Chapter Eight:

Kouga opened his sleep encrusted eyes slowly, the weight of his eyelids beckoning him back to the blissful black numbness of sleep. A yawn rose from deep within his chest, working its way past his abused lips and jaw. Blinking slowly, Kouga forced his tired and sore body into an upright position, feeling the pull and ache of his abused shoulder and ribs. He blinked again, trying to push past the haze of his drug induced sleep and seek the clarity of a new day.

He allowed his gaze to float across the room, taking in the afternoon sunlight that poured through the open widow and puddled on the floor. A delicate sniff brought the aroma of fresh grass and the musk of the forest to tease his still smarting nose. There was a peculiar scent in the air and Kouga's brow furrowed in concentration. The scent of soap, sweet spring flowers and…

Kouga sniffed again.

…human?

Slowly he turned his head to the left, away from the window and the fresh glorious scents of a warm summer day. He looked, instead, toward the other side of the bed. There, at the far corner sitting with legs crossed and a bright bouquet of flowers resting in her lap, was a small human child. Brown eyes lit up with joy as his gaze sought hers, and a wide grin, missing a front tooth, beamed at him from the end of the bed.

"You're awake!" The child's voice was bright, illuminated with a sincere happiness.

Kouga started at the human girl, a mixture of shock and confusion warring within him. Who was this child? And what was she doing in Sesshoumaru's chambers? Alone?

Before Koga could even begin to form a question, the girl blasted him with rapid fire chatter.

"Oh gosh! I've been waiting forever for you to wake up! You've been sleeping for-ever, did you know? Three days! Three whole days!" The girl waggled three fingers at him. "Lord Sesshoumaru said you were sleeping so long on account of you being hurt and all. He told me I wasn't to disturb you, or wake you, for any reason. So I've just been waiting and waiting and waiting…"

Curious brown eyes traced his face, his shoulder, his chest. It was then that Kouga realized he was stark naked, with only the furs billowed around his waist and legs to shield him from this precocious child's curiosity. A light flush warmed his cheeks and he grabbed at the blankets, all but pulling them up to his chin.

"Who are you?" His voice was a husky, gravelly, growl of indignation.

The child beamed at him.

"I'm Ari! And I've been helping take care of you while you were sleeping, but don't tell Lord Sesshoumaru." Her face grew both pensive and cautious. "He told me not to bother you, that you needed your rest. So I didn't wake you up, even though there's no one else here to play with. I've been guarding you, to make sure that you were safe and protected."

"G-guarding..?" Why was there a human child in Sesshoumaru's castle? And where was Sesshoumaru?

"Yes sir!" Ari said with a sunny smile. "I made sure that no one bothered you. And I cleaned your bandages and braided your hair so it would be nice and pretty."

This child had actually touched him while he slept? For three days? Either she had the touch of a butterfly's wings, or he had been drugged.

Again.

Kouga raised a hand to his head, eyes flinching as his fingers found the myriad of braids that his hair had been woven into. Over a dozen of the damned things.

"You have really soft hair." Ari told him, a perpetual smile lingering on her lips. "Oh! I brought these for you." She brandished the wild flowers at him like a warrior with a sword.

"My momma always said that flowers were like god's magic. That they can make a bad day good and turn a frown into a smile. I thought you might be a little made when you woke up, on account of me being here and all, so I brought you these."

Kouga blinked. And blinked.

Nope. The girl was still there.

"Where's Sesshoumaru?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru is down at the village with Master Shippo and Sayo. They're having a meeting with the villagers and some demons. They told me to stay here and behave until they get back."

Kouga groaned, rubbing at the new ache in his temples. Sesshoumaru was devious. He had saddled Kouga with a pint sized baby sitter who could chat a demon's ear off and braided the unwary's hair while they slept.

"Do you wanna go outside and play? We can pick flowers, or berries, or we can play with my dolls or-"

"Ari?"

"Yes?"

"I need to get dressed."

The truth was Kouga would love nothing more than to fall back to sleep, but he didn't trust the little hellion sitting so innocently at the foot of his bed.

"Oh, okay." She beamed at him.

He stared.

She smiled.

"Ari?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to…leave. While I get dressed."

Her brow furrowed.

"Why?"

Kouga groaned inwardly. The gods preserve him! Was the child a voyeur too?

