I feel groggy and I'm shivering when I slightly regain my consciousness, I open my eyes slowly and I feel something cool on my forehead, yes I'm indeed shivering. I slightly look around, I have a terrible headache, and a slight pain still courses through me. I remember what has happened to me, I got hurt from protecting Naraku from that demon named Sesshomaru. I'm in a big room, there's a big panel that I assume leads to a veranda or something. It seems to be the afternoon or early evening, the sunlight is giving off an orange tone. I realize that I'm sweating, I must have a fever, I feel weak all over. I look to the corner of the room and I realize that my red kimono is hanging on a wooden kimono rack, I'm wearing a white silk kimono, and I'm lying in a futon. A cool cloth is on my forehead. Where am I? I don't have the strength to get up and I feel really really weak, pain still occupies me, I have a cloth bandage around my stomach area. I have no idea how bad it is but I couldn't think about it anymore, I rest my head back down onto the pillow. I'm losing my consciousness again. I don't know where I am or how long I've been out but I trust Naraku that we're both somewhere safe. As I doze off again, I hear the door to the room sliding open and then closing. When I slowly regain my consciousness again, I feel a finger gently gliding down my cheek and then caressing it. I feel like I'm laying halfway in mid air, but as I come to more and more I realize that I'm resting on someone's lap. I feel my shivering has reduced drastically since last time, I force my eyes to open slowly. The sunlight shines through the windows, someone is holding me gently. The pain from my wound has died down a bit as well but still sore. I groan, my eyes feel puffy from sleeping so much and my head is still woozy.

"You're awake?" A calm voice says from above me.

I hold my dizzy head and look up, I'm greeted by a pair of beautiful bright red eyes. It's Naraku, he's looking down at me with a serene expression. His fingers holds my face gently, I smile as I see him.

"Naraku..." I croak out.

"Don't move too much, you're still injured. I used my demonic powers to repair the internal wounds beneath the skin, but the outer wounds still needs time to heal." He says.

"Thank you Naraku, I'm so glad that you're not hurt." I say holding his hand.

A frown slowly forms on his face, I gently squeeze his hand.

"What's wrong Naraku?" I ask him worried.

"I told you to run, you didn't listen to me. Now look at you, thank goodness that it was just a deep wound." He says looking at the window.

He's upset that I put my life in danger for him. I force myself to sit up, the tensing of the abdominal muscles causes slight pain to jolt through me but I push it aside.

"Don't move too much, you're still injured. You need to rest." Naraku says turning back to look at me furrowing his brows.

"My fever has subsided and my wound has been taken care of, I don't know how long I've been out but I think I should sit up for a while." I say with a laugh to lighten the mood hopefully.

"You've been out for 3 days, I thought that you might have died." Naraku says touching my face.

I hold his hand in mine and smile at him.

"I'm not going to die that easily, even if I did, I know that I won't have any regrets because I died protecting the one I love." I say looking into his ruby eyes.

"You were foolish to have put your life on the line like that for me___________, a demon." Naraku says.

"I know, and I'll be glad to do it again if a similar situation calls for it. I told you that your life has a purpose and I'll be there to help see it and support you." I tell him with a smile.

Naraku looks to the side again, his brows has creased up drastically. I run my fingers gently along his brows in hope of loosening them, I then touch his smooth face and turn him to face me. When his ruby eyes meets mine, I lean in. My lips finds his soon after, his lips are soft, smooth, and warm. His lips caresses mine back gently, I pull my lips off his a few seconds later. Naraku gently takes my hand in his and entwine our fingers together, he tucks a messy strand of my hair behind my ear.

"You must be hungry, I'll go get you something to eat." Naraku says.

"I am slightly, having been out for 3 days has made my stomach smaller probably. I really want to take a bath." I say remembering my uncomfortable fever and sweat on my body.

"You can't today, your wound will get infected, you can take a bath in another two days or so. You need to rest and wait for your wound to scab up, I'll be back soon." Naraku says getting up.

"Right, I understand." I reply back with a nod.

Naraku looks at me with a soft look and turns to leave, his walk is more graceful now, same with his slight change in tone of voice. He seems to be a different person, did something happen to him? Also, where am I? Still tired, I lay back down onto the futon. I close my eyes, and I think I dozed off just mere seconds after. I wake up to a presence beside me, I open my eyes and I see Naraku sitting beside me looking down at me with a slight worried expression. I slowly sit up and I pull the cover higher to cover my stomach area.

"You didn't wake me up? Did you just come in?" I ask him.

"I came in about a minute or two ago, I didn't want to wake you up after seeing you resting again." He responds.

