"Naraku? You're here?" I slowly sigh as I regain my consciousness again.

"Yes, I'm here." He replies.

He stands up and he gently pulls me up as well, I hold onto the kimono that I brought with me.

"I almost thought that you won't be coming here or you might've forgot, or that you already came here and left." I say to him as I smooth out my kimono.

"We made a promise did we not? I also sensed your aura so I came back here. I didn't want to wake you, you were sleeping so quietly." He says, his red eyes glimmering underneath the fading sky.

"Oh, uh well I''m glad that I actually awoke from my sleep or else I could've missed you or something." I say with an embarrassed smile.

A small chirp comes from within my kimono, I see Naraku's eyebrows slightly furrowing at the sudden sound. I let out a tiny giggle and I open my kimono collar slightly and the little bird pops out its head.

"Looks like you're savior came after all." I say to it.

"You brought it with you, it seems to be in a better shape." Naraku says as he gazes at the bird.

"It does doesn't it? I tried my best to help it move its wing bit by bit these few days and fed it. I think my effort has paid off somewhat." I say as I look at him with a smile.

My eyes suddenly falls to his tattered kimono, and I remembered the gift.

"Oh I got you something, it's a gratitude for saving me that day and this little guy's life." I say to Naraku as I hold out the wrapped kimono to him.

"A kimono? I don't need it, I'm perfectly fine with what I have." He replies not moving to take it.

"Please, it's a gift from me. Also, I can't bear to see you in such ruined kimono, kimonos are worn with elegance and with a purpose, it gives the wearer their image and importance. I'm presenting you this kimono not just because I can't bear seeing you in such tattered clothing, I also want you to feel that you're alive and that you hold importance aside from not remembering anything of your past. So please?" I tell him as I gaze into his ruby eyes.

Naraku's eyebrows slowly loses its hard creases and he looks down at the kimono that is in my hands, he then holds out his hands and gently takes the kimono from me. He looks back at me and I can see a serene expression.

"Thank you___________. You sure now how to convince people." Naraku says with a gentle smile.

"I'm just stating the fact and symbolism, it's nothing much. I'll wait here till you finish changing, let me know if you need any help." I say to him with a smile.

I then walk pass him to give him some privacy, I take out the little bird as I direct my attention to it and not on Naraku. The sky is almost completely dark now, but I've noticed the fireflies are slowly coming out. Not long afterwards, a gentle wind blows pass me and carries my hair up. For some reason, I take that as a gentle gesture that Naraku has finished changing.

"I'm going to turn around now, call out if you're not yet finished." I say.

I then turn around and in front of me is Naraku, in the remaining natural light, I see him dressed in the navy blue kimono with the purple vest and yellow obi cord. He looks like a completely different person, he became noble like, more god like. He looks, absolutely flawless, his fair skin accompanied by his ruby red crystal eyes makes him so captivating. As I look at the new Naraku, the sudden flash of the image of the person wearing the similar kimono pops into my mind again, how I wish it was him, so that I don't need to keep searching. His long black hair gently swaying in rhythm with the wind. His expression is soft. I feel my heart skip a beat or something like that, but I regain my composure again. He just looks really handsome.

"How is it?" He asks me.

"You look, handsome and a completely new you. I suppose the only thing missing..." I say as I looked at his overall appearance.

I see the he's holding the string that was used to wrap around the kimono, I walk up to him and take the string from him, he looks at me slightly confused. It's not a strong string so I hold onto the middle of the string and pulled as hard as I could, with enough tension the string snapped. I then look back up at Naraku, we're just mere inches away.

"Can you bend down for me a little?" I ask him.

"Why?" He asks me.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. So please bend over a little?" I ask again with a giggle.

Naraku's eyes glimmers but he complies, he bends over slightly, and the top of his head almost touches my nose. I place the string between my teeth and with both hands, I scoop up the top half of his hair from the ear area and bring the hair slightly to the top of his head but slanted towards the back. I then take the string and wrap it around the bundle of hair a few times and then I tied a knot, with my fingers I gently brush them through his soft hair.

"There, now the look is complete, you look perfect now." I say to him.

Naraku slowly stands straight again, I have given him a half up ponytail, with a lock of hair in front of his ears to frame his face and his short bangs. It makes him look noble like, which I find fits him perfectly. Also, he looks flawless, and captivating, in fact, I've found him captivating the first time I saw him. I smooth out the silk sleeves and gently pat down the the slight wrinkles in the front, after fixing that I gently straighten out his collar. As I do so, I look up at Naraku and I see him gently gazing back at me. I feel my face slightly heating up, am I being too touchy to someone who I barely even know yet? With that thought in mind, I awkwardly retreat my hands.

"Sorry about that, couldn't help wanting to get rid of the wrinkles." I say with an awkward laugh.

"Thank you__________." Naraku replies calmly.

"No problem, thanks for accepting it. Here, let's check on the little bird." I say to him.

I sit down underneath the cherry blossom tree on the soft grass, Naraku follows me and sits down across from me. I gently take the little bird out of my kimono again since I placed it back in when I went to help Naraku with his kimono, I held it out towards Naraku.

"Why don't you hold it for a while? Let it get use to you a little." I say to him with a smile.

Without a word, Naraku gently opens his palms and I place the bird in his hands. He brings it close to him as he looks at it, I smile and I open the bundle of food that I brought. I offered some to Naraku, he was curious at first but eventually ate some. It was a quiet "dinner" but it was relaxing and soothing.

"Seems like it got use to you already. You two sure have a connection." I say with a smile.

