Azure's story...

[Azurine]

you cant connect to fanfic without a name, so i'll just paste it here.

Credit for original publication goes to Chibi Bean and fanfiction.net . Inuyasha, kagome, miroku and the rest of the inu crew is the property of rumiko takahashi. Azurine, Yukito, Sade and Sadie are property of the bean ([e-mail]). Sarah is property of Chibi. Yuto originally belonged to steve, but he doesnt know we're using the character just yet. Stor originally created by the bean, and edited by chibi. Chibi bean is the trade mark of us. you cant use it. ^^ Any questions, comments or concerns you can send to [e-mail] Thank you.
Enjoy!

[Azurine]

Chapter 1

Through the Well

“Azurine?” Sarah called. “Azure, wait up! Where are you going?”<br>
Azurine Deltan turned to see her best friend, Sarah, tagging behind her. “The woods behind my house. There is this awesome dry well I want to explore.”<br>
“Cool,” Sarah murmured. “Can I come?”<br>
“Sure, Tanpopo. What for?” Azure grinned rubbing her friend’s golden hair. ‘Tanpopo’ is Japanese for dandelion and had been Sarah’s nickname for years.

“It sounds fun,” her blue eyes gleamed with adventure.

Azure’s own eyes, a grey green color, showed a distant longing for adventure as well.

She brushed her light brown hair with a silver streak from her face.

The woods were beautiful this time of day. Sun poured through the leaves, casting a trail of green light on the path.

Azurine ducked under a low branch while Sarah barely bent her knees. Sarah was considerably shorter than her friend even though she was almost two years older, but then again, she looked younger than everyone. ()

Suddenly, Sarah poked her friend’s shoulder. “Is that it?” she asked.

“Huh?” Azurine asked, shaking her head. She spotted the square, stone well and approached it. “Yup, this is it.”<br>
She pulled a coil of rope from her bag and tied it to a thick tree near by.

“I’ll go down first, just incase. Watch out, okay?”<br>
Sarah nodded. “Be safe.”<br>
“Alright,” Azure forced a smile. She was nervous.

Firmly grasping the rope, she lowered herself down. Looking up, she saw Sarah watching her. She smiled lightly, but then saw the other end of the rope. The rock in the well was sawing it through and it held by only a few threads. Her expression changed to horror as she lowered herself further.

The weight tore the rope.

She cried out as she fell the rest of the way, her head crashing into the stone.

The last thing she heard was Sarah screaming her name.
A boy was picking her up. Golden eyes, white hair, dog ears. Azurine had a sudden urge to touch them. The boy looked shocked and puzzled at her movement. He jumped out of the well, bringing her with him. The world returned to black.Another boy, this one was prodding her shoulder. He appeared to be about six years old. He looked at someone else as his dark blonde-red hair shined. He motioned the other person over revealing his big, fluffy tail.

“She’s awake.”<br>
A girl, about Azurine’s age, with raven-black hair, pressed a cool cloth to Azurine’s head. Her pale face was worried.

“She’s sick; really sick.”<br>
“Feh,” the first boy murmured, the one with the dog ears.

“Why do ye think the lass be so hurt? She’s only fallen through the well,” An older woman with white hair and an eye-patch asked.

“She hit her head, Lady Kaede. It got her sick.”<br>
Again, there was blackness.
A boy, probably nineteen or twenty, just looked puzzledly at her. The same dog-boy from before pulled him away.

“You can’t have her, letch.”<br>
The Black-haired girl called out. “Come on, Miroku. You can’t ask her if she’s not awake!”<br>
Finally, who knows when, Azure felt a bug bite her cheek. She summoned the energy to smack it. (Myoga! Mwahahaha!)

“Well, it’s good to see she’s not dead,” dog-boy murmured.

“I thought you didn’t care about humans, InuYasha,” the six year old questioned, innocently.

“Shippo…” InuYasha warned. “Miroku, she didn’t even wake up yet. Go wait over there.”<br>
I am firmly convinced that this is a dream. Azurine thought. She blinked herself awake. InuYasha, Shippo, Miroku and the girl stood over her.

“Hullo,” she murmured, her voice hoarse from disuse. “Who are you? Where am I?”<br>
“I am Kagome,” the girl smiled. “This is InuYasha, Shippo, and Miroku.” She pointed to each in turn. “And this is Kaede’s hut in Kyoto, Japan; feudal era. You’ve fallen through the well. InuYasha is a half-dog demon; Shippo is a kitsune, fox demon; Miroku is a monk, but watch out for his right hand. And his left…just watch out for all of him.”<br>
“Now I know I’m dreaming,” Azurine muttered. “Demons? Monks? Japan?”<br>
She struggled to sit up. A hand clasped hers. It was attached to Miroku. He looked her in the eyes, his own shining with hope.

“May I ask the name of such a beautiful lady?” he asked.

Definitely dreaming, she thought.

“Azurine…” she mumbled weakly. “Azurine Deltan…”

InuYasha gave her a look of surprise, doubt, and puzzlement.

“Azurine, may I ask you a question?” Mirouku asked.

“Sure, why not?” Azurine replied.

