctance to return to his idiotic brother’s home. Not wanting to be delayed by having to care for an ill half-goddess, he’d ordered their stop for the day. As Sesshomaru entered the dark encampment, he spotted Jaken scurrying back from wherever he’d been. “Jaken. Where is she?” he asked coolly. Jaken tripped over his own feet in his surprise.

“Lord Sesshomaru! Forgive my failure to follow your orders!” the little toad cried, groveling with his face pressed into the ground. “The foolish girl took off and now I cannot find her! There are demons coming this way; perhaps we will be lucky and they will-” Jaken’s sentence was cut short as a large rock bounced off his head.

“Jaken, stop playing around and cook this rabbit.” Sesshomaru ordered, dropping said rabbit in front of the twitching imp. He followed Alithia’s scent until it disappeared underneath the stench of bile. Covering his nose, he walked further into the wooded area and suddenly caught Alithia’s scent again-only it had completely changed. He found the half goddess crouched in the roots of a tall tree, her head resting against her knees. “Alithia.”

Ali shivered under the tree as the howls of demons filled the air. She couldn’t believe that she’d lost count of the days- she hadn’t done that in months. Tonight, she was human, and every demon with in smelling distance would try and find her. She found it deeply ironic that her human night was at the moon that mirrored Sesshomaru’s mark. Covering her head with her hoodie, she pulled her knees up to her chest and bit her pants to stop her chattering teeth. She wasn’t keen on giving away her hiding spot. A moment later, she became aware of a deep voice speaking her name. She lifted her eyes and saw Sesshomaru standing in front of her hiding spot. “Alithia, come out from there.” The demon lord ordered.

Ali shrunk back against the roots of the tree. “I’d rather not.” She said softly into her knees. The demon lord moved so fast she didn’t even know what was happening until she was clutching the edge of his armor to maintain her balance.

Sesshomaru did not like the scent pouring off the girl. For one thing; it was attracting demons, and for another it made him want to cradle her against his chest. When she defied his order to come out, He felt his blood boil. Sesshomaru reached under the tree and wrapped his fingers around delicate wrists and yanked the half-goddess out. She gave a startled squeal and staggered into his chest, her fingers hooking into his Mokomoko and over his armor, her nose a centimeter from one of its sharp spikes. Sesshomaru suddenly realized he felt no power coming from her whatsoever. Reaching up, he pushed back the black hood covering Alithia’s head, ignoring her flinch. Sesshomaru stared at the inky black hair, his brain racing to imprint Alithia’s human scent in the deepest regions of his mind. He picked up a strand of still pink hair and let out a soft growl as she shivered.

“You should have mentioned it was your human night sooner.” Ali bit her lip as Sesshomaru spoke. She took the smallest of steps backwards, seeing as how at some point he’d begun playing with a strand of her hair and couldn’t move any further without her hair being pulled out.

“I’m sorry. I lost a day somewhere- I thought we’d be back in Inuyasha’s village before tonight’s events. By my calculations, it wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow night.” She whispered softly, trembling. She wasn’t exactly afraid of him, but he seemed annoyed. The trembling came mostly from the cool night- her half goddess form didn’t even notice the cool spring air, but her human half always noticed the temperature change. Gentle fingers tilted her chin up and molten gold eyes pierced hers, the face in which they sat never losing its mask of indifference.  

“Do not fear me. I will not harm you.”  Ali felt her face turn a deep red as Sesshomaru’s rich, growly voice sent shivers down her spine. She felt her eyes widen as his head dipped towards hers.

“I’m not afraid of you. It’s just cold.” She breathed. She could feel his nose just brushing the tip of hers, his warm breath fanning over her lips and cheeks. His lips had just grazed hers when a demonic cackle filled the trees where they were.  As Sesshomaru swiveled around to confront the demons near them, Ali sank to the ground and raised trembling fingers to her lips. His seductive kiss in the cave all those months ago was nothing like the near kiss just now. *it has to be whatever it is that makes demons chase me in my human form. I do generally have the steamiest dreams when I’m like this.* she thought as she watched Sesshomaru dispatch the demons. Part of her wanted to giggle at the rather bored look in his eyes.