"Thanks for the consideration, I should probably get up and walk a bit later." I say.

"You need more rest, until you can fully regain your strength again. Your fever is still lingering slightly, so wait at least for it to subside completely." He says.

"Alright." I respond with a smile knowing that it's for my health.

Naraku has brought me some food to eat in order to help me regain my strength. He stayed with me the whole time.

"Naraku, where are we by the way? It seems to be a very grand estate." I ask him after finishing eating.

He looks to the side and stares out the window. He looks like he's thinking about something.

"It's somewhere safe..." He replies.

"Ahh. Does it belong to someone that you know?" I ask him.

"We can talk about it after you recover completely. Get some rest. I'll come by tomorrow" He says with a slight dismissive tone.

It feels like he's pushing me away slightly or keeping me from finding out something. In a way, it kind of feels like when I first met him 12 years ago, he was cold and dismissive at first. He gives my hand a gentle squeeze and I hold his hand, he looks at me with his ruby eyes and I see a slight confliction within them. He then stands up, his hand slowly slips through mine. He walks to the door and looks back at me.

"I love you Naraku." I say to him.

Naraku looks at me with a gentle gaze for a few seconds, and shows me a subtle smile.

"And I as well, my love." He replies.

He then exits out of the room. He still calls me "my love", I know he still loves me but, something is eating away at him. I'll ask him when I can get up and go out of this room and explore this place. I hope Inuyasha and the others are alright, they're probably looking for me. I wish I can tell them everything, I'm fine and I'm safe. In no time, I fall asleep once again. The next day goes on quietly, I'm still stuck in my room unable to get up yet due to my injury. Naraku has checked up on me during every meal time, but he never stays long, he's acting slightly aloof and I don't understand why. But, I do know that he cares and loves me, he just seem really conflicted over something. I wake up to the morning sunlight shining through the window into the room. I sit up slowly and rub my slightly swollen eyes, the wound has scabbed up and the pain is practically gone. I definitely need to get up and move around a bit, and definitely need a nice bath. I slowly get up, after sleeping and lying down for 5 days or so, my legs feel weak. I go the wrack to retrieve my kimono, I glide my fingers over the red silk. I remember it getting torn from the whip in the process but it looks brand new and more beautiful, did Naraku fix it? If he did I'm grateful. I take it off the rack and open the sliding door of the room, I look out and I see a long and large hallway. The bright sunlight shines through from the windows that are covered by the translucent cloth. The place is empty, it's quiet, and I don't know where Naraku is. I have so many questions to ask him but I don't know where he is, I explore the place a bit. There are many doors, I'm beginning to think this place is a palace or some sort. I walk around until I come upon a door that seems different than the others, I assume it's the bathroom or bath house. I slide the door open and indeed it was, it's a bath house. The water within the built in bath is steaming and it looks really soothing, I could really use a nice bath right now. I poke my head out to see if there's anyone around, but it is still quiet and empty. Since I have no one to ask, I'll just quickly take a bath and then I'll go look for Naraku. I remove the white under-layer kimono that I've been wearing this whole time, I have a large white cloth wrapped tightly around my stomach area. I begin to wonder just how big the wound is, I carefully untie it. When it finally comes off, I look down at the now scabbed wound. It's pretty long, it runs from just above my hips to the middle of my ribs. The area is still slightly green around the actual wound but the wound has a dark scabbing over it.

"It'll scar up definitely, but it was worth it." I say to myself remembering that I saved Naraku from potential death.

I slowly step into the warm and relaxing water, I lower my whole body into it and rest my tired body against the edge of the tub. My fever has subsided completely now so to take a hot bath to wash away the tiredness, and the sluggish feeling feels amazing. I wash my hair as well and gently massage my whole body within the water, after resting for about 15 minutes or so I get up and step out of the tub. I grab a nearby towel and dry myself up, I don't think I need the bandage anymore, it better to let fresh air seep through the wound a bit. I change into my red kimono and fold up the white one. I then step out of the bathroom and begin to walk around again. It is huge and empty indeed, no one in sight. The place looks old and slightly damaged as well, but overall a beautiful place.

"Naraku?" I ask throughout the estate.

My voice echos through the long hallway, but no reply. I stop and begin to wonder, if he's not in the house perhaps he's outside? I walk around until I find a big sliding door, I open it up and the bright sunlight shines in, it's probably around noon. It is absolutely beautiful outside, I can see far into the distance, it seems as if we're somewhere in a mountainous area. I step out onto the veranda and look out, luscious green grass and flowers grows from the ground. This must be the back of the estate. I walk along the veranda, after a few seconds I see someone sitting at the edge of the veranda not too far away. I realize that it's Naraku, he's sitting crossed legged and looking out into the distance, his face static and expressionless. He must be thinking about something again, but I'm just happy to see him. I walk up to him, as I near him, Naraku senses me and turns to look at me.

