"Battle of Nori Nanba"
Chapter 5


As Nori Nanba is caring for the young man, she is finding it hard to keep her eyes open, she feels mentally and physically drained from the last couple of weeks and now with no sleep she has was ready to drop. She changes the cloth on the young mans forehead once again checking his fever, no change still, but he is still cooler then last night. Her mind drift's out and she sits back, soon after, sleep has taken over her body and mind.

"Nori Nanba... Nori Nanba wake up child, I have brought your dinner." She opens her eyes to see Sanako.

“I see you did not touch your lunch.” Nori Nanba jumps up, "It's evening!" she yells.

"Yes, child you must have been very tired, I could not get you to wake up when I got here with your lunch, so I left it thinking if you awoke you would have something to eat and I would just see you at dinnertime." Sanako tells her.

Nori Nanba reaches for the young man to check his fever.

"He is fine child, I checked his fever at lunch and again when I got here and he feels much cooler now." Sanako says.

Nori Nanba checks for herself, “He is much cooler than this morning, but he needs his medicine, he missed it because I fell asleep.” She goes over to the counter to mix it.

"Sanako," she says, "Why did you not tell me my mothers name sooner?"

"I thought you knew your mothers name child, but when the young man called out to her, I could see you had no idea who this woman was he was calling too," Sanako tells her.

"Your father used to call her Yoshi, I do not remember him ever calling her by her full name, unless he was upset at her and that was something your father was never very good at."

"He was never good at what," Nori Nanba asked.

"Being upset at your mother. Your mother and father shared a love I have rarely seen." Sanako tells her.

"What kind of love is that Sanako?" Nori asks.

"TRUE LOVE child, true love, they were so in love with each other." Sanako said.

"What is the difference between love and true love Sanako?" Nori asks her.

She looks at Nori Nanba, "Your father has kept you so sheltered child, have you never been in love, not even once."

"No,” Nori Nanba tells her, “But there is one man that has caught my eye, and my heart I fear."

"You fear?!" Sanako says. "Why would you fear love child?"

Nori Nanba looks up at her from the young man with a confused look on her face, "Because I Do Not Know Love and these feelings are strange to me, I feel lost and confused, and what I feel is this overwhelming feeling of wanting and needing him."

Sanako laughs, "It sounds like love to me."

"Love," Nori Nanba says, "I do not really even know this man, but when I first met him it was well… I do not know how to explain it, I have no words for it, I just know I think of him always and the desire is so unreal. I have never even been with a man to know how or where I got these feelings, but he is so perfect." Sanako is laughing at Nori Nanba.

"What is so funny Sanako?"

"You think you need to have been with a man to have these feelings. These feelings are all right here child," as she puts her hand on Nori Nanba's heart, "You have always had them, it's just the right man has never walked into your life until now, he must be one very good-looking man to catch your eye," Sanako says.

"Why do you say that?" Nori Nanba asks.

"Because there are many good-looking men in our village, and they all try very hard to catch your eye and your heart, and you do not even give them a second look." Sanako tells her.

"I am too busy for a man in my life," Nori Nanba says.

"Oh, but now your not, what has changed in the last few days, compared to the last few years," Sanako says to her.

Nori Nanba cannot answer her. "Well... I... I... well, all right nothing has changed."

"Therefore, you admit that the man that has caught your eye is a very good-looking man" Sanako ask.

Nori Nanba is looking out the window staring off into the night, thinking of Lord Sesshomaru, she starts to tell Sanako with deep passion in her voice.

"He is perfectly beautiful, his skin is pale, and like a cool silk to the touch, his hair is a long flowing white. He is strong and powerful, his voice is calm like a spring breeze, I do not think he has ever raised his voice in anger, he fears nothing. His eyes... his golden yellow eyes so deep and so full of pain, but I could see tenderness and fear like a child's, and the wanting of someone to love, and to love him in return. His heart is cold and distant so afraid of being hurt." Nori whispers out the window, “Sesshomaru.”

"What child?" Sanako asks.

"His name is Sesshomaru," Nori Nanba says, “Lord Sesshomaru.” Looking out the window once again wishing she could touch him once more, as Sanakos voice pulls her back to reality, “Child did you say golden eyes?”

"Yes, I did." Nori says.

Sanako looks confused, “Are we talking about a man or a Demon here?” She gives a slight chuckle.

"A man," Nori Nanba says slightly unsure of that answer, "Yes a man, even though he is a demon, he is still a man."

Sanako looking frighten says, "Nori Nanba you fell in Love with a demon?"

"If this is what I am feeling is love, then YES, I fell in love with a demon."

"Nori Nanba!" Sanako says in a very upset tone.

Nori Nanba interrupts, "No, do not say it, I already know what you are going to say, and I do not want to hear it. It does not matter anyway. It is not as if I will ever see him again, he has gone, and if he ever does come back, it will be to kill me."

