Disclaimer: Too crazy to own it, too lazy to try. So don't sue!

A/N: Yay! My first fanfic! Hope you enjoy! R&R!

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Chapter 1

She wiped water from frightened eyes as her feet flew silently against soft, rain-kissed ground. Long ebony hair flowed behind her as she ran without looking back. She could hear angry shouts from her pursuer echoing around her in the black night; she knew what he’d do if he caught her. She forced her legs to move faster, though, she noted, she didn’t feel tired or breathless. Why couldn’t it be full moon instead of half? No, then he’d most certainly catch her. At least with the rain there was a slight chance of him losing her scent. Panic settled in as she looked for somewhere to hide.

This is ridiculous! I’m in a forest and there’s nowhere to hide? she thought agitatedly. That’s when she noticed it: a light peering through the trees, not a mile ahead. A new hope seeped through her body as she doubled her effort. Her burst of speed was rewarded with the sound of her pursuer fading a bit.

The light turned out to be a relatively large estate. She veered instantly to the barn: barns had a wonderful way of masking scent, or so she’d heard. If not, it had hay and that could provide cover at least. She ignored the door, instead leaping up through the opening to the hayloft, and hurtled herself in it. She strained her ears to hear any signs of her pursuer. The rain spattering off the roof made it impossible, so she chanced a look. She looked just in time to see him fleeing back into the woods. Odd, it was in his nature to break doors down and scour every inch, why did he not? She decided to just be thankful. Suddenly, overwhelming fatigue and nausea overcame her causing her to collapse back into the hay. She saw the giant head of a reptilian creature cross her failing vision before passing out from exhaustion . . .

Even at the young age of eighteen, Himeko was widely considered a powerful healer. “Widely” being the small town at which she lived. She had trained with the town’s healer since ten, and at fifteen had far surpassed his talents. So it was only natural when a very worried looking Souma jostled her awake in the middle of the night.

“Himeko-chan! Wake up! I think there’s a dead girl in the barn!”

Had this been someone other than Souma, she might have been worried, but Souma did have a tendency to cry wolf when it was actually a cricket.

“Souma-kun, it’s the middle of the night. Why would a dead girl suddenly appear in the barn?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“I don’t know! But what should I do?”

Himeko sighed impatiently.

“I don’t know, bring her up here so I can take a look?”

“I can’t touch a dead person!” Souma fussed.

“Souma-kun you big silly! I’m sure she’s not dead. Besides, you’re a dragon, you’d know if she were dead. And when you come back, could you put some clothes on? I don’t care if you’re naked as a dragon, but as a human I really must insist.”

Souma disappeared out the door, leaving Himeko to merely shake her head. I wonder what excuse he’ll come up with this time for his imaginings. A vivid dream maybe? Himeko mused to herself. To her utter shock and amazement, when Souma returned he was indeed carrying a, for all intents and purposes, dead looking girl. She was soaking wet and pail as a porcelain doll. Himeko leaped into action.

“Lay her down on the bed, gently now. Is she alive?” Himeko asked.

“She still smells alive to me, but it’s odd, she smells . . .different. Himeko-chan, I don’t think she’s—”

“Get me some towels and light a fire,” Himeko cut him off. Then in a gentler tone, “ Please.”

She watched him hustle off for a moment then settled her eyes on her unexpected patient. Himeko rapidly realized how very beautiful the girl was, as she looked closely at her in the dim light of a lantern. The girl looked right about her age, probably to the year. She reached out and brushed a few strands of wet hair from the girl’s face, noting the perfect skin. But what really caught her attention was the sudden tingling sensation that flowed through her hand and to her whole body upon touching the girl.

As surprised as she was, she couldn’t tare her hand away from the girl, as if some magnetic force were holding it there. Then, even more to her amazement, she found herself leaning her head down close to the girl’s, a sudden curiosity about what those lips tasted like filling her. Just as their lips were about to meet, Souma came bursting back in with a stack of firewood in one arm, and a pile of blankets in the other, which he threw at Himeko.

“So is she gonna live doc?” He asked, hustling to the fireplace. The spell broken, Himeko busied herself undressing and drying her patient.

“I don’t think her condition is life threatening, it looks like she passed out from exhaustion or something similar.”

Himeko’s cheeks reddened as she dried the girl’s body. Normally such things didn’t bother her, but the perfect body that lay before her didn’t fit her definition of normal. Fingers’ tingling upon touch wasn’t normal. Getting a sudden impulse to kiss an unconscious person definitely wasn’t normal. Regardless of abnormality, soon the girl was in a dry robe and a healthy fire was cheerfully blazing in the fireplace. Himeko sighed.

“I can’t really do anything else until daybreak, as you know, so maybe we’d best sit this out . . .” her voice trailed off as something at the base of the girl’s neck caught her eye.

“Himeko-chan, what I was going to tell you earlier was, I’m not sure she’s human. I don’t know, it’s such a faint smell I’m not sure, but . . .” he stopped to watch Himeko.

“Souma-kun, what do you make of this?”

He leaned in for a closer look. What he saw made him recoil so quickly he fell backward to the floor.

“Vampire . . .” he hissed.

“Actually, I think it’s a werewolf bite; it’s a little too jagged to be a vampire bite.” She inwardly scolded herself for missing it before.

“Oh, that’s so much better. Now I can really sleep easy.”

“Souma-kun, for heaven’s sake you’re a dragon! What’s the worst she could do to you, chase you up a tree?”

Souma shot her a frosty glare before replying, “No but she could and will try to hurt you come full moon. Himeko-chan, you can’t keep her here, it’s too dangerous. I’ll fly her back to the forest tonight and—”

“Souma-kun! You’ll do no such thing on my clock! She’s my patient and I’ll take care of her until she’s well, is that clear? Good. Now, obviously we can’t let anyone know she’s here, so tell no one of her presence. I’ll hide her in my room until she leaves and that’s that. Now, seeing as how I can’t heal her until the sun decides to grace us with its presence, I’m going to sleep, and I suggest you do the same.”

“Fine, but I’m sleeping in here . . .” he wilted under the Look Himeko game him.

“It’s not like she can turn into a wolf, and if I may remind you, she’s unconscious! Besides, you can’t sleep in human form.”

“I can, I just get stiff in the morning!” he said indignantly. “But if you insist, then fine. I won’t be responsible if she eats you.”

With that, he opened Himeko’s bedroom window and leapt out, turning back into dragon form midair. Himeko watched him go, shaking her head in amusement. She had mended his wing once, and ever since he had vowed to stay by her side and protect her. Dragon’s were such silly creatures. Or perhaps it was just he . . .? Probably the latter.

Her musings were immediately forgotten when she turned her eyes back on the unconscious figure in the bed. Himeko moved toward it as if pulled, yet again, by some invisible force. She slid in the bed next to the warm body, pulling it close. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she wanted to protect this girl, to hold her, to encourage her to shine bright with her, to love her . . . What a strange thing to think, Himeko thought dimly before drifting off to sleep. Still very much unconscious, the girl rolled over and wrapped her arms tightly around Himeko.