"___________, you're up?" He asks me.

"Yes, it's around noon, I should be up already." I say with a smile.

I then sit down beside him, Naraku's hand comes up and gently touches my face, his red eyes glazing over my face as if to scan for any discomfort.

"You're in your red kimono, you look a lot better today. You're feeling alright?" He asks me quietly.

I take his hand in mine and gently squeeze it to assure him.

"I'm absolutely ok now. I took a nice warm bath earlier to freshen up. My kimono looks all new, did you fix it for me?" I ask him.

"I see, I'm relieve to see that you're alright now. No, it wasn't me. A moth demon that I found repaired it." He answers me.

"A moth demon? You went out and found a demon to help me repair my kimono? Thank you." I say surprised that he went out to do that for me.

"It's nothing to be thanking me about." He says turning to look out at the slightly orange sky.

I want to ask him about this place, and about him, why he seem so different lately.

"So, about this place, is this yours?" I ask him.

Naraku doesn't reply for a few seconds, he takes a deep breath.

"Yes, I use to reside here." He finally says.

"Oh I see, so that's why you took me he..." I say but then something hits me.

I look back at Naraku, he use to live here, he took me here because he use to live here. Does this mean...

"You... remember? You remember your past?" I ask him surprised.

Naraku slowly nods.

"Yes, I remember everything now, my past life, and everything." He says turning to look at me.

I feel happy for him, he finally remembers everything, his past and who he is. I lean in and hug him, I suppose it shocked Naraku slightly. But, he slowly wraps his arms around me.

"How did you regain your memories? When?" I ask him as I pull back to look at him.

"When you got hurt, that's when I regained my memories." He answers me tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"When I got hurt? But how did that contribute to you regaining your memories?" I ask him confused still.

"I'm not quite sure either, but I'm guessing there was a barrier blocking my memories. When you got hurt, an overwhelming and intense feeling of love, pain, and devastation that I felt for you filled me and the next thing I know, I have regained all of my memories. I remembered everything. It was all because of you___________." Naraku says, his bright red eyes looking over mine.

"All because of me..." I say slowly.

"Yes, all because of you, for the first time, someone has placed their life on the line for mine, and especially from the person that I love the most. I never felt such intense feelings before till I met you." He says with a gentle smile.

"I love you Naraku, I'll always protect you." I say touching his cheek.

Naraku smiles and holds my hand.

"And I as well, but you do not and should not put your life in danger again." Naraku replies.

I smile at his words and lets out a reluctant nod. He then looks out again, still thinking about something.

"What is it Naraku? What's wrong?" I ask him.

"As I regained my memories, I also remembered who I was and what I have done." He says.

"What you have done? And who you were?" I ask him confused.

"Yes. Kagome in fact did extinguish me, 12 years ago." Naraku says.

So it's true, Inuyasha and the others did kill him, but somehow he came back to life. I want to know everything about him.

"But you're here now, and that's all that matters. You can tell me everything, anything, I'll be here to listen." I tell him turning his face to look at me.

"I don't know if I should." He says.

"Why? What are you afraid of?" I ask him.

"Because you might hate me after knowing the truth." He answers me.

I realize that his past may be dark, but I promised that I'll listen to it, and I love him, so I'll help him through this.

"Try me. Tell me everything." I tell him with a determined look.

Naraku sighs and looks out again.

"I use to be a half demon, more demon than human, I was actually born from a corrupted soul of a human named Onigumo. As a half demon born from him, his heart remained inside of me. I was demon of hatred, but unknown to me till moments before my death that I was a puppet for a greater demon. I was after the shikon jewel, I was a demon who lied, killed, and betrayed others. I didn't care for anyone or anything, I only had the Shikon Jewel to obtain to gain more power. I never loved and didn't care about love, but having the heart of Onigumo, he had a lasting love for a priestess called Kikyo. Because of his love for Kikyo, I was forced to feel his human emotions. I found them disgusting and pointless. Kagome eventually killed me 12 years ago and my soul, the dark side of the body went to hell, but Onigumo was finally free from me, but somehow I came back to life." Naraku tells me.

I was shocked of who he was in the past, but the Naraku that I know is so different now, he's a full demon and he knows love now. Even 12 years ago before his death, he was kind to me when I met him under the cherry blossom tree. Naraku looks at me.

