Feeling his lips, a small smirk couldn’t help but cross her features. It was weak but it was something. He still felt like a ghost. A part of her felt like she would wake up from her futon only to be alone again. Then the search would continue. The endless cycle, the thing that made up her life for the last several years. She had seen fragments of her imagination come to life. A small part of her. .. Although small, it bothered her.<br/>He was here and it bothered her. The question was, but why?<br/><br/>Was it the unanswered questions? Was it his compliment? Perhaps the thought of him cherishing anyone but her upset her?<br/><br/>Was jealousy that distant feeling…?<br/><br/>Perhaps the thought of him lying with another struck a chord in her. But did she have the right?<br/><br/>Conflicted, desiring but in the end… distant and repulsed.<br/><br/>Jealousy was a devilish beast… and her mind was amuck about what her oh so clever mate had been up to while she was… barely surviving.<br/>It made her feel a deep rhythm in her heart as it pounded heavier. Not faster… she was far from fear, she was feeling threatened. Funny how even now, after so much time had passed he invoked such violent feelings in her.<br/><br/>“I bet you say that to all the lovely women who accompany you on your travels.” It was said sweetly but the thought stung like hell. With a calculated breath she relaxed and let it pass.<br/><br/>Who was she really? Was she the timid and obeying wife like figure she felt like he wanted at times? Or was she the powerful demi-goddess who could even face her own mate head on, blade to blade.<br/><br/>Even if she didn’t quite know where she fit in yet she did know one thing: She was not going to be pushed from his side. Not again.<br/>After all she had been through for him…<br/><br/>Everything he didn’t know is what kept her at his side the most.<br/><br/>Closing her eyes as he guided her through the forest she found herself getting lost in the sounds of clashing steel. The sprays of blood… the pure rage she had that still lingered under her skin. How many had she put into the ground… how many of them had begged for mercy…?<br/>It didn’t really matter… none of them received it. All she could hear was her voice roaring and producing contorted growls of vengeance. With the same mantra coming from her lips. ‘I’m looking for someone….’<br/><br/>The sounds faded to the background in her mind as she opened her eyes seeing the same blond haired man pulling at her. She let him guide her mostly like an unknowing maiden. Unknowing of her fate….<br/>As she followed she looked at the sight of him. He looked like a dream in the moonlight that filtered in between the trees. He looked like... a god in his own right.<br/><br/>‘I don’t want to waste anymore time without you…’<br/><br/>Looking up at the tree covered sky she wondered… ‘Just how much have you missed me… the winters have been so lonely without you… could you too share this feeling of loss?’<br/><br/>Listening to his voice as it filled the silence between them she mused over his ideals of how well she had been doing.<br/>Her voice was cold but understanding. “I trust you understand… I only survived because of the little one. She gave me something tangible to come back to. Otherwise… I would have easily died fighting. Only she could keep me from my own insanity. She kept me sane… and in many ways she kept me alive. I was only in the village but a couple of days… a fortnight a most before continuing on my search.”<br/><br/>The only reason she stayed that much was due to her wounds. Sarah wouldn’t let her leave until she was able to walk without limping or being hunched over. She called it the lady-like test. If she couldn’t stand and walk tall like a lady… Sarah would have none of it.<br/><br/>Her thoughts trailed until her mate saw fit to challenge her… he saw fit to remind her of where she was headed.<br/><br/>That made her stop, dead in her tracks. The dark hair falling over her eyes as she finally lifted her head. Speaking to his back she dropped his hand. Her features rigid and regal. “My archrival? I think you enjoy Natsu thinking she commands your house. But recognize, that that whore turned me away bloodied and injured.” She paused to make him realize it wasn’t just once. “Please recognize that she was the one who consorted against me when I resided in your house peacefully. I took her precious Lord away and to be quite frank… she kept me away… she pushed me out of that house when I needed help most.” Her aura flickered harshly. Her anger found its way to the surface.<br/><br/>“You joke as if you know…. but Chikage. You know nothing!” Her voice rose. “I had forgiven her for kicking me out after you left. Jealous women do jealous things… however, I would like it to be noted that I fell on the front steps of your home with a wound no smaller than your palm in my chest and an arrow in my back!” She pointed a finger his way angrily.  “What has that whore ever done but live in the comforts you have provided her!! And what have I ever done but fight for you!!”<br/><br/>She stood her ground. “I was dying Chikage!!!” She cried out.<br/><br/>“I was practically dead… you almost lost me completely! Sarah found me dying against a tree and had the villagers drag me along the trails to get me back to the village you think I did so well in.” Her chest heaved as her anger knew no bounds.<br/><br/>“When we get to your Mansion look Natsu in the eyes and I swear to Kami if she doesn’t shy away from you when you ask how bad I looked. When you ask what she said to me. That woman hid behind the wood of your doors and dismissed me. As I bled on your damn steps and you were not even there…” She trailed off trying to fight off tears. “She is not my archrival… she is a woman that is at my mercy every fucking waking day she breathes. The woman you jest about is the woman who almost cost you your Mate. Maybe you will now start to realize how bad things got after you left.” She went silent as she walked past him already knowing the way like the back of her hand.<br/><br/>She couldn’t believe she just verbally attacked him… but Nastu was a woman whom Mishiko despised.