Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Sixteen-year-old Izayoi shivered as she sat by the fire, a blanket cloaked over the Princess as she mused to herself. Inutaisho had been gone for a week now, and it was beginning to bother her. Perhaps a relationship between a Dog Yokai General and a human Princess really wouldn't work. Reluctantly, she felt a tear leak from the corner of a violet eye and sighed shakily.

The door behind her opened, but she didn't need to look to see whom it was. With the silence and stealth of the entrance, only a yokai would ever be able accomplish that. Wiping the tears with a swipe of her hand, Izayoi turned and smiled dazzlingly at her love, who stared down at her through concerned golden eyes. Izayoi cursed mentally when she saw his sensitive nose twitching, no doubt scenting the air and noticing the tell tale salty smell of tears. One of the worst features of being a fiance' to an dog yokai was that you could never hide anything from them.

"Izayoi, you've been crying." His armour was removed from his body, she noted, leaving him in his plain white shirt and loose white hakama. Izayoi did appreciate the gesture, knowing this showed his whole hearted trust in her, but was too upset at the moment to really care. The pretty woman nodded, turning her face back to the flame.

"Yes, I have been." She said quietly, running a finger through her silky black hair.

"Why?" Came the simple question, which came from right by her ear and despite the fact that she was upset with him, she felt herself lean towards his presence, seeking comfort.

"Because of how long you've been gone." She stated bluntly, not in the mood to dance around the subject.

"It was merely seven nights, dear." He whispered, "It was a moon cycle last time. Surely I haven't been gone for that long. Why does this cause you distress?" The dog yokai sounded confused.

"Because..." Izayoi felt her throat close off, not wanting to tell him, but she knew she should. "Because you never tell me anything of these travels. To have a relationship, don't I need to know? Don't I tell you every plan our kingdom has, because I trust you so? So surely this should work both ways. Do you not trust me Inutaisho?"

Izayoi, still refusing to look at him, could hear his unease when he spoke next. "Of course I trust you, Izayoi but... We have gone through this before. If you were to know our plans, your life would be in danger. I can fight enemy yokai but... Your life is too precious for me to risk for my selfishness!"

"Your selfishness?" Questioned the woman coldly, feeling hot anger seep into her, "Your not the only one who desires a healthy relationship Inutaisho! I want us to be happy! I want us to have children and live together and just be like every other couple I see everyday! I know we can never be the same, but... I just... Want..."

"What do you want, then?" Snapped Inutaisho, Izayoi's anger becoming contagious and the dog yokai was having a hard time keeping control, despite his ecxtacy of seeing her again. Usually, Inutaisho's remedy for anything that angered him was to slay the source, but he would never hurt her. Never.

"I don't know!" She screamed, standing and glaring at him. Never before had he seen her this angry, and he was baffled, wondering what had gotten her so riled up that it led to this. Usually, she was rather mild mannered, having been raised by royalty and taught proper manners, but now it seemed that spending so much time with an inu yokai may have begun to affect her temperament.

However, she seemed to regret her actions and sat on the floor once more, staring at the ground. She breathed deeply, refusing to even glance at him. Inutaisho realised this treatment hurt more then any battle wound he had ever recieved, although he would never reveal it. His face remained stoic as he stared at her, and felt the need to apologise for whatever he had done.

"Izayoi..."

"I... want some time alone, I think." She whispered, almost burning a hole in the floor with her intense gaze, "Please."

"But, Izayoi, I just got back..."

"Please, Inutaisho." The dog demon stood for a moment more before nodding and walking out the door, into the lonely halls. He breathed deeply and attempted to calm his racing heart.

"What just happened?" He asked himself, and continued towards his room.

Izayoi stared at her handiwork proudly, and gathered it together before swinging her makeshift pack over her shoulder. She had the clothing she would require, money that she would need and the few belongings that she could not bear to leave behind. Slinking into the hallway, she was pleased to see no one wandering the halls. That would make it all the easier.