“Will you bear my child?”<br>
Azurine was momentarily shocked. Recovering quickly, she replied, “Well, seeing as this is a dream… why not?”<br>
Miroku looked as if he was about to die of happiness. InuYasha was repulsed and shocked, Shippo stifled giggles, and Kagome shook her head.

“No, Miroku. You’re not taking advantage of the fact that she thinks she’s asleep. Azurine, you aren’t dreaming,” Kagome said bluntly. “You’ve been sick and sleeping for three days. You’re awake now.”<br>
Azurine jumped to her feet. “Three days! I’ve got to get home! I— Sarah, Cain, Evee! They must be so worried!”<br>
The well! she thought frantically, running.

“No! Azurine!” Kagome screamed.

She could hear them chasing after her. She ducked into the woods and behind a huge tree.

The group came close to her hiding spot.

“We’ll go down the well,” InuYasha said. “Miroku, Shippo; stay here.”<br>
Something coiled around Azurine’s waist.

“What?” she gasped.

It continued to wrap around her.

Miroku heard Azurine’s cry of pain and fear. Spinning around, he realized it came from behind InuYasha’s tree.

A huge snake-demon was coiled around Azurine. A look of pain on her face, she struggled to breathe.

I can’t use the wind tunnel or she’ll be sucked in! Curse it! Miroku thought.

Get it off me, please! Azurine begged silently.

Tears burned in her eyes. Cain, Sarah, Evee…she’d never see them again. She was going to let them down. She was going to die.

She grew angry with herself. Her face and hands began to burn.

“Let…go…of…ME!” she gasped. Her hands felt as if they were on fire.

The snake suddenly dropped her. Her hands were covered in red, angry flames. Shippo helped her to beat them out.

Miroku stepped between them and the demon. He lifted the prayer beads from his hands. The void began to suck everything up.

“No!” Azurine cried, throwing her arms around Miroku, pinning his hands to his sides. He quickly rewrapped the beads. “Please don’t.”<br>
“It just tried to kill you!” Miroku said.

“So? It has as much of a right to live as I do. And you would have destroyed the forest!” She began to tremble and let him go. “Please, if anyone deserves to die, it’s me.”<br>
“No!” Miroku replied, helping her to her feet. “You don’t.”<br>
They returned to Kaede’s hut.

[Azurine]

Chapter 2: Enter Sarah
By: Chibi Bean

“There was no sign of her around my place,” Kagome answered. “InuYasha couldn’t even pick up a scent.”<br>
“That’s because she didn’t go back,” Shippo replied simply.

“She…didn’t?” Kagome asked

“She’s in there,” Shippo replied, gesturing to the hut.

InuYasha peeked in. Azurine lay on mat, covered tightly with a blanket. Miroku sat beside her, lightly dozing.

“Monk!” InuYasha cried.

Miroku looked up. “Hello, InuYasha.” He sat straighter, grabbing his staff.

“What happened?” Kagome asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Just a demon, but Azurine and Shippo remain safe, so I won’t bother you.” He inconspicuously brought the blankets over her hands, which were resting on her chest, burned and covered in dimly glowing silver sparks. Well, she can explain this to them when she’s ready. Also, when she explains it to me.

InuYasha and Kagome left the hut. InuYasha cried, “Don’t do anything to her, monk!”<br>
Miroku shook Azurine lightly, mumbling softly. “Azurine, wake-up.”<br>
She opened her eyes. “Huh? Oh, Miroku, what’s up? Did InuYasha and Kagome return? Where’d Shippo go?”<br>
Shippo reentered the hut. “I’m right here and InuYasha and Kagome are just outside.”<br>
“Did you get the bandages?” Miroku asked. “And the balm?”<br>
Shippo handed them to him. Azurine sat up, wincing at moving her hands.

Miroku first took her left hand, rubbing ointment over it. “So,” he asked, “what was that? The sparks, where did they come from?”<br>
“I don’t know. Where’d your vortex-hand-thingy come from?”<br>
“Long story. Off topic. Not fun to talk about.” A sudden thought struck him. What if she’s working for Naraku? He began to wrap gauze over her hand. I hope not… She did come through the well…<br>
“What’re you thinking about?” Azurine asked innocently enough.

Miroku shook his head, fastened the bandage, and began on her right. “Nothing important.” They sat in silence until Miroku had finished. Then, at the same time, they both said, “I’m sorry.”<br>
Miroku looked surprised. “What for?”<br>
“I was childish and I led you into danger. I should have been more careful. You could have been hurt,” Azurine murmured.

“We’ve been through worse, Azurine,” Miroku chuckled. “All I regret is that I couldn’t help you.”<br>
“Thank you for not using your hand,” Azurine said, smiling. “It was kind of you to let it go…” She trailed off, pain in her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Azure?” Shippo asked.

“I—I’m scared. I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said.

“That’s how Kagome was at first,” Shippo laughed. “You get used to it.”<br>
Shippo cuddled in her lap as Azurine rubbed his hair.

“You’re cute!” she giggled.

“Hey…” Shippo whined.

