Disclaimer: sigh, I absolutely hate typing this because it shows my disability, but, I do not own any of Tamora Pierce’s characters, but I do own mine. There I said it. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t type this, but it’s a necessity.

Chapter 9: Sosonokatsu's POV

I am totally confused now. She comes to me to talk, then she just up and leaves. I don’t get women. They do things for absolutely no reason. A man could make his brain fry just trying to figure one out. Now lets think back on what happened.

Flashback

Diana’s scent had awoken me. I had learned to be wary of her scent while I was trying to sleep. I check my face to make sure that there isn’t any paint there. Well, she didn’t, but she’s smirking.

What is she thinking?

I glare up at her, not bothering to sit up all the way. If she was going to be rude to me, I will not be polite to her. I couldn’t keep the glaring up for long; I needed to catch up on some of my sleep. She sat down as far as she could within comfortable talking distance.

“So you have come to me. I thought you were pissed.”

“I was, am.”

She changed that fast. I was curious, I had to ask.

“Why did you paint on me?”

All the while I was talking I shifted closer to her. She didn’t seem to notice so I put my hand up on her thigh, trying to get her to be friendly again. She glared down at it for a second, then jerked it away from her as if it was a hot iron. She looked down, but I caught the glimpse of red on her face. So I still aroused her.

“I am no informant.”

That caught me totally off guard. Sighing angrily, she then looked up and glared into my face. Boy if looks could kill, I would be one very dead person.

“Just leave me alone.”

She shot up before I could do anything more and took off. I got up to follow her, but as soon as she got into the forest, she zigzagged all over the place I couldn’t follow her. I was like trying to follow a sidewinder snake that lost its senses.

End of Flashback

I gave up, thinking that she would come back when she calmed down. Then we could talk like civilized people. No use trying to talk to her right now.

Now what did she mean by I’m no inform… ant… oh crap! She heard that little lie I told my father. Of course she’s acting weird. She had no way of knowing that that was a fake. That explains everything. I got to set this straight.

Just in case she circled back, I went to her rooms and knocked on the door. It opened but it was the cat. That cat gets on my nerves. Sighing, I crouch down so that I was eye-level with her.

“Did Diana come here?”

The fire-cat delicately snorted at me, and then shook her head. I wonder where she could be; she’s not here and… hello! What’s this here?

The neko mata had her head cocked, one ear to the forest with a far away look in her eyes. She then stepped out of the room and the door shut quietly behind her. She then took a running start and leapt off of the balcony. She transformed into her big form and took off faster than I could imagine.

It was only after she had gone that the thought of I should’ve followed her came to me. She would have led me to Diana. Damn it. Sigh. I guess I just have to sit back and wait for her to return. It shouldn’t be that long of a wait.

Oh great, it’s starting to rain.

Sighing again, I took cover under a sakura blossom tree. I had no sooner closed my eyes than heard the distinct sizzling of water on fire. It was coming from Sakura and her fire paws. She saw me and headed in my direction. She landed, shaking badly with Diana clutching onto her mane as if it was her life force.

By the look in her eyes, she was fevered and she hadn’t even been out in the rain for very long. She was a horrid sight, covered in dripping mud and a horrible expression on her face. Not caring about my clothes, I gathered her into my arms, holding her close to me for warmth. The cat transformed back into her little kitty form too. It looked so pitiful standing there, I had to bring it with me as well. So she ended up in my arms as well.

I took them to the rooms, but the door was closed. I thought for a second, then after careful juggling, I got the cat’s paw on the door. It opened and I stepped inside. I placed the cat beside the tiny fireplace, almost dropping Diana in the process. I then took Diana’s clothes off and placed her under the covers. Finally having them situated where I want them, I ran out to the servants’ wing, leaving the door unlocked, and grabbed some boy before he could disappear.

“Get me buckets of hot water. And get help too. Bring them to Diana Haighla’s room.”