Sesshomaru didn’t bother to draw a sword to destroy the low level demons, he just used his claws. He didn’t let any of his rage show on his face as he destroyed the demons stupid enough to attack him.  How had that just happened? He was not his father; he did NOT have liaisons with human women, whether it was a temporary situation or not. Once the smarter demons had fled, he turned his bleeding gaze to the girl. “What have you done to this Sesshomaru?” he growled out, letting poison drip from his claws. The girl tried to shrink back under the roots of the large tree so he grabbed her wrist harshly before she could get to a spot he couldn’t reach her.

Ali’s wrist itched as Sesshomaru dug his claws into it. She lifted her large brown eyes to his, worried when she saw that his eyes were that freaky pinkish red color again. “Did you get hurt?” she asked, attempting to pull her wrist free from his iron grip. A thin black eyebrow shot up and just as quickly, retracted. She reached up with her free hand and touched his cheek bone in response to his unasked question. Sesshomaru repeated his first question with some irritation as he jerked away from her touch. “I’m sorry. I’m not doing it on purpose.”

Sesshomaru’s eyebrow lifted again. Operating on a sudden suspicion, he dragged Alithia closer with the hand that held her wrist and used his other arm to pin her against his chest. He ignored her wide brown eyes as he lowered his head to breathe in her scent, making her heart rate kick up. Pheromones. She was in heat, unfortunately for her. Sesshomaru rubbed the tip of his nose against the underside of her ear, and then allowed his lips to ghost over the corner of her jaw. A shuddering gasp escaped Alithia’s lips as he lifted her wrist to suck away the poison. Even though he knew it was her pheromones responsible for the way he was acting, Sesshomaru didn’t particularly care to stop. He lowered his head to her throat again and exhaled, then pressed a kiss to her jugular, letting his teeth graze the throbbing vein there.  She purred softly, and raised her free hand to tangle in his hair, her thumb brushing over the tip of his ear. Sesshomaru gave a soft growl as his tongue traced her collar bone.

Ali had never felt like this before. The second time she’d been human, a man had found her by the river and had tried to seduce her after a bit of flirting- but she hadn’t really felt all that aroused. She’d fled when the man had gotten aggressive. This on the other hand, was way better than anything she’d done with Eddie. Ali whimpered and fisted Sesshomaru’s hair tighter as his tongue dragged across her skin in the same place he’d licked her in the cave.  Thinking of the cave was like having a bucket of icy water dumped on her head. What in the hell where they doing? She had to get away from him before he killed her. Kagome had told her that Sesshomaru had nearly killed Izyaoi for being pregnant with Inuyasha-she did not want to meet the same fate. She wasn’t intentionally seducing him with her scent, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t see it the same way later. When he dropped her wrist to cradle the back of her head, Ali dropped straight to the ground and scrambled backwards as far as she could.

Sesshomaru nearly staggered as Alithia wriggled free. The cool breeze brought the smell of roasting meat and snapped him out of his… whatever it was. He smoothed his hair where she’d touched it and took a deep breath. The acid stench of fear and the disgusting smell of burning flesh insured that he wouldn’t be enthralled with Alithia’s scent again. He knelt by the tree roots and peered into the darkness. “Come out Alithia. I did not mean to frighten you- I will not do it again.” He said softly.

Ali stared at Sesshomaru’s outstretched hand with apprehension. She shivered as a cold breeze brushed across her hands and exhaled a deep breath. She took his hand, ignoring the tingle that raced across her skin. “Come, Jaken is preparing food for you.” Sesshomaru tucked his Mokomoko around her and led her back to their campsite.

 

Just before dawn

The hooded figure pressed a gentle hand to the toad demon’s head and caught it as it slumped over. Feminine hands covered Jaken with a stray blanket before kneeling down next to the sleeping girl. Just as the hooded figure touched the girl’s cheek, a cold blade kissed the woman’s jaw. “What have you done to my servant?” a deep voice questioned coolly.  The hooded figure smiled to herself and turned slowly, lest the demon lord decide her head looked better separated from her body.