Suddenly, InuYasha burst into the hut. “Someone else got through the well… Damn! The future is invading the past…present…whatever.”<br>
Oh no…Let me guess…but it can’t be… thought Azurine.

“She said her name was Sarah,” Kagome finished.

“Oh no…” Azurine stood and followed Miroku outside.
Sarah was wandering around aimlessly, a dreamy look on her face. “Wow! It’s all anime-like. I wonder if Hiei is here. No…wait. This looks more like the feudal era. Maybe Kenshin is here. Coolies!”<br>
Azurine looked at Miroku. “May I borrow your staff?”<br>
He gave her a confused look but nodded and handed it to her.

WHOOP! She hit Sarah upside the head with the staff. “Wrong manga, baka! This isn’t Yu Yu Hakusho or Ruroni Kenshin!” She returned the staff to Miroku as Sarah rubbed her head. “Thank you.” She turned back to Sarah and asked, “What in the name of all you call holy are you doing here, Tanpopo?”<br>
Sarah pouted up at her friend. “Did ya have to hit me so hard? You’ve been gone for days and you didn’t come out. No one was doing anything about it, so…I got impatient and followed you down. Then I found myself here…” She shook her head. “You know I’m not exactly patient.”<br>
Shippo jumped onto Azurine’s shoulder. “Who are you?”<br>
Sarah looked at the little kitsune curiously. Aww. How cute!

(Chibi edit: Yes Sarah really is like this. If she saw a demon running around, she’d believe it was real. That’s just her warped little mind: ready to believe the most bizarre things.)

“This is Sarah. I call her Tanpopo. She’s a friend of mine. Tanpopo, this is Shippo, InuYasha, Kagome, and Miroku.” She pointed at each as she named them. “Now that introductions are done with…”

“Do you two have any Shikon shards?” asked Kagome.

Sarah and Azurine spun around. “Shikon shards?”<br>
“Do you mean to tell me you sensed them? And you didn’t tell me?” InuYasha cried.

“Yes, I did. But it is theirs if they have any,” Kagome admitted. InuYasha growled lightly. “Don’t make me use the ‘S’ word!” Kagome warned.

“’S’ word?” Azurine asked. “What’s the ‘S’ word?”<br>
“Sit,” Kagome answered simply.

InuYasha was pulled to the ground and fell flat on his face in the dirt.

“Oh, InuYasha!” Kagome cried. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I really didn’t!”<br>
“Of…course…you didn’t…ow…” InuYasha replied.

“I’m sorry,” Kagome apologized, again. “Anyway…Shikon shards. A piece of this jewel.” She pulled a large piece of jewel from a chain around her neck.

“That…that sort of looks like…” Azurine pulled her own necklace from under her shirt. It was a small, silver fairy figure with two wings formed by two jewels…ones that matched the Shikon Jewel’s color and luster.

Kagome touched the wings. “You have two…”

“That’s what the snake demon was after!” Miroku exclaimed.

“We’ll talk about that later when you three explain,” Kagome said to him, Shippo, and Azurine. “But those are definitely shards. What about you?” she asked Sarah.

Sarah waved her hands defensively. “Don’t look at me. The only jewel I have is the one on my class ring.” She held it up. “And it’s…garnet?” but the jewel was no longer a blood red. It now shone with the same pearly color of the Shikon Jewel. She shook her head in disbelief. “I swear! It was garnet when I got it!”<br>
Miroku took Sarah’s hand and studied the ring. “Such a beautiful ring for such a beautiful hand for such a beautiful girl. May I ask you a question?”<br>
Sarah blushed. “Um…Okay.”<br>
“Will you bear my child?”<br>
“Bad monk!” Azurine yelled, dragging him away from Sarah.

“Erm…no. Sorry, no…” Sarah answered, shocked.

“Azurine…” Miroku pleaded.

“No,” Azurine replied firmly. “She’s already said it.”<br>
“Hey, Azure?” Sarah asked. “What happened to your hands? They’re all purple…and glowing…and sparkly.”<br>
Azurine looked down. Her hands were covered in purple sparks, showing even through the bandages. She pulled away from Miroku’s sleeve, where one of her hands rested, and tried to hide them behind her back.

“We’ve got a lot to learn about you two,” Kagome sighed.

“And you are going to explain or feel the wrath of my Tetsusaiga!” InuYasha threatened.

“InuYasha… SIT BOY!” Kagome cried. “SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT, BOY!”<br>
InuYasha twitched about three feet underground. Everyone but Kagome and Sarah grimaced. Sarah was standing over the small crater looking down curiously while Kagome stood with folded arms looking very content.

“Was that necessary?” Azurine asked.

“No. But it was fun,” Kagome laughed. “So tell. Miroku, Shippo, Azurine. What exactly happened?”<br>
Miroku quietly explained what had occurred while Kagome and InuYasha were gone. Just after he finished, Azurine realized that someone was calling her name. Everyone looked around to find that Sarah seemed to be missing.

“Sarah!” Azurine cried. “Something happened to Sarah!”<br>
As she spun to find her friend, InuYasha grabbed her arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”<br>
“I need to help my friend!” She tried to pull away but his grip tightened. “Please, InuYasha! Let go of me!”<br>
“What if you try to go through the well again? How do I know you’ll really help her?” InuYasha argued.

