Ashitaka sighed as he felt something gentle moving against his lips. Something warm and wonderful. Someone's lips. Someone was kissing him. His hand pulled itself from the bed roll beneath him and caressed their cheek, his body moving instinctively towards the warmth of the person lying beside him, waking him up with a wonderful kiss. And all too soon, the lips pulled away and Ashitaka was left gasping for air as he tried to pull them back.
"Time to wake up, Ashitaka," a soft voice cooed. Ashitaka shuddered at the feeling of lips against his ear. He didn't want to wake up. This was so wonderful. Whoever it was laughed as he tried to pull them back to him. "Ashitaka~" Lips skimmed against his cheek and he felt his lips blossoming in a smile. "Ashitaka~"
"Fine," he groaned, flopping back down onto the bedroll, groaning when he felt the rough rocky floor shooting up to meet the back of his head. He still wasn't entirely used to living in a cave in the mountains, despite the year that had passed since his permanent move from the rebuilt Iron Town. He pushed his body up, eyes still clenched shut as he tried to shut out the pain.
When he opened his eyes, he realised that the one who had called to him was standing at the mouth of the cave, adjusting one of her earrings and the mask that sat atop her head. Her spear was still resting against the side of the cave wall behind her.
Ashitaka still couldn't believe that she was here. It had all seemed hopeless when he had watched the life leave her two years before when the wounds from the battle had been too severe. But the Forest Spirit had given him one more gift before leaving the mortal world. The gift of the love of his life.
* * *
Ashitaka's eyes slowly fluttered open, and as his vision cleared, he watched the sky above as the clouds rolled past, and as the tall grass around him bent and danced in the crisp morning breeze. Yakul was standing beside him, gently nipping his ear and pulling at the ends of his hair to try and wake him. He smiled up at the serow. The Forest Spirit had given him life. But there was a bittersweetness to the gift. He was alive, but the light of the forest, the light of his life, was gone. And he would have to wait to join her in the world beyond the grave. He pushed himself up from his place on the ground and glanced around. San was lying beside him, facing away from him, unconscious but alive.
He smiled and got to his feet, admiring the lush greenery of the valley. The Forest Spirit was dead now, but the forest had been healed. The Iron Town was destroyed and completely overgrown. What the humans had destroyed had grown back tenfold, and as he stood atop that mountainside, Ashitaka knew that peace would come to the valley.
"Ashitaka?"
Ashitaka turned and smiled when he saw San coming to. She rolled over onto her back and gazed up at him. For a moment, she seemed confused, and a moment later, her confusion melted to sadness and sorrow as she realised that she had been given another chance at life. Just as Ashitaka had been turned away from the place where her mother and sister now resided, she too had been denied entry. Her eyes shut again as tears started to flow, silently and softly as they drew rivers along her pale skin.
"I wish he hadn't healed me," she whispered to the wind.
"I know," Ashitaka said, crouching beside San and gently pulling her into a sitting position. "I know." There was nothing more to be said.
Howls echoed around the valley and Ashitaka and San smiled a bit at the sound of San's brothers. They were alive and well, having escaped from the hands of the Forest Spirit. And now they were returning to a healed valley. Ashitaka glanced over the tops of the grass, and as the wind parted the blades, he could see the familiar white shapes of the wolves leaping over the grass towards them. He took San by the hand and pulled her to her feet, giving her a soft smile before turning to greet her brothers.
"Ashitaka! San!"
Ashitaka and San froze at the familiar voice. It couldn't be. Could it? Could the Forest Spirit have given them one more gift before he left the mortal world? Ashitaka rubbed his eyes, hoping that the light wasn't playing tricks on him. But as he pulled his hand away, he realised that what he saw before him was as real as Yakul's gentle nips on his hand. Y/N was there, alive and well, riding atop one of her brothers towards them, as bright and brilliant as the first day he had met her. It seemed as though the wounds had never even existed, for as soon as she came close to them, she jumped from her brother's back and ran towards them, knocking them both over in a tight embrace.
"Y/N," San choked out, eyes tearing as she wondered if this was all a dream. "Is it..." she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Y/N pulled away and beamed, small tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. "It is. The Forest Spirit brought me back."
San laughed and threw her arms around her sister, nuzzling into her sister's neck as she wept. Y/N was back. She was healed.
Ashitaka watched with a small smile as the sisters reunited. It was a heartwarming sight to see. Both of them with their foreheads pressed together, hands on each other's shoulders as San realised that her sister was truly with her once again. And after a moment, the sisters parted from each other and Y/N turned to Ashitaka.