Crouching, she moved quickly through the palace towards the outer gates, wincing as the snow crunched beneath her feet, sounding like a gunshot in the silent night. She had used this escape route many times before, before when Inutaisho had not yet forced his way into the palace to see her. Clambering up the Sakura tree located by the fence, which proved more difficult then before due to snow on the branches, she nimbly grasped the limbs of the tree and swung herself over, landing awkwardly on her rump but safely on the other side. Rubbing her abused backside and wincing, she continued into the woods before one of the palace guards on his rounds discovered her.

Pulling Inutaisho's old Fire Rat haori closer to herself, she felt the heat that was always inside the fur radiate into her, and sighed with pleasure. Thank goodness he had given it to her all those moons ago. Surely, she would be freezing right now without it. Inutaisho always looked out for her...

Shaking the thought stubbornly from her mind, she reminded herself that she was angry with him. If she were to become just another normal woman, she would be able to accompany him everywhere he went, since she would be merely just another human, of no interest to demons. But to have the strength to get that far, she needed strength, and right now that was being fueled by her anger towards Inutaisho after their fight, which she realised was dwindling as time went by.

With another burst of determination, Izayoi continued forward through the woods, hoping to find some sort of civiliation soon.

Inutaisho paced restlessly outside of Izayoi's room, frustrated and worried. He had knocked, begged and pleaded to be allowed in to apologise, buthe had recieved no answer from his beloved. She must be very cross with him. Taking a deep breath, Inutaisho walked over to the door once more.

"Izayoi, dear?" He questioned, and recieved no reply, which was what he expected, "Please let me in, I am sorry. I didn't mean to do... Whatever I did before, please."

When no reply came once more from his heartfelt pleas, he huffed, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. If I ever have a son with her, he thought angrily,hope he doesn't have her stubbornness... Or my rude tongue. That would be a recipe for disaster. However sourly he thought this, though, he couldn't stop the odd feeling of peace at the idea of someday having a family with her.

Finally, his patience wore out. "Izayoi, I'm coming in." He growled and opened the door, only to realise something. The scent in the room was no longer fresh. And she was no where in sight.

A feeling a fear settled over him and he bolted to his bedroom, grabbing Tessaiga as he put on his armour, and he ran outside, breathing deeply as he did so. The cold air stung his nose, but he ignored it angrily, working himself into more of a panic. Where the hell did she go?

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was really a little more then a few minutes, he caught her scent and followed it. He paled when he realised where it lead, and without wasting time in climbing the tree, he nimbly leaped over the wall, with a much more graceful landing then Izayoi. Without thinking twice, he continued into the trees where her scent trail led.

Izayoi sneezed, wrinkling her nose in the chilly air. Surely the village couldn't be that much further, after all, she had been walking for what felt like hours. She only hoped she hadn't been going in circles. She growled to herself and continued.

Only to be stopped after a few steps.

The young woman froze, her eyes wide and startled. A pair of figures stood directly in front of her, watching her carefully. Izayoi relaxed when she realised these figures looked human and walked towards them.

"Please, could you direct me to the village?" She questioned innocently, "I really need help. I have been wandering for a long time, and it is very cold outside. So please help me?"

"Hear that?" Questioned one of the voices, "She needs help."

The other person chuckled darkly, "I heard it. Think we should?" He stepped from the shadows and Izayoi kept a yelp down. The mans eyes were golden, with slits for pupils and brilliant ivory fangs curved over his bottom lip. He leered at her intensely, causing her to shrink away instinctively, backing herself into a tree. A tail wound its way around his legs, and pointed ears emerged from short black hair. The other figure stepped into the moonlight, looking almost identical to his companion except his hair and tail were a fiery red. Both smirked at her obvious fear.

"Yokai." She whispered through a trembling bottom lip, which seemed to amuse the demons even more.

"Yes." Replied the first one easily, "Puma yokai, in fact."