"Perhaps, what is its name?" Naraku asks me.

It's name? Oh my... all this time I haven't even given it a name. I suppose this is a good time to give it one?

"I haven't given it one yet. How about, let's think of one together?" I suggest.

Naraku looks back at me, his red eyes looking maroon in the night light. He shows me a gentle smile within the glowing aura of the fireflies.

"Not a bad idea I suppose." He says.

"Great! Let's see. Well, since we're nursing it, it's practically being reborn again." I say thinking hard.

"And it's a soul, a living thing." Naraku adds.

"Reborn, a soul. A new soul. Atarashi Tamashi." I say as I think of those two words.

"How about Atamashi?" The combination of the two words." Naraku says.

I look at Naraku, and I smile without knowing. It's a beautiful name.

"I love it, Atamashi it is. It's a little soul that's getting a second chance at life." I say as I pet the feathers on its head.

"A soul getting a second chance at life..." Naraku whispers.

I look back up at Naraku and I see his eyes just staring blankly into space as if he's lost in thought. Without knowing I gently touch his arm, it pulls him back into reality and he looks back at me. He must be trying to think of his past.

"I don't know you that well, and I don't know what you've been through, but it shouldn't matter to yourself and I. Whatever happened to you in the past, you have been given a second chance at life, to start anew. A life is precious, we shouldn't let the past hold us down and prevent us from having a future that we want. A friend once told me: losing a part of your memory can be hard, but what if it's for the best? What if it's something that wasn't meant to be etched into your mind? You can try to find it again, but what if it's something that you'll come to regret in the future if you manage to gain it all back? I've tried hard to try and find my missing memories, and I've to realize now that, maybe I should just let it be. I should focus on the present and the future, and if one day those memories comes back then let them, I'll find ways to cope with them and deal with it when the time comes. You should too, don't you think?" I ask Naraku.

Yes, maybe I should stop trying to regain those memories, I've done all that I could. I want to imagine who that person was and if Naraku was that person or not, but without proof and clarity, it will always remain a mystery. Naraku's brows furrows slightly, but then relaxes.

"I suppose you're right____________. Your words are always calming and persuasive." He says with a chuckle.

"My parents always called me persistent and stubborn. I'll go out of my way just to achieve something." I say with a laugh.

Naraku looks at me his now maroon colored eyes bouncing from one of my eyes to the other.

"Thank you, for being my first friend and for letting me see that I deserve a second chance at life." Naraku says.

"No thanks are needed, I'm glad that I got to befriend you, a demon. It allows me to understand your kind much better, you aren't that different than us humans. You have feelings, sorrow, happiness, and thoughts, it's what makes us alive. I told you before, I don't want you to be alone. If you ever need to talk, I'll listen." I say.

"You're right. I'm grateful." Naraku replies with a soft smile.

I then let out a yawn, and I realized how tired I am. Naraku noticed and smiled.

"You had a long day, sleep, this place is safe so you don't have to worry." Naraku says.

"Yea, long day today, but it paid off I think. Thanks Naraku, you should get some rest too." I say as I lie down onto the soft grass.

"To think that that you're not afraid to be here by yourself and with a demon. You're brave." Naraku says.

I look up at the clear night sky, the stars are dazzling.

"I don't think it's because I'm brave, I like to believe the good in people, despite good or bad. Even the bad has morals and knows good, they just went through a lot that blinded them from finding their good side. If you were a bad person you would have done something to hurt me already." I say.

"How would you know I won't hurt you one day in the future? What if the me in the past was someone bad?" He asks me.

I listen to his question and I stay silent for a few seconds, and I smile as I stare into the vast space.

"Like I said, if you were someone bad, you would have hurt me already. The past is the past now. The future will be the future, and if you were to hurt me somehow in the future, I hope that our friendship that we formed today will prevent you from doing something like that. I trust you Naraku, even though we only started to know each other but I feel that our bond will last for a long time." I say.

I turn my head to look at Naraku, he's sitting with one of arm resting on his knee, he's looking at the ground, he noticed my gaze and he turns to look at me. I show him a gentle smile, he returns it with a subtle one. He then lies down beside me and the two of us look up at the sky surrounded by glowing fireflies.

"This place really is beautiful, it's almost magical." I say inhaling deeply.

"It does, in a world of demons, for a place to be magical shouldn't be such a surprise." He says calmly.

His calm voice is soothing to listen to and I feel that it can lull me into sleep right away.

"You're right. An open area in nature with a beautiful cherry blossom tree standing majestically, and glowing fireflies accompanying the serene beauty of this place. I almost don't want to leave to be honest." I say with a laugh.

"You have a home to return to, this place won't disappear so you can always come back, but it shouldn't be the place that holds you from seeing the rest of the beauty the world has to offer." Naraku replies.

I nod in response. Naraku is still holding Atamashi in his hands, I smile as I see it sleeping peacefully on his stomach area. Without knowing, I slowly focused on Naraku's rhythmic breathing. His chest rising and falling in a steady pace, his eyes looking up at the sky and the crimson rim of his iris glimmering in the moonlight. He looks flawless, as aspected of a demon I suppose. I couldn't help but admire him. As I gaze at him, I feel sleepiness slowly creeping on me. With no words exchanged between us, the gentle night breeze mixing with my own breathing, I slowly close my eyes and my consciousness fades out. Before it does completely though, I feel a few strands of my hair being brushed aside gently from my face. It was so subtle and natural. With my consciousness almost fading away, I assume it was the night breeze.