"Y/N -"
Ashitaka couldn't get another word out as Y/N flung herself towards him, fisting his tunic and pulling his lips to hers. Ashitaka surrendered instantly and placed his hands on her waist, squeezing her sides as he returned her passionate embrace. Both had been faced with the possibility of death separating the two of them, and neither wanted to miss a moment. Ashitaka's arm slid around her waist while the other tangled in her hair, angling her head so their lips slotted together like puzzle pieces, and Y/N's hands cupped his cheeks, the edges of her fingers tangling themselves in his short hair. They pulled away after a moment and as they tried to catch their breath, they leaned against each other, not wanting to be apart for a moment.
"Y/N," Ashitaka whispered, his lips skimming over her hair as he tucked her head into his neck, holding her as close as possible.
"Yes, Ashitaka?"
"Never leave me again."
Ashitaka felt her lips on his neck as she whispered, "I won't."
* * *
"Are you ever going to get up, or are you just gonna sit there?"
Ashitaka blinked when he realised Y/N was standing in front of him, already dressed to go hunting with San. The Moro clan had finished the last of their meat the day before and both the girls and the wolves were hungry for more meat. Ashitaka smiled and got to his feet, pulling his quiver of arrows with him, along with the pelt that Y/N and San had stitched together for him to replace the one he had lost when he had left Iron Town.
"Where will you go hunting today," Ashitaka asked, slinging his bow over his shoulder as he made his way to the mouth of the cave.
Y/N shrugged. "There's a herd of deer to the north end of the forest. Maybe we'll go there tonight." She stabbed her spear into the ground at her feet to adjust the necklace around her neck. Ashitaka smiled at the sight of his sister's crystal dagger still hanging from Y/N's neck. "Where will you be?"
"I might stop by Iron Town and see if I can get some rice and some vegetables for us."
Y/N nodded. "All right. Just be safe, okay? And be back by noon."
Ashitaka took Y/N's hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss against her warm skin. "That goes for you too, remember? You come back home, okay?" He paused and gave her hand another kiss. "You come back to me."
Y/N smiled. "I will. Don't worry." She gave him a quick kiss, leaving him wanting more, and blew a sharp whistle as she pulled her spear from the ground. One of her brothers appeared in a moment and she hopped onto his back. They paused for a moment, allowing Y/N to blow a kiss to Ashitaka, before jumping from the ledge and down into the forest where they met the rest of their family before disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
Ashitaka watched them until he couldn't see or hear them anymore. He was always hesitant about Y/N leaving. He had let her go to war and had nearly lost her because of it. True, hunting a herd of deer wasn't nearly as dangerous as it was to fight in a bloody battle, but Ashitaka still didn't like it. But he also knew that Y/N was more than capable of taking care of herself. So, he watched her until he couldn't see her anymore, hoping that she would be careful and would come back to their little cave at the end of the day.
He sighed and turned back into the cave, collecting the rest of his things before making his way down the small stone staircase that they had chiselled out of the cliffside when they had decided to make the cave their own. It wasn't far from where Y/N had lived with the rest of the Moro clan, and often they ended up sleeping in the Moro cave when the night got too long for them to drag themselves back to their cave, but on the days that they had to themselves, it was a nice place to relax and have some peaceful moments with just the two of them.
"Yakul!"
The serow perked up from where he had been grazing beside the cave. When he saw Ashitaka making his way down, he meandered over to the side of the cave and soon the two of them were off to the Iron Town.
* * *
"I thought I told you to be careful!"
Ashitaka stood in the mouth of the Moro cave, eyes wide as he watched San stitching up a gash in Y/N's arm. The girls glanced up at him, San glaring at him for ruining her concentration. Y/N smiled and patted the rock beside her before turning back to watch San as she stitched up the rest of her wound. She bit down on the piece of fabric between her teeth as San pushed the needle into the skin and pulled the thread through it.
Ashitaka sighed and sat down beside Y/N, putting his things down around him and shrugging off the pelt. "What happened?"
"One of the stags got a little aggressive," Y/N explained, pulling the cloth from her mouth as San snapped the string. San wrapped a roll of bandages around the wound and pulled it tight before leaving to get a bowl of clean water to clean up the blood that had dripped onto the floor of the cave. She would also need to change the straw that Y/N had been sitting on.
"The stag did this?"
"Not exactly," Y/N said with a sigh. She leaned back against the cavern wall. "He spooked us and I got thrown into one of the boulders in the area. There was a rock that gashed my arm." She lifted her arm and poked at the bandage, wondering how much it would hurt if she touched it.
"Don't touch it," Ashitaka scolded, grabbing Y/N's wrist.
"Fine." Y/N's eyes fluttered shut and she leaned back against the wall, a small smile on her lips as she rested in the silence of the cave.
Ashitaka gently slid his arms around the young girl and pulled her closer to him so she was leaning on his chest rather than the cavern wall, and he smiled as he watched her smile widen. She nuzzled into his chest, shifting so she could rest against him more comfortably.
"Ashitaka," she whispered, drawing shapes on the boy's chest with her finger.
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
Ashitaka leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I love you too, Y/N."