Sesshomaru kept a close eye on the woman that rose from Alithia’s side. He hadn’t detected her presence until she’d snapped a small twig under her foot. As the woman stood, her hood fell off her head to reveal two ears identical to Alithia’s when she was in her half goddess form. He took in the sand colored hair and the purple eyes as he sheathed Tokiijin. “You are her mother.” The woman looked down at Alithia’s sleeping form sadly and nodded. Sesshomaru turned and walked away from the camp, expecting the goddess to follow him.

“My name is Maiko.” The goddess said as she pulled her hood back up. Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow. He didn’t particularly care what her name was, as long as he got the answers he was looking for. Maiko grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. “Lord Sesshomaru, please- you must watch over my child!” the woman begged, her purple eyes filling with tears.  Though her eyes had more of a blue tint to them, they were similar enough to Alithia’s that Maiko’s tears disturbed him. He snorted and tried to free his hand from her grip.

“Why?” he asked her, his expression never changing. The goddess clutched his hand tighter, using both of her hands now. “She is strong, for a Halfling.” He added.

“You have no idea how strong she is. But that’s not what I meant. My daughter must help those who call out for help, especially children and pregnant women. If she hears their call, she’ll go do what she can to protect them, no matter the danger she herself is in. those are the moments when she’ll be most vulnerable. The demon that was responsible for my death is after her and he will sink to unimaginable lows to get what he wants.” the goddess said softly. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes suspiously.

“If you were killed by a demon, how are you speaking to me now? Aren’t goddess’s impossible to kill?” he asked coolly. The woman laughed gently and cupped his cheek.

“Flatterer. I suppose you could call me a goddess, though technically, I’m a tennin.”

Sesshomaru would have gaped if he were less refined-it certainly explained a lot. Tennins where a strange mesh of angel and animal spirit; each bound to a god in servitude. Skilled at shapeshifting, they could take any form their master allowed. Powerful as they were, they did have restrictions such as Alithia being bound to serve those who called for help.

“The truth is, goddess’s are very hard to kill, but not impossible. How I am speaking to you is confusing at best. I know that whoever killed me and my husband tried to kill her, but was unsuccessful because I put a spell on her that began dissipating when she arrived here. With that spell were all my memories of my life until the moment I die, and they merged with my past self, which is now my present self.” The tennin said softly. Sesshomaru’s head hurt with the effort to work out what the woman had just said.

“More than anything Lord Sesshomaru, my child will need a friend. My sweet girl has a gentle heart and killing people is against her nature, so protecting those who need it will weigh heavily on her. When a person is being hurt and they ask for help, my daughter will know why they ask for It.” the woman said softly. “She will suffer terrible nightmares, reliving their pain. Her path as a tennin is not an easy one.”

Sesshomaru studied the horizon in silence as it began turning a pale lavender color. Part of him was angry that this tennin would dare ask something like this of him; part of him was pleased with the information that would help protect Rin. There was a tiny, infinitesimal part of him that ached for the gentle young girl he’d come to know over the last nine months; it wasn’t as if she’d suffered enough abuse in her short life, now she had to relive other’s pain? That tiny part of him rebelled violently at the thought. “Why should this Sesshomaru do such a thing? As lord of the western lands, this Sesshomaru has more than enough to concern himself with.” He asked, not ready to admit he’d already decided to acquiesce to the woman’s pleas.

“Precisely because you are the lord of the western lands- there few stupid enough to challenge your power. My daughter needs that protection until she is ready for the choice she will have to make. This decision will either break her heart or her mind. It will be then that she will need you more than ever, Sesshomaru.”  The tennin said, her body beginning to shimmer and fade away. Sesshomaru made a noise of consent to assure her that he’d do as she asked. Shimmering, ghostly hands cupped his face, tilting it down before soft lips brushed his forehead. “Thank you.” The tennin whispered as she faded completely away. Sesshomaru refrained from touching his crescent moon as he returned to camp.