“Because we will go with her,” Miroku announced, Shippo on his shoulder.

“And I sense another shard,” Kagome added, “So we’re going, too.”

[Azurine]

My personal favorite.

Chapter 3

Parental Boundaries (Or A Lack Thereof)

Azurine darted away towards the sound of her friend. When she found her, Sarah was cornered by two…well, you could call one a person anyway. He was tall and blonde with deep blue eyes. Sarah was struggling to no avail in his grasp.

“Let go of me!” she yelled angrily. This is really starting to make me feel short.

But Azurine wasn’t paying attention to him. She was staring at his companion. This being looked like a woman, and she also seemed very familiar. In fact, she was almost a grown up version of Azurine. She had the same green eyes, pale skin and silver streak in her light brown hair. She even had the same figure. Her aura was that of a witch.

“What the hell, girl! Who is that?”<br>
Azurine heard InuYasha shouting at her, but her body was numb; ears: deaf; mouth: mute.

“Ah, Azurine. How I have longed to see my daughter. You have grown marvelously,” the woman mocked.

“Daughter?” Miroku asked. “So, Azurine’s a witch?”<br>
“Half-blood. Her father was a foolish human only. Poor man. And to answer your next question, yes, though only half her blood is from the feudal era. The rest is of that future scum,” she said with a look of disgust.

Azurine felt prickles go up her legs and soon realized that she was bound to the earth by a vine of thorns.

“Who? What? Sarah! Miroku! Shippo! Help me!” she cried.

“They can’t hear you, daughter. You destroyed my life, so I will now destroy yours. Yuto! Kill that girl you have.” The witch commanded.

“Kill- Kill her?” Yuto, the man holding Sarah, asked in a disappointed tone.

“Do what ever you wish. I care not. Just so long as she is out of the way.”<br>
Then, out of nowhere, like usual, Kaede appeared. But, before she was able to do anything, time froze all around them. Azurine and her mother were the only ones left moving.

“So, Azurine, you have lived for fifteen years without discovering the well. Fifteen years is a long time for a human, but a short time to an immortal, a witch.”<br>
Azurine froze. “What are you talking about?”<br>
“I am going to destroy you, my daughter. I am going to destroy you and the witch blood I gave you,” her mother sneered.

“No!” Azurine screamed. Her hands grew a bright yellow.

“Then, I will destroy each and everyone of these pitiful weaklings. But, of course, I’ll save the most painful death for the monk. You seem to like him.” She walked over to the frozen figure of Miroku and cupped his chin, studying his face. “I didn’t think that even you would stoop that low…”

Azurine’s hands turned orange as hate mixed with anger. “You will not hurt ANY of them!”<br>
“And I’m sure Yuto will come up with a sufficient death for the girl. She’s a friend of yours from the future, correct? Of course she is, for she wears that foolish garb.” She turned to look at Sarah. “Actually, death may be too good for future weaklings like her. Perhaps Yuto will keep her and torture her or…well…we won’t go into any more detail."She smirked at the thought. "That sounds like a punishment befitting her kind.”<br>
“Leave them alone!” Azurine shouted again, swiping her arm as she spoke causing a shower of red and yellow sparks to rain over them. “Your battle is with me, not any of them!” Whatever happens, I’ve got to keep them safe! For Sarah, Shippo, Miroku, InuYasha, and Kagome. I can’t fail!

The ground beneath them began to tremble. Azurine’s bandages crumbled to ashes. Ahh! No! Not again! Whaa!

The trembling worsened and the earth around her cracked, fire spurting upwards.

“You need to work on controlling your powers, Azure. Lack of control could get you into trouble some day.” She thought for a moment before continuing. “I’ll give you a fair chance. I’ll return when you can control yourself.” As time unfroze she began to fade away. “Have fun with Yuto!” she sneered. Then, she was gone.

Azurine’s hands faded to a dull silver and the cracks in the earth resealed. She fell to her knees, panting.

“Azurine!” Miroku cried. He ran beside her.

Meanwhile, Yuto was still holding Sarah. He sighed heavily. “Great. Sade left me to take care of everything…again. I hope I can find her again this time.” He turned back to Sarah. “Well, Sade did say to kill you. I can’t very well go against her orders, now can I?” he said cynically though his eyes showed something else.

Sarah glared at him and kicked him in the shin. His grasp loosened just enough for her to slip away. While Yuto was off guard, Kaede threw prayer beads around his neck.

“Sarah! Say something to subdue him!” shouted Kagome. “Like when I say sit! Sorry, InuYasha. I was short on time.”<br>
Sarah looked around frantically as if expecting the word to pop out of the ground. “Uh…um…um…STAY!” she finally managed.

Yuto’s entire body froze from the neck down. “Wh-what did you do to me?”<br>
Sarah patted his head and giggled. “Good boy!” She then stood back and looked at him. “You know, he’s kinda cute when he’s not an immediate threat,” she murmured to herself.