"You must be shocked, I don't blame you. I'm a monster after all. If you wish to leave, I'll take you back to Inuyasha and the others." He says looking at the ground.

I was slightly speechless, I'm still thinking over some things. Was this why he was distant these few days? Was he trying to make me despise him so that he can send me away and back to Inuyasha? Naraku silently tries to get up, but I grab onto his hand. Naraku stops and looks back at me surprised.

"___________..." He says.

"I am surprised, but I know it wasn't you." I say look back up at him.

I pull Naraku back down gently and I hold his face gently in my palms. His bright red eyes staring into mine with confusion. He might have done all that, but he said he was a puppet to a greater and stronger demon. Even with a dark soul, he was kind to me that night 12 years ago and I fell in love. I've waited 12 years to meet him again, and I'm not going to abandon him like this. Everyone deserves a second change in life, humans or demons, a chance to redeem themselves. Although he died, he's alive right now and I'm here to help him move on and see the beauty of life. It wasn't his choice, he was forced. Naraku finally knows love, he finally found someone to love and someone who loves him back, I'm not going to leave him to suffer through his past life over something that wasn't his fault. He realizes what he has done, and he's afraid that I'll hate him for it. I want to assure him that it's not his fault and that I'll always be here for him, just like I promised.

"I promised that I don't want you to be alone remember? It wasn't your fault, although you're a full demon now, but to me, you're just like any other human. You have feelings now, you know love. I'm not going to leave you, I've waited days to reunite with you before the whole event, I'm not going to abandon you like this. We're still wearing our bracelets, we're connected by the red string of fate. I protected you without giving a second thought to my own life, I wouldn't have done that if I didn't love you so. Yes, you're a demon, but I believe that you're more than that." I tell him staring deep into his red eyes.

"____________..." Naraku says quietly.

I want to tell him now, our meeting from years ago. He said he remember everything now, so I hope he remembers our first meeting.

"I don't know if you remember this or not but, we actually met 12 years ago under the same cherry blossom tree..." I tell him.

I look at Naraku and his eyes slowly returns to his calm expression, he lifts his right hand up and glides it down my face gently, he looks at me with a gentle smile. His red eyes glazes over my whole face as if he's examining it all over again.

"Yes, I remember that night. You were just a young girl, I assumed that you would've been afraid of me, but you weren't. You came back to me and asked me endless questions, and you said that my eyes were beautiful." Naraku says with a nostalgic look.

He remembers, even my compliments. I feel an overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief.

"You remember it all? Thank goodness. I wanted to tell you everything since I regained my own memories but..." I say with a slight frown.

"I'm glad that you didn't. Being able to remember that encounter with you was probably the most peaceful and beautiful moment in my past life as a corrupted loveless demon. The red string of fate was really connected between us two then." He says with a slight laugh.

I smile, I only want to know why he blocked my memories that night. I gently take his hand in mine and look at him, without knowing the sun has started to set. The orange light shines upon the tall mountains around us.

"Naraku, I want to know why you erased my memories that night the first time that we met." I ask him.

Naraku looks at me, his red eyes burning into mine. He then looks out at the fire sunset in the distance.

"I blocked out your memories that night because you were too innocent and pure. You were just a child then, you weren't afraid of me, you even asked if we'll ever meet again in the future. Naive and fearless. I never felt any feelings back then, but after meeting such a young and innocent soul as yours, I didn't want you to remember a monster like me. I realized that although our meeting was short and fleeting, you were always in my mind somewhere. I really hoped that we would never cross paths again, so that you would always stay pure, but looked like fate really wanted us to meet even after my rebirth." Naraku says turning back to me.

I feel a slight pain in my chest after hearing his reason. He was a demon who didn't care, and didn't love, but after meeting me, deep down in his conscience he didn't want me to remember someone like him. I let go of his hand and pull myself up to him, Naraku turns to face me. I then wrap my arms around his neck and I hug him close to me, his scent surrounds me. It's soothing, I can hear his breathing. I rest my head beside his.

"___________..." Naraku quietly says.

"I've lost 12 years of my memories of you, I'm never going to forget you again. I love you so much Naraku, I fell in love with you when was just a kid, and even after meeting you again I fell in love all over again." I say as I pull back to look at his perfect face.

"_________, after knowing all that I've done, you would still love a demon like me?" He asks me.

"Like I said, the past should remain in the past, I fell in love with the you that I know, the caring side and the side that wanted to know love. My question to you is, do you love me?" I ask him looking into his eyes that are just mere centimeters away from mine.

"Of course I do, I promised you that remember?" He tells me with a pained face.

