She stood surrounded by the forest. The trees seemed to welcome her into their home. The flowers were in full bloom and their scent filled the air. She moved slowly, barely disrupting the natural beauty of everything around her. Her feet were bare, she hated the feel of shoes and the noise they made. She was wearing a light grey kimono which had intricately sown on deep brown branches with cherry blossoms. They fell down from the branches in an elegant spiral. Their soothing pink color mirrored in the pink color of her obi. She reached up her slender hand and unpinned her hair and breathed in the smell of the forest as the silver cascaded around her. She looked at the pins she had pulled from her hair, they were silver with soft pink cherry blossoms on the ends. She set them down on the ground as she walked over to the Sacred Tree and sat, leaning against its base.

Today was her 17th birthday. She ran her hands over the beautiful kimono and hair pins, a gifts from her Mom. Tonight they were throwing her a party. She smirked as she glanced up into the branches. Everyone was going to be there. She giggled as the birds looked down at her. This was her favorite place. Surrounded by the forest, at the Sacred Tree. She felt so connected to it, when she placed her palms flat on the ground she felt like she could feel the heart beat of the earth, feel its very essence. The life force of everything. She closed her eyes as she listened to the movement of everything around her.

Her ears picked up as her nose smelt something unfamiliar. Her nose wrinkled as the smell invaded her. It wasn't bad, but it was odd. Her eyes flew open as her senses went on high alert. She recognized the scent of the trees, and the various flowers, the scent of everything around her. But, this was new. Her eyes narrowed as she sat up, slowly standing up as she reached for the gift from her Dad. It was staff. It was intricately carved in an old world language, one she couldn't read or understand. The dark brown of the wood contrasted sharply with the stone that was encircled in its grasp at the top. Her Dad had called the stone a fire rock. It glistened in the light, dancing flames seemingly swirled within it. She tightened her grip around it as she crouched into an attack position. There was a power in this staff. Her Dad commissioned Totosai to create it for her, it had to have powers. They just, weren't entirely sure what those were. Or if Totosai did know, he sure didn't tell her Dad. She felt a rush of power pulse through the staff as the stone glowed a little bit brighter and her head twisted to look at it. Her heart skipped as she felt the pulse again, stronger this time. Her eyes widened as she stared at it, completely forgetting about the possible danger that was there.

She jumped as she heard a rustle in the bush nearby and she was back in combat mode. As long as she could remember she had been trained to fight. Her Dad taught her how to use swords, her Mom taught her how to use the bow and arrow, Aunty Sango taught her various kinds of weapons to use in close range combat, and Uncle Miroku had taught her how to use a staff. There was just something about the staff, it always seemed to beckon to her. Her eyes scanned the forest where she had heard the nose, her breath caught in her throat as she froze at what she saw.

At first, she thought the forest was on fire. But then she saw it move, it was more than just fire. It was a creature on fire. It crawled out from the bushes and looked up at her. It wasn't scared of her, and oddly, she wasn't scared of it. She actually felt, comforted. It was about four feet long with short legs. Its body was muscular and strong, and completely on fire. It's eyes were steely, and didn't flinch as it starred up at her. She couldn't stop herself, she felt compelled to move. She kneeled down next to it, and it tilted her head, almost asking her to come closer. Slowly she sat down her staff and reached out a hand towards it. Nearly touching it, she paused, afraid the fire would burn her. But she didn't get to think about it for long as it rubbed its head against her hand. A smile spread across her face as she held its head in her palm before gently rubbing it. Its eyes closed as she petted it, and her eyes closed too. In the darkness she could still see him, burning bright in the dark. It hissed so quietly she barely even heard it, but, somehow, she knew what it said.

"Ka Riu…" She whispered out the name, it felt right, it felt familiar.

"Keiko!" She lurched as she heard Katsuro's voice calling out to her. Her eyes shot open but that warmth of Ka Riu was gone. He was gone. She sighed as she stood up, a dazed look still on her face as Katsuro came into sight. "There you are!" Keiko looked up at him and quirked her eyebrow in mock annoyance.

"You know, you interrupted something here." The corner of her lips turned up as she smirked.

"What?" He raised his shoulders and looked around, raising his eyebrows at her. "I don't see anything to interrupt." Her eyes flicked around and sighed, deciding not to tell him about Ka Riu, at least for now. She looked at him and couldn't help but blush a little as he stared at her.

He had memorizing purple eyes and midnight black hair that was tide back into a tight ponytail. He was wearing a dark green kimono with a light grey obi, a pair of sandals, and a sword strapped to his side. He was about five inches taller than her and she felt annoyed every time she had to tilt her head to look him in the eyes. So much taler, and only one year older. When she was younger she always hoped she would outgrow him, but there was no hope of that now. She blushed a little more as he raised one eyebrow at her.

"What are you staring at?"

She jumped, startled at his semi-accusation. "Nothing." She looked down before she spun around, skipping around him after picking up her staff. She glanced back up at him and noticed his glance, wandering down to her bottom. "And what are you staring at?" She teased him and his eyes flew up to meet hers before spanning away, a blush dusting his cheeks.

He hurried up after her and matched her pace as they began to walk back to the village. "I can't help it, its the curse of the wandering eyes." She elbowed him as he laughed and she couldn't help but laugh along with him. How many times had she heard that excuse? Little too many to count.

"I like what your parents got you. The kimono looks very nice on you." He turned his face away as he finished and she blushed as she looked up at him. butterflies floating in her stomach.

"I could tell you liked it." He looked back at her and smiled as they continued to walk. The village appeared and silence set in on them. Neither sure what to say to the other. As they reached her hut they slowed down and he looked over at her again with a bashful look.

"You know, Keiko, I wanted to ask you something for a while now…" He trailed off and gathered up his courage but was interrupted as two girls ran into sight. Keiko looked up at them and waved before looking back at Katsuro.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" She raised her eyebrows as the two girls drew closer. He looked towards them and shrugged, heaving a heavy sigh.

"It was nothing, I can just ask you later." He looked down at the ground, rubbing his sandal into the surface.

"Are you sure?" She looked at him worriedly, he usually didn't have such a nervous and shy aura around him. He glanced up at her but their conversation was broken as the two girls finally reached them and instantly he was back into his normal self.

"Amarante, Chiho! What are you guys doing here?" Keiko looked at her friends and smiled as they jumped on her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Well its your birthday silly!" Chiho looked up at her playfully as she made a face at her.

"We're here for the party, its starting soon, right?" Amarante questioned her.

"Oh, I guess it is…" Keiko looked up at the sky and noticed the sun's position. She smiled as her friends dragged her to the back of her hut where a meal was being laid out for the entire town to share. Her parents had insisted on throwing her a huge party, one for the entire town. She had tried to insist to keep it small, with just them, but they wouldn't hear it. But still, it should be fun.

By the time the party was done and she was finally able to collapse onto her bed in her quaint room. She was exhausted. She stretched out across her bed, snuggling into her blankets as she closed her eyes. The party was great, but the whole night she couldn't get Ka Riu off of her mind. Katsuro avoided her most of the night, mostly talking with the other village boys or Shippo. Most of the night she was hounded by Amarante and Chiho, discussing all of the boys in the village. She giggled as she turned over in the bed, snuggling deeper into the covers. Even still, with everything else that should have drew her attention away from what she was starting to believe was some kind of, dragon. Ka Riu. She whispered his name and instantly she could see his image, vivid and clear, behind her eye lids. Her eyes flew open but he wasn't there. Slowly, she closed her eyes again and his image was back. His soft fire comforted her as he sang her asleep with a lullaby.