As Nori Nanba walks away from the window, Sanako says, "Child why a demon?"

"Man, demon, or God what difference does it make in the eyes of the people it will be wrong I am a half-breed. Why should I make the people happy, it is my life, if I want to love a demon, then I will, and no one will stop me, but as I said he has gone and he will never return, so it really does not matter. So lets just leave it be."


She goes to check on the young man, his fever has broke, and he feels normal, she looks at Sanako and says, "He is through the hard part now, his fever is gone. Now to see if he ever awakens."

"Well child" Sanako says, "I need to be getting back home, I will see you in the morning to see how the young man is doing, and to bring you breakfast, hopefully he will have awakened."

Nori Nanba walks her out. "Sanako" Nori Nanba calls to her, "You never told me the difference between love and true love, is there much of a difference."

Sanako laughs, "Oh yes child, love is what you are feeling right now for this Lord Sesshomaru, and True Love is the feeling of willingness to kill or to be killed for the one you love."

"To kill or to be killed for the one you love," Nori Nanba says.

"Yes child, you feel that way because the person you are with is your life, your soul, your every breath, and without that one person for you to be with, you feel as if your life has ended. Therefore, you are willing to kill or to be killed for them. Goodnight child I will see you in the morning," and Sanako walks out of sight.

Nori Nanba walks back into the house thinking, “True Love, so my mother and father shared this kind of love.” Upset at this thought and trying to understand.

“If it was True Love, why is my mother not here and why has my father not tried to get her back, if true love means you will kill or be killed for the one you love then why is my mother not here?”

Searching her mind and heart for the right answer, still she cannot understand why they are not together. Starting to cry she walks into the medical room. As she goes to wipe the tears from her cheek, she hears,

"Why are you crying, a beautiful young woman like yourself should not be crying. Was it a man that broke your heart or is all those tears for me? Because if the tears are falling for me, you can stop now, for you can see I am fine and I owe it all to you." The young man says looking at her.

Stunned to see him awake and sitting up, she rushes over to him and placing one hand on his chest and one on his back telling him to lie back down or he could tear one of his stitches open.

“You should not be up like this right now you have been through a very rough time and you need to heal more before you start to move around like that.”

He laughs at her, "This is nothing, those demons are weak compared to me, the one that did this to me is in much worse shape than I am, and I bet he wishes he never came across me." He smiles at Nori Nanba and tells her, “You look like someone I know, what is your name Miss?”

She thinks, “Do I look like my mother, everyone has always told me I look like my father.”

"Nori Nanba," she replies, smiling back at him.

"Now that is much better." He tells her.

"What is," she says.

"You smiling, you are very beautiful, a tear should never be seen in your beautiful eyes, and a smile looks better there anyway.” He says.

She looks at him puzzled, "What?! A smile in my eyes." she says.

"Of course, when you smile your eyes sparkle. Therefore, a smile will always look better in your eyes."

She shakes her head, still smiling at him, "You have a funny way of putting your words sir."

"Sir," he says, "No... No, I am Haru Yamamoto, but you can call me Haru, do you mind if I call you Nori."

Still smiling at him, she tells him "No that is fine, my father used to call me that."

"Used to," Haru says.

"Yes, I guess he thought it was too much of a child's name, once I got older he started to call me Nori Nanba." Nori tells him.

"Well if you liked it, you should have told him he could keep calling you that for it did not bother you." Haru tells her.

"I do not mind, Nori Nanba is my name, my mother gave it to me, and my mother is no longer with us, so I feel honored to be called by that name." As she is thinking, “This man knows my mother and I want to know how he knows her, but when do I ask. I will just work my way to it slowly, and soon enough I will be able to ask him.”

She gets up to go fetch clean water, she tells him, “I will be right back, and you better not move.”

He laughs at her saying, "Yes Mom! I will do as you wish of me."

She turns around smiling and asks him, "Are you hungry?"

"A little yes." Haru says.

"I will bring you food then." Nori replies.

"Nori" Haru says she turns again to look at him. "Thank You so much for your help, I do believe you saved my life."

"You need not thank me, that is my job," She leaves the room.

As she is fetching clean water and fixing Haru something to eat. She starts to cry again. “I cannot do this any more…,” she says, “I want answers and I want them now, why can I not find someone that has the right answers for me. I need to know about my mother and the powers I was given by her. Why mother and father are not together any longer, and why my father did not fight for her. Why I have these feeling for a man, a demon, I do not even know, why I can feel Lord Sesshomaru's presence when he is not even here, and can he feel my presence as well. The desire I feel for him feels like it is ready to explode inside of me at any time.” She sobs into her hands.

As she is sitting there crying, she feels a hand on her shoulder, she looks up and sees Haru, he kneels at her side placing his arms around her, telling her, "Soon all her questions will be answered, you must be patient. There are many things in ours lives we do not understand, and when it is time to know those answers to the question we ask, we will know."