“Gee, thanks,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Sarah blushed slightly, realizing that he’d heard her. Luckily, Kaede broke in.

“Come, come, lasses. We’ve got much to tell ye,” she beckoned. “Oh yes. And lass,” she said turning to Sarah. “Those prayer beads can have three spells placed on them.” She turned to Miroku. “Do you have the other one?”<br>
Azurine was numbly staring at her twice-burned hands. “Powers? What did she mean by ‘powers’? All I can manage is burning my hands.”<br>
Miroku picked her up. “I’ve got her, Kaede.”<br>
Sarah looked at Yuto. “Hm. Yuto! Uh…COME!” she commanded.

An invisible force dragged Yuto’s slowly loosening body towards her. Sarah yelped and took a step back. “I didn’t mean that close!”<br>
“Do you think I had a choice in the matter? I didn’t do it! You did!” he yelled in despair as he shook off the remains of the waning ‘stay’ command.

“Here’s the deal,” Sarah commanded. “No hurting anyone or trying to run away. You just be a good little boy and follow. Got it? Remember, I’ve got blackmail now,” she said in a singsong voice.

“Isn’t that illegal?” Shippo asked from Miroku’s shoulder.

“Possibly,” Sarah said mischievously.

The group returned to the village, Yuto grumbling all the way.

[Azurine]

Chapter 4

Figuring Herself Out

“So,” Miroku reasoned while looking at Azurine. “You’re a half witch, Yuto works for your mother but is now bound to Sarah, your mother is a witch, no pun intended, and both you and Sarah have jewel shards.”<br>
“That sums it up, just about,” Azurine replied. “And I think I’m starting to get it. Every time I get a strong emotion, my hands change color and something happens in turn. Red from anger led to fire; yellow when I was full of hate led to an earthquake; purple when I was embarrassed…did anything happen when my sparks were purple?”<br>
Miroku thought back. “Well, my arm went sort of numb…”

“Sarah, do you have paper and a pen.” Azurine asked.

Sarah grabbed the pencil that was always behind her ear and handed it over. She then checked her pockets and found a scrap piece of paper the she had been doodling on. “Here.”<br>
Azurine drew up this chart:

Color Emotion Power

Red anger fire

Yellowhate earth

Purple embarrassment numbness

Silver unknown unknown

“Yay! I’m starting to figure myself out!” Azurine giggled.

“Well, we’ll have to experiment with your emotions, but we’ll figure it out soon…I hope.” Miroku looked worried.

Sarah looked back and saw Yuto dawdling a short bit away. “Yuto! C-“ she began.

“Don’t say it! I’m coming.” He quickened his pace.

Sarah grinned evilly. “Come.”<br>
Yuto had to stop his body from tripping over Sarah. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I was coming! You’re going to get yourself stepped on or something! I really don’t want to do that, but if you leave me no choice, I will! But I really don’t want squished girl all over my feet.”<br>
“Sorry,” Sarah apologized taking Yuto aback for a moment. “Anyway, I’m going back to the future tomorrow morning. I want you to listen to Azurine while I’m gone or else I’ll ‘come’ you into a lake and make you stay there. Got it?” she stated. “Whoops, sorry.” When she said ‘come’ it triggered the prayer beads and dragged Yuto forward.

He grunted as the command stopped. “I’m not too fond of the idea of drowning. Fine,” he grumbled.

“Hey Sarah. How is Cain?” asked Azurine. Cain was Azurine’s adopted guardian and a “good friend.”<br>
“He’s…really upset.” Sarah whispered. Oops. That’s a sensitive subject. I shouldn’t have said that. Stupid! “But, He’ll be fine when I tell him you’re okay!” she said before she made things worse.

Azurine looked down. “I feel horrible. He went through so much for me. He bought my freedom from all the endless foster families and I’m not doing a good job of repaying him, am I?”<br>
“Oh, Azurine…Azurine…um…your hands” Sarah warned. “You’ve got black sparks.”<br>
She gasped. “Sorry. I’ll turn them off.” She began to concentrate on them when Miroku stopped her.

“No! I’m sorry to make you sad but we must find out what it is black sparks do.”<br>
Azurine concentrated on the image of Cain. Perhaps a little too hard. The room went black, all light sucked into her hands.

“Whaa! Turn the lights back on!” Azurine shouted in a panicky voice. “Ah! Miroku! Hands off!” THWAK! The sound of skin hitting skin rang through out the hut. A purple light appeared from Azurine’s hands and light returned to the room. Azurine could be found hitting Miroku continuously over the head angrily.

“Hey, hey! I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself and turn your hands off. I can’t feel my head!” Miroku pleaded throughout his beating.

“Never…try that again!” Azurine scolded, still teaming over her mother’s words. “Idiot,” she mumbled.

“Um…Azurine? Did he just…?” Sarah asked hesitantly. She was always a little shy about these things.

Azurine flushed and nodded.

Sarah nodded and turned to Yuto. “Yuto! Please hit him. Or else I’ll make sure that your third command is a painful one.” She giggled. “This is fun.”<br>
Yuto obeyed though he gave Sarah a glare. Sarah frowned slightly realizing that being mean to him wasn’t actually all that fun after all. Once Yuto was done, Miroku had twenty bumps covering his head.