Ali woke to the sound of Jaken scuffling around the campfire, muttering all the while. Opening one eye, she saw the demon lord swinging one of his blades around so fast it made the air hum. A fine layer of sweat dripped down his bare chest as he seemingly danced with his blade. Ali pulled herself into a sitting position and continued to watch him. Something about what he was doing was familiar, but she couldn’t say what it was. “It is very rude to stare.” Ali jumped guiltily at his voice.

Sesshomaru ignored Jaken’s sullen muttering as he began his daily warm up, his mind processing the information that Alithia’s mother had given him. Just as he was going to tell Jaken to wake up the girl, he heard her sigh sleepily. Sesshomaru ignored her and continued to swing Bakusaiga around fast enough to make the air hum. He flicked a glance at the girl as she sat up, inwardly frowning as he realized she was still human. The fact she was staring at him hungrily didn’t help anything, though he could tell she wasn’t aware of how intense her gaze had become. He scolded her for staring, a small part of him that didn’t actually exist taking pleasure in the bright blush that stained her cheeks as her gaze dropped to the ground and a soft breathy apology left her lips.

Ali wasn’t sure when she’d started actually started staring, but was deeply embarrassed about it. She murmured an apology to the ground and quickly rose from her bedding. As she put away her things, she continued to watch Sesshomaru out of the corner of her eye. She knew he didn’t like it much, but she couldn’t help it. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. As she sat down to eat a bit of leftover rabbit, the demon lord walked out of the camp area towards the river. After finishing the cold meat in her fingers, Ali allowed her curiosity to get the better of her and walked over to where Sesshomaru had set down his blade. She cursed her lack of attention to detail as she saw that there were three blades resting against a log, belatedly remembering she’d seen the third one attached to his right side when she’d first run into the demon lord several days earlier. Ali crouched and inspected the newest blade, her fingertips reaching out to touch the red tassel that dangled from the hilt. Though she was still human, some of her powers were returning. She let out a soft squeal as the swords aura sent a burning sensation up her arm.

She sucked on her fingers and glared at the stupid blade, then looked at the other two blades. All three swords had a strange appealing beauty, but she wasn’t going to EVER touch the one that had just burned her again. Now that she thought about it, the sword really gave her the creeps. It seemed to whisper dark, bloody and horrid things to her. She shivered and pulled her gaze from it. Her gaze returned to the two blades Sesshomaru normally carried. Ali tilted her head as one of the blades began to pulse, glowing a soft purplish black in time to Sesshomaru’s heartbeat. She picked up the blade and unsheathed it, ignoring Jaken’s outraged squawk. Closing her eyes, she rose to her feet and held the blade horizontally in front of herself, then spun a small circle and extended the blade. Keeping her eyes closed, she began to hesitantly mimic something she’d seen…. somewhere.

Sesshomaru dropped his handful of water as he felt both Tokijin and Tensaiga pulse and narrowed his eyes. He quietly returned to the campsite and stopped short. Alithia held Tensaiga and was very awkwardly swinging it around with her eyes closed. Fury boiled his blood and made him growl as he strode across the encampment, kicking Jaken as he passed the idiotic toad. He picked up Tokijin and swung it at Alithia’s head, only marginally surprised when she blocked it at the last second, wincing as her wrists where wrenched. His rage faded into pure amusement when her eyes opened and she gasped in shock. Her cheeks turned red and she dropped her gaze to his feet, lowering Tensaiga. “What where you doing, Alithia? And why have you not returned to your normal form?” he questioned.

Ali licked her lips nervously and held the still pulsing blade up to Sesshomaru. “I’m sorry.” She said softly. “I don’t know what that was, really. It was something someone did a long time ago, but I can’t remember who it was.” She confessed, waiting for him to take his sword back. The demon lord lowered the sword he held making Ali step back warily. The blade still spoke of death, but it was just a whisper now. As he took the purple hued blade from her, their fingers brushed causing Ali to give a hiss of pain- now that she no longer held the strange blade, her fingers hurt from having touched the creepy sword.