She turns, putting her face into his chest, and sobs some more. Haru just sits there, holding her until she starts to calm down, "Thank you" she said to Haru, "But I told you not to move."

Haru looks at her telling her, “I could not handle lying in there hearing you cry, knowing you needed a shoulder to cry on," smiling and adding, "or a chest," touching his bandages where it was wet from her tears, both of them laugh.

"There it is," he says to her.

"What" she says.

"That sparkle I tell you what, the person that is making you cry like this needs a lesson in how to treat a woman like you, and if I run into them, you can be sure I will be the one to give it to them."

She smiles at him, "You are very sweet, but it is not just one person, it is a few."

"Nevertheless," he says, "They need to wise up and start giving you what you need of them."

She looks at him smiling, "I wish it were that easy" she says, "My father is a doctor and is needed everywhere, my mother... well that one is a little different"

"Why is that" he says, "Has your mother passed on."

"No," Nori Nanba says, “She... she is a Goddess.

Haru sits back and looks at Nori Nanba, "A Goddess you say, and may I ask her name."

"Yoshiko Yamada," Nori Nanba tells him.

"Yoshiko," he looks at Nori Nanba stunned, "Yoshiko is your mother."

"Yes, she is, and she was taken away from my father and me when I was around one year old." Nori tells him.

"So then, do you know why your mother was taken away?" Haru asks her.

"No, I do not and I need her now that my powers have awakened in me, and I cannot control them." Nori tells him. They sit is silence for a few moments.

"I know that you know my mother Haru, you called her name many times while you were with the high fever and you thought I was here a couple of time as well. How do you know her and how well do you know her?" She asks him.

"Are you sure, you want to hear this?” He asks her.

"Yes, more then anything.” She tells him.

“All right then.” He tells her.


Haru starts his story, "I met your mother when I was about your age, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, just like you,”

He adds, “We were together for sometime, when she said she had to go, she said she could not stay in one place too long or she could be found to easily. I asked her what she meant by that, she told me of you and your father, and how her father came and took her away from you two. She said she cried herself to sleep for years and tried many times to get back to you two. She told me that she came to your father one night and told him how if they ran away somewhere to another land, far away, her father would never find them, and they could be together once again. She said your father was ready to go at that very moment, he would go get you, and they could be on their way to somewhere new. As your father walked back out with you in his arms, so they could leave.

A couple of men from your Grandfathers army attacked him, he got hurt trying to protect you from getting hurt, when he finally got you put down somewhere safe and out of the way, he was attacked again by them. While your Grandfather held your mother back to watch them kill him. Your mother finally got away from your Grandfather, saving your father, and killing the two men that went after him. She said her father was infuriated with her actions, and could not understand why she would want to save a mortal. His life was worthless, and the half-breed child she bore was an insult to the existence of the Gods."

Nori Nanba was crying at this point in his story.

“Your mother, very upset at her father, and what he said, swore she would never set foot in his house again. She told her father, ‘I love this man and my child, and you tore me away from them and I will never forgive you for that, and if you ever came around Nori Nanba or Haruki Gojo, again I will destroy you and all you love just as you have done to me.’ Her Father told her, ‘If living down here is what you wish so be it, but as long as I live and breath, I will never let you near these two again or even become close to another man as well. You have shamed the Gods once with your half-breed child and your foolish love affair. I will not allow it to happen again.’ She said her father left, and she has not seen him since that night. She sees only his men that hunt her and her lovers, she believes that her father wants her dead as well. Therefore, your mother and I decided that we would move on, I am a swordsman for hire, so it was no trouble that we moved from village to village."

Haru pauses as Nori asks him, "So when did my mother leave you?"

"About a year ago, I would have to say. We were getting very close to one another and she thought it would be safer for her, and me, if she moved on, alone. Her fathers' men had attacked us a few times, and when I got hurt badly she decided this. Knowing she was right, I let her go, heart broken, and sad, and I miss her as the flowers miss the rain." Haru said as sadness filled his eyes.

"Have you seen her since she has left?" Nori asks him.

"No," Haru says. "She has not crossed my path since she left." Nori Nanba had tears falling from her face.

Haru asks her, “Are you all right?”

"Yes," she says to him, "And thank you so very much for sharing your story with me."

As Nori helps Haru back to the medical room and puts him to bed. She tells him, “Goodnight I will see you in the morning.”

She turns to walk away as Haru calls to her, "Nori!"

"Yes," she says to him.

"Your mother can feel you and knows when you need her. It has been 21 years since she has been here to see you or your father. Give her time to get rid of her fathers' men and I know she will be here for you. She may not be here for long, but I know she will be here for you. She loves you and your father more then life itself. She knows you are hurting, and she will come to ease that pain within you."

"Thank You Haru, I needed to know that more than you know. Goodnight Haru, sleep well." Nori tells him as she walks from the room.



The Battle Of Nori Nanba Chapter 6