InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Rin's Message and Sesshomaru's Promise ❯ The Acquiescence ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: The Acquiescence

 

The young woman was working tirelessly in the fields at the outskirts of the village. The sun was setting, and its amber waves outlined the black silhouette of her body. All the other laborers had already packed up and left for the comforts of home and dinner, family and love. But the young woman stayed behind, determined to work as long and as hard as she could push herself that evening.

 

Even though she was sweaty and tired, her muscles aching already from a full day of exertion, the woman emanated a smile from her face and a song from her voice. It was a joyful tune, painting a picture of a contented and rewarding life.

 

The woman went on singing, hardly glancing up from her work, and so she didn't notice the demon's approach until he was fairly close to her. The sinking sun outlined his body such that he appeared to be glowing luminously. He was tall and formidable; he almost looked like royalty.

 

The woman didn't realize he was a demon until it was too late to run. She had never seen a demon before, though she'd heard many tales of them. They were extinguished from the region mysteriously, long before she'd been born. And so, she'd merely thought it was a lone traveler, looking to stay at the village inn perhaps, until he was a dozen meters away from her. From that distance, she could see the unusual markings on his face. But it was the strange shape of his ears that clinched it for her. That was the distinguishing feature she'd learned about from many a myth the village elders told.

 

The woman dropped the hoe she was working with, quivering fearfully as the demon approached. She was alone and vulnerable, too far off from the village for anyone to hear cries for help. The only thing she could do was wait for death.

 

The demon worked his way steadily in her direction. He could only be coming to attack her. Her brothers would find her mangled body in the morning when they came to work in the fields. That is, if she left any remains at all . . .

 

Visions of her shredded corpse flooded the woman's mind, and her legs could barely stand for all their trembling. The demon was only two meters away now. This was it. This was the end.

 

She closed her tearful eyes tremulously, waiting for the killing blow.

 

“Rin?”

 

The woman opened her eyes. The demon was standing next to her now. But instead of baring his fangs with claws outstretched, ready to lunge in attack like the woman had anticipated, he was standing motionless, a calm expression on his face.

 

The woman couldn't help but gasp a bit as she gazed at his features up close like this. This was not the face she'd thought a demon would have. Certainly it was not the face of the demons in the tales she had spent her childhood listening to in awed rapture. This face was . . . the woman couldn't believe she actually thought this about a demon, but this face was . . . elegant.

 

“Rin?” the demon repeated, now with a slight hint of consternation in his eyes. The woman blinked in surprise. He'd said the name with such . . . care. Even though he barely showed any emotion on his face, she got the distinct impression that the demon was in a state of disbelief.

 

Once the woman realized the demon meant her no harm—at least for now—it took her a few moments to compose herself. Her legs stopped trembling, and she stared up at the demon in bewilderment and wonder. All of a sudden, something clicked in the woman's subconscious, and without realizing what she was saying, she uttered, “Rin . . . could you mean . . . Nana?”

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Sesshomaru turned from the woman and ran swiftly toward the village. He'd wasted precious seconds on that fake.

 

He cursed himself for acting so foolish. That woman's scent smelled nothing like Rin's. And yet he had let himself be drawn to her, merely because she resembled Rin—or at least, the Rin he remembered.

 

Once again, he'd left Jaken at the edge of the woods, and entered the outskirts of the village alone. When he saw the young woman standing there, joy on her face and hope in her voice, the dying sunlight coloring her so that she looked like a crimson rose, Sesshomaru abandoned all rationality and thought he was looking once again upon his beloved Rin.

 

Now, Sesshomaru's mind raced as fast as his legs. Rin . . . his Rin . . . the woman he'd known since she was a child . . . was a grandmother? How many years had it been since they parted? Sesshomaru didn't know for certain, but he came to the realization that for mortals it had been a very long time. But that must mean . . . Rin was an old woman now?

 

Sesshomaru had never associated with humans other than Rin, but he searched through his memory for images of old women that he'd had fleeting glimpses of while traveling. The old women Sesshomaru had seen were short and fat, with pallid faces like melting candle wax. Could his Rin, so tall and slender, so rosy and vibrant, possibly look like that?

 

But, if so much time had passed—if Rin was so old now—why did she contact him? When Sesshomaru had left that bird for Rin, that gift, as a means to reach him, he intended it to be used right away. He figured maybe Rin would come to her senses; maybe she'd realize quickly that she wasn't meant to be with that other man, that young farmer, and she'd send for Sesshomaru to take her away from there.

 

But Rin never sent for him. Sesshomaru waited, and the bird never came. His effort had been in vain, he soon accepted. Rin was lost to him, and he would never get her back.

 

Then, Jaken brought him that bird, and it was as though no time had passed since he left Rin. Her image was fresh in his mind, and his body filled with the urge to see her again, to be with her again. “Now things will be as they should be,” he'd thought. “Now Rin and I can live our lives together.”

 

As Sesshomaru neared the dwelling he last saw fifty years ago, the one where he'd left the golden birdcage—the one where Rin lived—he let out a sigh of acceptance. He realized how foolish he'd been, how he let his hopes cloud his reason. It had been too long, far too long, for him and Rin to start anew.

 

Sesshomaru converged upon the entrance, and stopped before it. It had all come down to this moment. He would go through that doorway, and meet his fate. He hoped he would be greeted by answers—but most of all, he wished to be greeted by Rin. The woman he loved. The woman who got away.

 

Sesshomaru entered.