Sesshomaru frowned at Alithia as she cradled the hand that had held Tensaiga’s hilt against her chest. He set both of his swords down and took her hand gently. The fingertips were a bright, angry red as if she’d burned them. He found that ironic considering the way fire seemed attracted to her. Then again, she was human at the moment. “Did you know that the sword you were holding talks? It’s very creepy-it’s what hurt my fingers” She said as she tried to pull her hand free. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and tightened his hold. “And the one I was holding-it’s aura pulses to your heartbeat. My powers won’t fully regenerate until moonrise tonight, but I have enough power to sense that.” Alithia made a face at the confession.

Sesshomaru kissed her fingertips in apology before releasing her hand.  “Why do you make such a face? You are an exceptionally powerful Halfling if you can sense the power my swords hold long before you return to your true form. It is something to be proud of, not something to be disgusted by.” He said, inwardly annoyed at her for making him act impulsively. Alithia sighed and turned away from him.

“I’m not disgusted by being able to sense your swords. I’m annoyed that I’m vulnerable until the moon rises tonight. Until the first time I became human, I did not realize how much I liked how well I hear in my true form. I feel disturbingly deaf like this. Plus, becoming human hurts so bad it makes me ill.” Alithia’s nose wrinkled up adorably. Sesshomaru ruthlessly squashed down the attraction to her. She was human and he was not his father. He turned away from her angrily and stalked back to the river to finish his morning ritual, snatching up his swords as he left. “Do not touch my things again Alithia.” He ordered.

Ali quietly packed her things, attempting to ignore Jaken’s gloating. She whirled to him in annoyance. “I seem to remember someone being kicked for not trying to stop me.” she snarled. “Now shut up, will you?” Ali was ready to flee. She hadn’t meant to piss off the demon lord so badly. *I’m lucky he didn’t kill me on the spot. I should know better than to let my curiosity get the better of me.* she thought as she smothered the fire, her back seized with ghostly pains. As she tied a bag to her new horse, a striped wrist reached over her shoulder and long fingers checked the harness. Ali sucked in a scream of surprise and bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed, every muscle in her body ready to flee as soon as the demon lord gave her enough room to do so.

Sesshomaru’s anger had faded as soon as he left the camp. It was not after all, really Alithia’s fault that he was somewhat attracted to her.  He would just have to ignore it, the way he had rather successfully ignored Rin’s beauty.  As he returned to the camp, Sesshomaru had to force his face to retain its normal lack of expression. The wind ruffled his hair, bringing the smell of panic and fear that most defiantly emanated from Alithia. He sighed. The foolish girl was going to attempt to run. He crossed the encampment to her, kicking Jaken as he passed the angrily spluttering toad. In her haste to leave before he returned, she had failed to notice that some of the straps on the horse’s harness had become twisted.

Sesshomaru reached over Alithia’s shoulder with one hand and began adjusting the twisted straps, resting his other hand on her shoulder when she tensed up, ready to flee. “I am not angry at you.” He said softly, turning her around and forcing her chin up. she made a tiny sound of disbelief even as she struggled to keep her breathing even. Sesshomaru realized suddenly, that the promise to protect her was not going to be a hard one to keep. Trying not to startle her, he slowly lifted his hand to her lips to brush away the blood. “I apologize. I did not mean to frighten you. I will not hurt you simply because you anger me. I am a demon, not a human.” He said, suppressing the urge to lick her blood from his thumb.

Ali felt her heart rate slow as Sesshomaru rubbed the blood from her lip with his thumb. She found it a bit funny that his illustration he was a demon and not human assured her she wouldn’t be punished for pissing him off. Sesshomaru’s fingers continued to stroke her cheek and Ali wanted to cry. His tender touch was reminding her of how lonely she was here, and despite her brain screaming at her to stop, she leaned into the touch, rubbing her cheek against the calloused palm of his hand.

 

Sesshomaru’s gut twisted as his-the tennin, for lack of a better term, closed her eyes and began rubbing into his hand. Her scent reeked of loneliness, and her face told him that she was starved for physical affection that had no hidden motives. He allowed the contact for a moment longer, until Jaken woke up. He pulled his hand away from her face and if it trembled a little, no one could tell when it was hidden by the sleeve of his kosodo.