“Let me tell you, monk. If you do that again, I’ll set a color on you and it won’t be purple. Pray it’s not red,” Azurine warned.

“Ok, ok. No touchy. No touchy, Azure.”<br>
“Or Sarah!” Sarah added, cheerfully.

“Or Kagome!” both Kagome and InuYasha said together. The latter looked away, pretending to not know what just happened.

“You’re all enjoying this aren’t you?” Miroku asked.

Sarah and Azurine glanced at each other before yelling in unison, “YUP!” Azurine continued on. “In fact, if this could be anymore painful, it already would have been done so.” She then sighed. “I wish I could go back, but Cain would kill me if I came back with these.” She held up her silver, sparking hands. “Literally,” she whispered.

“Oh come on. I know Cain tends to be a bit…violent, but there’s no way he’d really ever seriously hurt you, would he?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah, violent is an understatement.”<br>
“But he cares about you! A lot!”<br>
“Sometime, perhaps, a bit too much. I-I wish I could remember. Before I came to him, I had no memories. He told me about when I was a kid; why I was alone. Now, at least, I know part of it.” She shook her head and smiled. “Well, guys. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”<br>
Shippo curled up next to her. “Kagome said to protect you from the big bad boogie pervert.”<br>
Azurine and Sarah stifled giggles as they drifted off to sleep.
Around midnight, a lone snake-demon slithered into the clearing where Sarah, Azurine, Shippo and a reluctant Yuto slept.

He studied Azurine. Sssso, thissss iss the lassssst of the Deltan line. Pitiful little puppy. His tail silently slipped over Azurine’s mouth as he bared his fangs. How fffitting that the lassssst of that foolssss line should be finisssshed by mine.

Yuto blinked awake. “Huh? Hey! Get your filthy…self off her!”<br>
As Yuto cried out, the snake-demon plunged his fangs into Azurine’s throat. Poison seeped into her blood stream.

Azurine gasped as her eyes shot wide open. She tried to scream but the snake’s thick body muffled her cries.

Sarah started awake and screamed at the sight before her.

Azurine’s body went limp and the demon slithered off of her. Her eyes stared blankly into nothing as they glazed over. Sarah shook her shoulder shouting out to her.

Nothing happened.

[Azurine]

Chapter 5

Healing Process

Meanwhile, in another clearing, InuYasha’s ears twitched to the sound of distant screams. He shook himself awake. The voices were familiar. “Miroku! Kagome! The others are in trouble!” he barked. (No pun intended) “Miroku?”<br>
The monk was nowhere to be seen.
Mirouku was sneaking his way to Azurine’s camp when he heard Yuto shout out. He quickened his pace and rushed in, not even thinking to use his wind tunnel. A few moments later, InuYasha and Kagome also appeared. InuYasha acted quickly. He hit the demon over the head with the Tetsusaiga, momentarily stunning it so it couldn’t run away.

(Chibi: Can snakes run? Bean: I really don’t know… um… we’ll pretend we can!)

“What in all the seven hells happened here?” he commanded.

“It…it attacked Azurine! She’s not breathing!” Sarah panicked.

InuYasha picked the snake demon up by the throat. “What, exactly, did you want from her?”<br>
“I jusssst wanted a well dessserved revenge, half-demon InuYasssssha,” he hissed.

“How do you know me?”<br>
“The witch Sssade told me of you…”

“Witch Sade? Azurine’s mother?” Kagome asked. “She sent you?”<br>
“Yessss…and I agreed to kill the lassst of the Deltan clan.”<br>
“Well, guess what. For killing her, you die as well.” InuYasha easily crushed the demon’s skull. Deltan clan? Not her. Surely not her. That would mean that she’s one, too.

Everyone turned back to Azurine. Mirouku was kneeling beside her, looking slightly out of breath; Shippo sat on his head. Azurine was breathing again though slowly. She grimaced as a soft lavender glow enveloped her body.

Yuto blinked at her. There was a moment before he said, “Everyone’s thinking it, I’m just asking it. What did you do to her?”<br>
Shippo grinned. “He gave her breath back.”<br>
There was a collective glare directed at Mirouku as he sweat-dropped.
Azurine slowly blinked awake. Yuto, Shippo, and Mirouku looked over her.

“Whaa?” she cried. “Back off! Oh, no, no. Not you Shippo. You can stay. Where’s Sarah? Did she go home yet?”<br>
“She left just a few minutes ago. She said she’d be back around noon,” Yuto replied. “She wanted to wait longer but she said that she wanted to make sure she got you something called ‘Advil’ as soon as possible.”<br>
“Advil is good…” Azurine closed her eyes.

“Nope. You’re awake now and you’re staying awake,” Mirouku commanded.

“I’m…awake…doze”

[Azurine]

This is chibi's favorite chapter, because the relationships and characters devlop a bit. I never expected to get as far as i did in this book... it was supposed to be, like a four chapter thing, but... *sweatdrop* it's about 20. i really am gonna cry when im finish... there's a new character comming in soon called yukito. you may recognize him from inu rp chaos... Oh, god you're going to hate me by the end of this book...