The boy tried to stutter a yes, but ended up nodding instead. Inferior creatures, the lot of them. Well, I guess I shouldn’t complain, if they weren’t around, I’d have to do everything by myself. Oh well, I guess sometimes it’s necessary to have underlings underfoot.

I didn’t wait for them to return to where I was, but instead ran back to her rooms. Once there, I started a fire in her fireplace. Contemplating to leave the cat there to roast, I end up moving her back some, where the fire wouldn’t burn her. I wouldn’t want Diana to get better, just to kill me for cooking her cat. Then I moved her back, she was a fire cat and could probably sleep in the fire, so it wouldn’t kill her.

I then take a dry, warm, towel and rubbed the neko mata until she was barely damp. I then took another towel and started to dry Diana’s hair off. Who knows how long the servants would take. There was knock on the door so I put her back under the covers and opened it. There were four servants with buckets of hot water in each hand standing there. I took the buckets, four at a time, and brought them inside. I then thanked the servants, grudgingly, and dismissed them.

After they left, I poured four buckets in, then put Diana in it as soon as it was cool enough. She kind of awoken, only being half aware, but the water seemed to have woken her up completely, for the time being. Her eyes went large when she saw me, but the look was gone in the next second. She then narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“Where am I?”

“In your rooms, where you belong.”

“How’d you get in?”

“You were out of it when your cat came to me, so I let myself in.”

Now she seemed to get that she was naked, in a tub, and I was scrubbing mud off of her. She opened her mouth to screech, so I put my hand firmly over it. This seemed to startle her and she almost choked on the air.

“You don’t want to be doing that princess.”

This seemed to startle her even more. When I moved my hand she started to sputter nonsense. While she was busy entertaining me with her confusion, I finished washing her hair.

“You might want to hold your breath.”

She looked at me confused at first. Then took a huge breath as I started to push her under. When her hair was completely rinsed, I pulled the plug for the water to drain out. I grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it at the same time I picked her up. I then set her on the bathing room floor. As soon as she was fine, I poured the other four buckets of water in the tub. This time, I put her in it while it was still a little scalding. She was to soak in here while I got her room situated enough that it would take care of a sick person.

I put fresh cotton sheet on her bed and a comforter that I found. I then put the empty buckets next to the door and put a few more logs on the fire. I then checked the cat to see if she was okay. Seeing that she was fine, I put the wet and dirty clothes in a pile, away from the bed. I folded the sheets back so that I could just put her in the bed and cover her up instead of messing around with it while I held her.

I then went to Diana to see if she was all right. At first I got panicky when she was asleep, but then, looking closely, I saw that she was breathing. Sighing, I let the water out again. This seems to have woken her up again. She looked at me through alert, but fuzzy eyes. Chuckling, I pick her up in the towel again, and bring her to her bed.

“Where are your clothes?”

She lazily nodded to a chest beside her desk. I went to it and pulled out the warmest, but most comfortable thing I could find. I then dress her; it was almost like dressing a doll, but more flexible. Finally, having her completely dressed, I cover her up in her bed. I then felt her forehead. It was scolding hot. I dipped a rag in a bucket of cool water, I made sure the water was safe, and placed the rag on her head.

I was about to get up to go when her arm shot out and grabbed mine. I looked down at her, but her eyes were still closed. Her breathing told me she was somewhere between half asleep and half awake. Her conscious had taken over. She tugged until I was close to her and in a voice that was even difficult for me to hear, spoke.

“Don’t leave me here alone. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

No matter how much she told herself, and me for that matter, that she hated me, she was still truly in love with me. That frightened me more than anything ever had. I just realized that I loved her too, and I was one who did not love anybody… not even my father.

Haku: white

Hanyou: half-breed

Inu: dog

Katana: a type of curved sword that Japanese samurai use, or in this case, Yamani samurai

Kimono: a Japanese outfit that the girls wore

Kobodou: fighting in close combat with weapons

Neko: a cat

Obi: the sash around the middle of the kimono to hold it shut

Sakura: the blossoms of a cherry tree

Sensai: a teacher or tutor

Sensu: a flip fan used in Japan

Youkai: demon