"Of course I remember. After you regained all your memories, of everything. Do you still love me after remembering that you were a demon that only knew hate?" I ask him the final question.

"Yes. I love you___________." Naraku says caressing my face.

"Then you don't need to worry about me hating you for your past, it's all in the past, the present is all that matters. The sun always sets but it always rises the next day no matter what, the bad days will always be yesterday and continued to be pushed till it's eventually forgotten. Forget about the you then, and focus on the you now. I know everything about you finally, and I love you even more for that." I tell him brushing his black bangs away from his face.

"Thank you for loving me___________." Naraku finally says.

"Thank you for saving me that day for my stupidity of climbing that tree to get that cherry blossom." I say with a laugh.

After hearing that, Naraku reaches within his kimono and pulls out something. My eyes look down at what he's holding, I then realize what it is after seeing its vibrant pink and magenta petals. It's the cherry blossom that I brought with me. Naraku kept it with him after helping me change out of my kimono. Naraku then tucks it behind my ear and looks back at me.

"Thanks to the thoughtless action that day, it brought the two of us together." Naraku says with a smile.

"Yes it did, this moment brings me back to that night all over again." I say with a smile.

Naraku looks at my face, his nostalgic expression is laced on his face once again. He touches my cheek gently.

"Naraku?" I ask him seeing his face in silence.

"Seeing the flower in your hair does bring me back to that night. I said that you were like the flower itself, pure and beautiful. The beauty that you possessed that I remembered when you were a child are laced within your maturing beauty. How I wish I could go back to that night 12 years ago and spent more time with you." Naraku says quietly.

"Naraku, we're together now, we have all the time in the world. Circumstances and events then just told us that it wasn't time for us to be together yet, but we are now. I wish that too, but I'm not a child anymore, I'm all grown up now. Remember the me then, but love the me now." I say to him.

"___________..." Naraku says.

I lean in and capture his lips with mine, his lips caresses mine with love and gentleness. Nothing like the him he told me about back then. I pull my lips off of his and kiss his cheek, I rest my cheek next to his.

"I wish I could show my love for you more, but I don't know if I can." Naraku quietly says.

He wants to show more of his love for me, I feel my heart beat faster. I want to too, I love him so much. I'm not a child anymore, I want to show my love for Naraku. I pull back to look at him. His red eyes burning into my soul.

"Yes you can, you can express more of love than the kisses that we share." I tell him.

Naraku eyes goes wide slightly, he looks slightly confused, and I don't blame him.

"How?" He asks me.

I found it cute, he's like a kid who's just starting to get a grasp on life. I want him to know everything that there is to know.

"It's a thing done between a man and a woman." I say slightly embarrassed.

He looks at me with a confused expression still but then realizes what I mean.

"I know the basics of what you mean, but I don't know if we should or could be used in any other way." Naraku says.

"Tell me what you are afraid of." I say holding his face.

"It's only done for reproduction purposes, you're not ready for it. I don't want to hurt you anymore than you are already. Also, I don't want to take away your purity. You'll be tainted by a demon."

I place my finger gently over his lips. I smile at him. All he said is true, but I want this. He's completely inexperienced, but I want him to know that it can be more than that. I want him to feel loved and the bliss that follows.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, I'm not afraid. When it comes to love between two people, races doesn't matter, at least not to me. I love you for you, I don't have time to think of what you are. If I become pregnant than let it, because I want only you Naraku. Our love is special, rules don't apply to us. Also, pregnancy doesn't always conceive the first time. I want to show you my love, it's only your choice now." I tell him quietly.

Naraku looks at me, his eyes seem more vivid and brighter than usual. He seems to be thinking, but he finally smiles. He takes my hand in his and he kisses it, he holds it to his cheek and looks back at me. I feel slightly anxious about hearing his answer.

"If you are willing to show me your love, than I should give you mine in return with all of my beating heart." He replies.

I smile, my heart is beating faster. I turn to look out into the distance, the sun has practically disappeared behind the tall mountains. The sky is slowly turning dark now, the moon and stars are out already. I turn back to look at Naraku.

"Stay with me tonight." I tell him.

"I will." Naraku replies with a gentle smile.

I nod and I stand up holding his hand in mine, Naraku's large hand holds mine and our fingers entwine together. The two of us return back into the quiet estate, we slowly walk back to my room hand in hand and side by side. In no time, we finally reach the door to my room. I slide the door open, and still holding Naraku's hand, the two of us enter into the dark room. I go to light a few candles around the room as Naraku slides the door close with a quiet tap of the contact between the door frames.