InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dangerous Temptation ❯ Love And Hate ( Chapter 2 )

Love And Hate

It had been 10 years. 10 long years since she had had lost her family and her life. 10 years since a beautiful angel had come to her side and brought her back to life.

Rin was no longer 8 years old. She was no longer the young, naïve and innocent girl Sesshoumaru had saved so many years ago. She remembered waking up in the arms of the angel she had seen in the moments before her death. She remembered it so clearly, so vividly. That day was firmly etched into her memory, she would never forget it.

~~~~Flashback~~~~

In her sleep she had clutched the soft boa to her, wanting its warmth and its softness. Opening her eyes slowly, Rin found herself in the arms of the angel she had seen standing over when she had died. Maybe she was in heaven. Looking into the eyes of the one who held her, the magnetic golden depths, she asked the question that plagued her mind.

"Am I in heaven?"

"No" the stoic figure replied, his deep masculine voice washing over, warming her, protecting her. "You are alive, what is your name?" he quietly demanded.

"Rin" she answered on a whisper, afraid that she would shatter the beautiful image before her. If this was a dream she didn't want it to end.

"I am Sesshoumaru, Lord of The Western Lands, you will be staying with me now" he said calmly.

Rin wanted to ask more questions but as she looked up to him, the cold impassive mask of his face, and the unflinching steel of his eyes, she somehow understood that he had explained all the he was willing to explain. She would be staying with this angel, Sesshoumaru; he would be her master, her protector. To be with this man forever, in one blinding moment she knew this was her fate, her destiny. In the cheerful voice that would become her trademark she answered the demon's spoken demand.

"Hai!"

~~~~End Flashback~~~~

Rin smiled at the memory. Even then she had understood him. Letting her gaze settle on the back of the powerful youkai walking in front of her Rin could not help but wonder, as she had done everyday since she had joined him, why he had saved her and why he allowed her to stay with him. She never asked, the question was always a silent one. She knew he would never answer and she did not want to risk jeopardizing the tenuous relationship they had.

She never asked questions, she always did what she was told, she always silently obeyed. That was what he wanted, and she was more than willing to do it if it meant staying by his side. Although emotion never touched his beautiful face she knew he had a heart buried somewhere, buried beneath all the ice.

She refused to believe that the Lord detested her presence as his faithful retainer, Jaken, always claimed. She knew that he cared for her in some way, as small or insignificant as it might be. It was evident in the way he always sent her away when danger approached, in the way he tolerated her cheerful silliness when she was younger, and in the way he continued to allow her to stay even now, when she was 18 and able to care for herself.

She loved Sesshoumaru. The childlike idolization of her youth and grown and blossomed into a deep love that filled her heart. But to love the powerful Lord was to also hurt. She knew he would never return her feelings, ever. She was a human and nothing would ever changer that. He merely tolerated her presence and that had to be enough for her, it would be enough. No matter how much her heart broke she would stay with him always, forever.

"We will stop here" She heard him say as his firm words interrupted her thoughts. "Rin stay here with Jaken" he continued, as always never saying where he was he going. But she knew, he had gone to hunt for some food, as he always did, for her.

"Hai Sesshoumaru-sama" she replied in the same cheerful tone she had since she was a child.

"Filthy human, I don't know why his Lordship even bothers" croaked the green, ugly, toad-like figure next to her. "You are not worthy of his presence" Jaken ended,, shaking his staff in her direction.

With a rueful smile on her face, Rin kicked Jaken in the shin, causing him to yelp in pain and to drop his staff. She picked up the servants coveted weapon and ran off with it, a screaming and very furious Jaken chasing her.

~~~~

Sesshoumaru returned to camp, two dead rabbits in hand, and was greeted by the screams of his servant and mischievous giggles of his ward. Setting the animals on the ground, Sesshoumaru folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a nearby tree, taking in the scene before him. It was one he had witnessed many times before. Sesshoumaru knew that Jaken hated the human girl he had saved so many years ago. He could understand that, he had hated her for a long time and in some ways, he still did.

She had disrupted his life. Like a warm breeze she had subtly, but effectively changed him. Her silly antics as a child amused him, compelling him to laugh, something he had long ago ceased doing. The warmth and brightness of her being in return warmed him, made him comfortable in her presence. Sometime over the past 10 years he had stopped hating the human he was forced to be with and began to hate the human he wanted to be with. She was unlike anything he had ever encountered, human or youkai. It was her quiet and unquestionable loyalty that made her so different, her loyalty to him.

In the beginning he had not treated her as well. They would travel for hours without rest, he would only provide the small amount of food necessary to sustain her, and she traveled in the same clothes he had found her in the day of her death. She was a constant reminder to his inability to master his own sword, a reminder that he was not as powerful as he thought himself to be. But she had never complained and gradually he began to change. A better room in his palace, new clothes, Ah and Un to ride on when they traveled. And over time she had earned his protection, she was a part of his territory, the Western Lands, she belonged to him. He had accepted all of this; it wasn't until the past year that her presence began to bother him on a wholly different level.

She was no longer a child; even he could deny it no longer. She had grown into a woman, a beautiful one. Long, raven black hair, full rosy lips, soft curves and a lean and slender body acquired from their constant traveling. Her scent had always been pleasing but now it was intoxicating. Flowers and sunlight now laced with the headier scent of lavender and musk. A garden at midnight, that was the image her scent brought to mind.

He did not like the new feelings stirring in his blood; he did not like the emotions she was now evoking in him. They were dangerous in their temptation. Shaking his head of the thoughts that plagued him, he straightened as Rin began to beat Jaken over the head with his staff.

"Rin, stop" he commanded. She silently obeyed, as she always did, and walked over to where he stood to begin the fire to cook the rabbits he had brought.

After she had finished her meal, Rin prepared to sleep, sitting next to Ah and Un, she undid her braid and began to comb through the tangles with her fingers. She began to quietly hum as she went about her task, completely content.

Above her, Sesshoumaru sat on a branch in a tree, watching over the camp, watching over her. Closing his eyes, he let her soft and melodious voice wash over him, not opening them again until she had stopped and fallen asleep next to the warmth of Ah and Un. His gaze swept over the land, searching for any hint of danger and finding none. The night was beautiful. The full moon shined brightly in the sky; illuminating the land below, casting a soft white glow on everything it touched. He had always been awed by the moon, its mysterious beauty and ethereal power. Yet the splendor of the night and the moon above escaped him as thoughts of the sleeping woman below lingered in his mind.