"Because I'm…because you're… a little girl." Kouga finally managed to ground out.

"Of course I'm a girl, silly!" She smiled.

He stared.

"Well, I'm not…so…"

"So what?" her head cocked to the side as she studied him.

"Ari, I'm naked and I need to find my clothes."

She pointed to the side of the bed. "They're right there silly."

"Ari?"

"Y-esss?"

"I'm a man. And men aren't allowed to get dressed in front of little girls."

Her eyes widened.

"Why not?"

If not for the promising beginning of a pounding headache, the situation might have been comical. Explaining the birds and bees to a female human child was not high on Kouga's lists of things he wanted to do when he first woke up.

"It isn't proper." He saw her lips part, saw that little mind working hard to shoot him with another question.

"Look kid, you're just going to have to trust me on this one."

Ari's mouth snapped shit, a suspicious cast sweeping over her angelic features.

"You'll play dollies with me?" She said slowly.

Kouga would do anything to have five minutes to himself.

"Dollies. Sure. Just let me get dressed."

"Okay!" Ari leapt off the bed and ran to the door.

"I'll be back soon! So hurry up Mister Kouga!"

And with a cheerful wave, she was gone.

"Lord Almighty." Kouga grumbled, swinging his legs over the bed and all but leaping into the soft, silken pants and hoari that Sesshoumaru had left for him.

If what the girls said was true…he had been out for several days now, floating blissfully in an abyss of dark, black, sleep. As he dressed he mentally assessed himself. His shoulder was damnably sore, and probably would remain so for quite some time. The wound at his left shoulder ached distantly, as did his still healing nose. His body was littered with scraped and bruises, but overall… he wasn't too worse for the wear. Considering everything that had happened…

The door slammed open and a rosy cheeked Ari bounded through it, her arms laden with dolls of all shapes and sizes.

"Are you ready to play dollies? Do you wanna play in here or outside? This is Ayumi, you can play with her. I'll play with Haru and Mai and I brought Yumiko along just in case. Lord Sesshoumaru said we could play wherever we wanted as long as we don't leave the castle. But the castle is really big, and I'm pretty sure it includes outside too." She smiled brightly.

"Out…side?" Sesshoumar had left the door unlocked? For the first time during his imprisonment here, Kouga was actually allowed to roam free? What was going on? His thoughts turned bitter, morbid. Perhaps Sesshoumaru didn't think he was a threat anymore. That he had been well and truly broken.

In a sense he was right. Kouga had no desire to flee, which shamed him to no end. He wasn't yet strong enough to leave these grounds… sadistic dog demon aside. After all the last time he had tried to run…

Kouga closed his eyes against the onslaught of brutal images. He felt his heart beating like a caged animal against his chest and a light sheen of nervous sweat beaded against his brow. His breath was quickening as panic began to set in.

"Oh alright! You can play with Mai, just be careful she's my favorite. Hey!" A small hand, soft and gentle, latched on to his wrist. "Let's go! Before they get back. I wanna go outside and I know the perfect spot to play!"

Kouga was jerked out of his thoughts by Ari's insistent hands tugging at his own. Numbly, and with no small amount of shock, he followed her out of the bedchamber, a small sewn cloth doll nestled in his arms. Kouga allowed himself to be led through the maze of corridors, Ari's happy chatter buzzing incessantly in his ears. When they walked through the kitchens, and out the back door, Kouga could only blink in disbelief as he was led outside.

The soft, warm, glow of sunlight brushing against his skin startled him into awareness. His steps faltered as he turned his gaze toward a bright blue sky.

"Come on slow poke! " Ari called over her shoulder. "I'll race you there!"

Kouga paused for a moment to watch the young human child run barefoot through the grass, her long brown hair whisked back by the wind.

Slowly, reluctantly, a smile curved on his lips as he watched her urn. She had single handed staved off a panic attack, distracted him so thoroughly that there was no room for fear in his heart when she was around. This child was indeed special, and it was no wonder to him that Sesshoumaru kept her in his fortress.

And, without as second thought, he raced after her.

A/N:

Let me know what you think of Ari and Kouga. I thought they were cute together. ^^ I might just make Kouga have the birds and the bees conversation with Ari…just for comedic effect. XP