[Azurine]

Chapter 6

A moment (or two)

Later that night, Azurine sat on a bridge over a shallow flowing river. Weeping Sakura trees were blossoming. It’s so beautiful. Not like home. Home is scary.

(Chibi edit: You mean the snake demons weren’t scary? Geez! How bad was their life in the future? Azure: how bad do ya think? With Cain and all… but in part two of the story, Azure’s life gets better! Yes. There will be a part two.)

“Azurine! Azure?” Someone called her name.

I’m not here. I’m not here. I’m not…Ah! I’m really not here! Where’d I go? She had turned invisible. Ah! My hands did it again!

Sarah walked onto the bridge closely followed by Yuto. Azurine slipped a little ways down the bridge so they wouldn’t trip over her.

“I wish we could find her…” Sarah mumbled. “She just disappeared with out a trace. I hope InuYasha finds her before Mirouku does because, well, yea. Shippo is with him, though, I don’t know how much that’ll do, of course.”<br>
“We’ll find her. Don’t worry. She can’t just disappear. It’s not possible,” Yuto reassured her.

Heh, heh. Heh, heh, heh. Azurine stifled giggles. It’s not?

Sarah smiled weakly. “Yea I guess so.”<br>
“Uh, you know, Sarah. You’re pretty when you smile,” he said in a hushed voice.

Oh no. They’re going to have a moment. Sarah’s so clueless she probably doesn’t even realize it!

“Uh…um…thank you …I think.” She blushed. “W-why are you saying this?” she asked flustered.

“Because. Because you are. And because I want to do this.”<br>
He suddenly bent down and kissed her. They stood like that for a moment before Yuto pulled away, blushing. “Sorry. I guess that was a bit too forward of me.”<br>
Sarah stood there, her face stuck in a look of shock. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open a little. “Um,” was all she could mutter. She whipped around so he couldn’t see her. She placed her hands on her quickly warming cheeks. She was too embarrassed to even look at him. “Excuse me,” she managed to squeak out. She took off, running, leaving Yuto standing looking after her.

“I shouldn’t have done that. What was I thinking? I better go find her.”<br>
Just as he was about to give chase, he distantly heard Sarah yell ‘STAY!’ and Yuto was frozen to the spot.

Once Sarah was completely out of sight, Azurine flickered back into visibility.

“Problems, Yuto?” she asked casually.

“What the-? Where did you come from? Were you watching?” Yuto wailed, as his body began to work again.

“Yup.” Azurine nodded. “Don’t worry. Sarah’s just shy. She probably enjoyed it.” She nudged him in the side.

“Azurine! I’m going to…” Yuto began.

His threat was cut off by the appearance of Miroku and Shippo. They ran onto the bridge and Shippo jumped on top of Azurine’s head.

“Hey,” Azurine giggled. “Is it comfortable up there?”<br>
“Yup!” Shippo replied. “And there’s a great view!”<br>
Azurine turned back to Yuto. “Go find her. She’ll explain herself. Don’t worry about it.”<br>
“I’ll come, too,” said Shippo, switching heads.

“I guess there’s no point in telling you ‘no’, is there?” Yuto sighed. “Come on.”<br>
Azurine watched Yuto and Shippo walk off the bridge in search of Sarah. Shippo cast continuous glances back at her.

“I have a divine feeling,” Azurine muttered, turning to look at Miroku, “that I’ve been set up.” She sank down to the floor of the bridge and dangled her feet over the side.

“I have a divine feeling you’re right,” Miroku replied, sitting down next to her. He set his staff beside him. “Are you okay?”<br>
She gazed off into the distance, sighing and not even paying attention. Miroku rested his hand on her knee. This, too, she failed to notice.

“Azurine? Are you okay?” he repeated.

“Huh? Who, wha? Oh, sorry Miroku,” Azurine said and blushed. “I-I didn’t…”

“How is your neck?”<br>
She rubbed the bandages wrapped around her throat. “Getting better. I don’t think I said this before, but, thank you. You…sort of…well…you saved me.”<br>
“You saved yourself.” Miroku smiled. “Was there anything specific you were talking about?”<br>
“I miss my guardian. Very much.”<br>
“It’s okay. I don’t have family either,” Miroku sympathized. “I feel your pain.”<br>
Azurine laughed “Really now? You feel my pain? From my view, it seems more like you feel my leg.”<br>
He quickly pulled his hand away. “You can’t blame me for trying.”<br>
“I can. If this weren’t the feudal era, I’d wonder how you of all people got to be a monk. You’re such a perv.” She sighed. “Why?”<br>
Anime hand wave from Miroku. “It’s not important. It’s not relevant or pretty to hear about.”<br>
“Don’t make me laugh. I’ve seen ‘not pretty’, and your story has to be prettier than that.”<br>
“If you insist…” Miroku then proceeded to convey to her his sorrowful tale. Once finished, Azurine had a strange urge to hug him but she held it back.

