Somewhere To Belong: Angelic Demon

Suko awakened to the sound of rushing water. She was absolutely freezing! How she wished she had had her coat with her. She wished she had still had that warmth that had consumed her body earlier. She opened her eyes only to find herself staring at a ceiling of rock. She tried to sit up and emitted a shriek of pain as she flung herself back down on to the ground.

"Try not to move," came a familiar voice from her right. "You've been injured quite badly."

She looked over and saw Sesshomaru sitting to her right, his back against the wall of the cave.

"That's right," Suko remembered, "one of Kagura's blades hit me in my stomach." She placed her hand on her abdomen and traced the wound with her fingers. It ran from just below her belly button, all the way up to just below her left breast. Suko realized two things as she did this... number one, just the slight movements of this simple task made her cringe in sheer agony... number two, she realized she was completely naked, except for a small fur draped over the lower half of her body. She lay there, unable to move, frozen with cold and embarrassment.

She felt herself start to blush as she looked over at him through the corner of her eye. He was just sitting there, watching her. The reality of this made her face redden even more because she realized he could see her bare naked chest. She slowly lifted her arm and draped it over her breasts, trying to preserve just a shred of her dignity. The utter pain of this movement brought tears to her eyes. "I can't let him see me cry. He already thinks I'm weak," she thought to herself, as she fought back the tears.

Sesshomaru just scoffed at the pathetic actions of this pitiful girl. Did she really think that he had never seen a naked woman before?She had exactly the same parts as every other female he had ever bedded. Especially his Koharu...with hair as red as the last fading rays of the sunset and eyes as blue as sapphires. And a body that was so beautiful to look at even if it was pathetically weak. "Too weak," he thought, "that's how she fell so easily at the hands of Naraku." And now this girl, this girl who resembled his dearest love, was here, in the flesh, reminding him of all of those feelings he had long since tried to forget.

"But, she is not Koharu. My Koharu has long been dead. Naraku made sure of that when he injected her with his poison. This girl is just a cheap imitation. What the hell do I care if she moves or not, spilling her life's blood all over this damn cave? Why did I even bring her here? I should just let her die. At least then, I wouldn't have to be reminded of my painful past." At least, that's what he kept trying to tell himself. He stood up and removed his armor and his kimono as he walked over to where Suko lay.

Suko watched his every move. "What's he looking at me like that for?" she thought, and, "What's he doing now?" as she watched him partially undress and cross the cave towards her. Her body was shaking uncontrollably from the pain and cold as she watched him kneel down beside her. She swallowed hard, as to her surprise, he covered her body with his kimono, and placed a hand on her forehead.

"You have a fever," he said as he got up and walked to the opening of the cave.

Suko followed him with her eyes and gasped in astonishment as she beheld a waterfall at the entrance to this cave. "This is just like something you'd see in a movie," she thought. Just then, she watched as Sesshomaru stripped himself of his under shirt, as well. He put one end of it in his mouth, held tightly between his teeth, and used his hand to tear the shirt into pieces. "What is he doing?" Suko wondered. In the next moment, her question was answered as he stuck one of the strips of cloth into the waterfall to get it wet. He walked back towards her, wringing it out, and sat down next to her. He then dabbed the cool, wet cloth on her forehead, her cheeks and chin, then her neck. Suko felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest (" It probably could, too, with this gaping hole," she thought), as her body heated up to his touch, anticipating where he would be placing the cloth next.

Much to her disappointment, he only placed it back on her forehead and left it there. She was hoping that he would have made some kind of move to show her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Then, when she thought about it, she realized it was probably for the best. She didn't really think she'd be able to handle losing her virginity to a demon who, already, had tried to kill her.

She lowered her gaze from his (oh, so beautiful) face to the stump where his arm once had been.

"My lord," she asked in a breathy voice, being overtaken with pain, " how (gasp) did you lose (gasp) your arm?" She then wondered if she really should be asking him such a personal question. "Oh well," she thought, "if he kills me, he kills me. At least I'd be out of my misery. I'll gladly welcome death to be rid of this pain."

But, he didn't get mad at her for asking. And, when he looked at her, she didn't

even see the normal look of hatred in his eyes that she was so used to seeing.

"That hanyou, Inuyasha, landed a lucky blow," he said in a hushed voice.

"Inuyasha did this? To his own brother?" she wondered suddenly feeling sick at the thought.

"It makes no difference, though, if I have one arm or two," he stated, " I'm still just as powerful."

Suko felt a wave of drowsiness sweep over her. She closed her eyes, fully giving in to it. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but feel calm with him there. His presence soothed her and she was completely at his mercy.

Suko awoke sometime later as her body was violently trembling. The kimono that was covering her body was laid on the floor next to her as the uncontrollable spasms of her muscles had caused it to fall off of her. The shaking caused the gash on her stomach to weep with new blood.

Once again, Sesshomaru was right there by her side to offer his assistance. He took a strip of the cloth he had torn earlier, and attempted to wipe away the blood that was seeping out of her stomach. He had a hard time doing so because her body was convulsing so badly. He had to do something. He had to help this girl. He wouldn't just let her die. He couldn't. He had already lost his love once, and, if this girl truly was the reincarnation of his Koharu, then he wouldn't lose her again.

"How am I going to help her if she can't be still?" he wondered, desperately. Then, without a further thought, he grabbed each of her arms and tucked them gently under her back, and straddled her hips, pinning her down.

With the shaking controlled, he wiped away the fresh blood from her wound as she yelped in pain, then, finally, passed out.

"Thank goodness," he thought, grateful that she wouldn't have to endure the pain for now. He walked back over to the waterfall and got a new strip of cloth wet and placed it back on her forehead. The cool water quenched her burning skin as the shaking seemed to let up a little bit. He un-tucked her arms from her back and laid them at her sides, as she started to stir. Only barely awake, she reached up and touched this angel ever so gently on his shoulder and let her fingers trace down to where his arm had once been. Then she was overtaken by sleep again as her hand dropped to the ground.

Sesshomaru watched in fascination as the pendant around her neck glowed a bright red when she touched him. He grew even more astonished as his arm started to accumulate from out of nowhere! He flexed his muscles and opened and closed his hand a few times making sure he had full range of motion in it. He wanted to cry out with elation that he was whole once again! And this girl, this human girl had given it back to him.

He realized his celebration would have to be put on hold as he glanced down at the poor, sleeping girl whose body was being overwhelmed by this terrible fever. He gathered up Suko in his arms, stripping her of the blood soaked fur she had been relying on for warmth, and carried her over to the waterfall at the mouth of the cave. He sat at the edge of the cave with her on his lap cradled in his arms. He reached over and cupped some of the cold, falling water in his hand and let it drench Suko's fire-hot body.

The sudden chill of the water awoke her with a start. Her body started shivering wildly again at the introduction of the cold water to her hot skin. She looked up at Sesshomaru with frightened eyes all too aware that she was completely naked in his arms and, not even caring in the slightest.

"Shhhh..." he whispered as he traced the outline of her pale quivering lips with a clawed finger. Her body tingled with excitement as he did this. He lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead and then her eyelids as she drifted off to sleep again.