The red haired one stared at her. "At first we were cautious. It smelt like a dog demon was approaching us, and instead of an inu yokai, we get a pretty little human wench. Now explain to us how you managed to smell so alike to a dog demon, if you please?"

Izayoi glanced left and right, but there didn't appear to be a way out of this. After all, her pursuers would capture her before she could even flinch, and then they would not hesitate to kill her. The young lady began to scold herself for doing something so reckless and stupid as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Inutaisho

"She ain't talking." Snickered one darkly. Izayoi didn't know which. She had closed her eyes so she wouldn't need to look into the blood lusting eyes, and instead she could envision him. Oh, if only she had apologised. It had been such a stupid fight...

Inutaisho,

"Let's just kill her."

I love you.

"Agreed, her whimpers are irritating my ears." The snow crunched as one lept, no doubt aiming for her throat. Any second now, she would feel death. She would never see Inutaisho again.

With all my heart.

However, a roar forced her to open her violet eyes in shock. Before her stood an enormous white dog. Blood red eyes bored into the puma's golden ones and a snarl tore from its throat, low and threatening. One of the feline yokai decided Izayoi just wasn't worth the fight the would ensue if they continued to stick around, and the black haired feline yokai dashed into the trees.

However, the other was a little more stubborn, and stayed. Izayoi swore she saw the dogs eyes roll and a great white paw lashed out, sending the yowling feline into the bushes which he came from. Inutaisho stood for a moment, waiting to see if the demon returned. It didn't.

The dog snorted before turning to her, observing her through concerned eyes. Izayoi watched as emerald pupils looked for any sign of blood, and when satisfied ahe wasn't hurt, plopped down in the snow in front of her and laid his enormous head before her, staring up at her and whimpering pitifully. Izayoi walked up to him, no longer fearful, and began to scratch a fluffy ear as his whimpers faded away.

"Inutaisho..." She said tearfully, "I'm so sorry!" That was all she could choke out before dissolving into tears. The dog curved his head around her, surrounding her in a wall of fur and lying still, obviously thinking of this as some kind of inu hug. Izayoi gave a watery laugh and buried herself into his dense coat, feeling warm and safe. She should have known he would have come to save her. After all, he always did.

The dog began to pant heavily with joy that his apology was accepted and licked the side of her face. Or, at least, he aimed for the side of her face, instead getting the whole left side of her body. Shrieking playfully, she shoved his head away.

"Inutaisho!" She shrieked, "You got me soaked!"

The dog looked at her sheepishly before lying down once more and tilting his body towards her. Izayoi took the hint and clambered onto his back and buried herself in long, plush hair. Once sure she would not fall off, Inutaisho sprung forward and raced through the trees, glorying in the freedom this form provided him. The feeling of the earth racing beneath his paws, the feel of the wind in his face and the power he felt in the moonlight was worth any shortcomings the form held, such as the fact of not being able to speak.

They reached the palace in record time and Izayoi dismounted, waiting for Inutaisho to revert to his humanoid form. Grasping his hand, she lead him inside and back to her room, playfully asking if her wanted one of the dog beds they had for the palace dogs. Inutaisho only growled playfully in return, before pulling her toward him and nuzzling his nose into her hair. He brought her over to Izayoi's bed and leaned against the wall, content. They sat like this long into the night, and both slept, until a shrieking from a maid that discovered them like this, and automatically coming to the inappropriate conclusion, would wake them in the morning. However, for now, both of them would just enjoy the time of bliss together.

Izayoi closed her violet eyes for the last time that night, and allowed her to drift to sleep in the arms of her loved, no fear of the fact that the one holding her was in fact, Inutaisho, Demon Lord of The West.

Boy, it sure was lucky that Inuyasha didn't inherit a stubborn attitude or rude tounge... Oh, wait. :P

Anyways, another IzayoixInutaisho fic, yay! And I still plan to do that chapter fic, promise!