“You’re right. Not pretty,” she agreed. “So…now you have to kill this Naraku or else the wind tunnel will kill you. And if your mission fails, you want an heir so they can take over to fight the curse. So that’s why you ask everyone to bear your child…”

“So, now that you’ve heard my story,” Miroku asked, picking up Azurine’s hand, “will you even consider bearing my child?”<br>
“If I was older, we were married, and I didn’t live in the future, I would possibly consider it.”<br>
“So…there’s a chance?” Miroku asked hopefully.

“Um…nope. Not one in hell,” Azurine grinned.

Miroku pulled an anime-fall. “B-but, next year you’ll be older. I’ll ask you to marry me and you’ll live here with me,” Miroku planned.

Azurine laughed until tears formed in her eyes. Miroku looked at her crestfallenly. She stopped instantly. “I’m sorry. But…all right. I’ll think about it, okay? Ask me in six months. I’ll tell you what I’ll do then.”<br>
He embraced her.

“Hey! Didn’t I say ‘no touchy’?” Azurine warned. Though reluctantly, Miroku released his grasp. “But I’ll make an exception, this time.” She threw her arms around him.

At that moment, Shippo returned. Azurine heard his loud utterance of “Ewwwww!” from behind Miroku. Shippo poofed into the Shippo-ball and gnawed on Miroku’s head. Miroku grew a large sweatdrop. Azurine pulled back. “Shippo! Leave him alone!”<br>
He poofed back into his normal form and clung to Miroku’s head. “B-but Azurine!” he whined. “Kagome said to protect you from him.”<br>
“Aww. Shippo! I don’t need protecting.” She opened her arms and Shippo jumped into them. “That hug was my fault.”<br>
“That’s all that’s been happening today. First Yuto and Sarah, now you two. Yuck!” Shippo stuck out his tongue, disgusted.

“Shippo…It’s just a hug. Are you jealous or something?” she teased as she squeezed him.

“No. You future girls are weird,” Shippo grumbled.

“And you are cute!” Azurine replied, rubbing his hair. “You look tired. Why don’t you get some rest?”<br>
“I’m not tired! I wanna stay up!” he protested. He finished off the statement with a particularly large yawn.

“Please sleep? You’re not going to be any use to me tomorrow if you’re exhausted,” Azurine pleaded.

“Well…okay.” Shippo cuddled in her lap and curled into a little ball. “G’night.” He fell asleep.

Tears suddenly burned in Azurine’s eyes. Is this what it feels like? Is this what it’s like to have a family? Miroku, Shippo, Tanpopo; even Yuto, InuYasha, and Kagome; they’re closer than anyone I’ve ever known… She held Shippo close and never wanted to let him go.

(If I was Azure, I would, too.)

Miroku stood and held out his hand. “Are you ready to go back, now? InuYasha and Kagome are worried about you. And we should find Yuto and Sarah along the way before Shippo’s not the only tyke running around here.”<br>
She took his hand and laughed. “I don’t know about Yuto, but Sarah’s too innocent to even think about that at this point in a relationship. Trust me. She blushes when she thinks about hugging let alone…you know…that.”<br>
“I have no qualms about that sort of thing whatsoever,” Miroku smiled.

They found Sarah and Yuto by the river and continued back towards the village. InuYasha spazzed when they arrived. “Where in all the hells were you? Do you want to die?” he yelled.

Azurine grimaced. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you.”<br>
“You didn’t,” InuYasha retorted, turning his back to her.

“You did,” Kagome whispered. “He’s just too proud and stubborn to admit it.” She looked at Shippo. “Is he okay? What happened?”<br>
“He’s fine. He’s just tired. Don’t wake him up.” Azurine smiled.

“He’s tired?” InuYasha cried out exasperatedly. “He didn’t do anything!” He stomped forward, intent on bopping the kitsune on the head.

Azurine turned away protectively. “Leave him alone. He’s only a kid!”<br>
“Why should I?” InuYasha asked.

Multiple anger marks popped up on Azurine’s forehead. One of those scary fire backgrounds appeared behind her. “Because, if you don’t I’ll get angry. Very angry. So just leave Shippo alone!” she roared.

InuYasha backed away. “Never thought a Deltan could be that scary…”

The flames extinguished. “What do you know about my family?” she asked cautiously.

“Nothing important,” InuYasha sighed.

It was then that Sarah noticed the sun setting. “We should go to bed,” she suggested. “Not much else to do today.” She pulled Azurine over to the side as the rest of the group began to set up camp. “You’re being really overprotective of Shippo, you know? What’s up? Is there something wrong with him?”<br>
“No. But look at him! He’s so cute! I can’t help but be overprotective of him.” She gave him a small squeeze. She then looked up mischievously. “So…?”<br>
“So what?” Sarah asked, shifting uncomfortably under her friend’s stare.

“What happened between you and Yuto, huh?” she prompted, winking.

“Uh…um…nothing of particular interest.” Sarah blushed and looked away.

“Fine, Tanpopo. Be that way,” Azurine said disbelievingly as she rubbed her friend’s hair. She walked back towards the busy group. “Coming Kagome!” She left Sarah standing there, wallowing in embarrassment.