InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Leaving the Past ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

Author's Note - Surprise! I updated a little quicker than usual this time! ^_^ Again, as always, my sincerest thanks to all who leave reviews. There is one more chapter to go, and I hope to have it up shortly. I loved writing this installment, and it deliberately parallels a couple of earlier scenes. Without further ado…

Chapter Twelve

The next morning Rin was up before dawn. She went out early, returning just as Kagome was getting breakfast ready.

Rin dressed very carefully, pulling her new blue kimono over another delicate white one. The silk had been among the gifts that Sesshoumaru had sent last year - the blue fabric shimmered with purple undertones, the hem finely stitched with irises and a crescent moon in silver thread. She tied her obi tighter than usual, and smoothed the material taut. She ran her hands over her hips and smiled.

She hurried into the main room, declining the bowl of rice that Kagome offered her. Kneeling on the floor, she pulled her chest out, flipping open the lid and rummaging around the contents. Inuyasha and Kagome both kept one eye on her, their chopsticks hovering mid-air. She tried putting her hair up with combs, studied her reflection in her hand-mirror, frowned, and pulled them out again. Holding the mirror with one hand she used the other to tuck a few stray strands behind each ear. She gave the mirror a final check, dropped it back in the chest, and snapped the lid shut.

"I'm going to take a walk," Rin called out.

"You're quite dressed up this morning," noted Kagome.

"Hmm," Rin answered absently. She plucked the small bunch of spring wildflowers that she had picked earlier from the basket next to the door, and darted out.

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged looks.

*

She found him standing in the fields on the outskirts of the village, not far from where she had stopped with Ichiro just a few days earlier.

Rin's steps slowed as she approached him. She was sure that she could hear her own heart thumping in her chest. He stood watching her, his face as impassive as ever, his eyes golden and impenetrable.

She stared at his face, the dark angular markings along his cheekbones, the fringe of hair just above his eyes. A childhood memory glimmered in her awareness and she experienced an unexpected and compelling desire to reach out and brush that hair with her fingers. His hair was so unlike any other's that she had seen, even Inuyasha. It was shinier, smoother, strangely pale. Not a dull white like Kaede's hair, but shimmery like silver. Un-human. Like never before, Rin was fully conscious of her own human nature, and the vast gulf which separated that nature from that of a demon. She had seen Sesshoumaru in battle before, but she now felt how strong, how different, how dangerous a creature he really was. And yet, amazingly enough, she had never been afraid.

She dropped her gaze and kept her arms firmly at her sides. He was waiting for her to speak.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she said.

He didn't answer, but Rin knew that his silence was an affirmative.

"These are for you," she said a little shyly, handing him the flowers.

He took them, staring at the red and purple blossoms. He tucked the stems into his sash, against his armor.

"You used to do the same when I was a child," Rin observed. She smiled a bit wistfully. "Sometimes I can't believe that you put up with me."

"You're no longer a child," he said quietly.

"No," Rin answered. "I'm not."

She paused, waiting for him to say something else. He was silent. Rin suddenly felt incredibly foolish. She had thought that maybe… the way he had been with her the past few days… You idiot she chided herself angrily. He was waiting for her to say goodbye. Say it, get it over with, she commanded herself. You can always cry later.

"Thank you for saving us. Goodbye." She hoped she didn't sound too short.

Sesshoumaru did not turn to leave.

"Rin." He seemed sterner, tenser than normal.

"Yes?"

"Are you unhappy here?"

Rin was too surprised by the question to answer. Sesshoumaru did not wait for one.

"If you are unhappy here, you may come with me."

"I am very happy here." Rin answered, and stared directly into his eyes.

Sesshoumaru looked at her for a long moment, his brow slightly furrowed. He drew in a breath as if to speak, then reconsidered. He bowed slightly to her, then turned and began to walk away.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," she said.

He stopped, but did not turn around.

She spoke clearly.

"I am very happy here. But if the Lord Sesshoumaru desires it, I will leave and remain with him."

Rin watched his shoulders rise and fall once as he inhaled a deep breath. He turned and faced her.

"You will be the Lady of the Western Lands. You will be mistress of my home, my servants, and all that I own. I will protect you, and your child shall inherit all that is mine after me."

Sesshoumaru stood tall and imposing, chin held high.

Rin resisted the urge to giggle. She covered her mouth with one hand, hoping to mask her smile with a show of shyness.

He frowned.

"My lord, these are good things and I will accept them," she spoke solemnly, but her eyes danced. "But I would follow Sesshoumaru for love of him alone."

It seemed that he smiled - very, very slightly.

"Do what you like," he answered.

* * *

A hedge rustled near the edge of the forest, close within eyeshot of the outlying field.

"Quiet, Kagome!" hissed Inuyasha, peering through the brush, his eyes wide. "I really think that Sesshoumaru will kill me if catches us watching this."

"You dog boys are full of surprises."

"I just don't get it. She must be nuts."

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome squeezed his waist. "She's been in love with him since she was seven years old."

Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her, but his expression remained moderately perplexed and mildly disgusted. He shook his head.

"He's not a nice person, Kagome. She's gotta be the only person in the world who would have loved him this long."

"Exactly," whispered a happy Kagome, hugging him even tighter.