A/N: I'm in the process of editing this. The plan is to actually finish it this time (^-^) I don't own Inuyasha.
How long did she plan to follow him? Better yet, how long did she plan on following him without speaking? Normally, Sesshomaru loved the silence; something that Jaken seemed oblivious too, but for some reason it had bothered him ever since he heard the girl following him.
To know her name would soothe his exasperated mind. He asked - ordered - her to tell him several times, and each time she had peered at him and smiled. That smile did funny things to him; no one smiled at him the way she did, not even his mother. When the girl smiled, she appeared to smile with her whole body, not just the muscles of her face. That smile comprised one of the reasons he listened to Tenseiga and brought her back to life. Sesshomaru sighed and looked up at the sky. Night was falling.
He had learned in the week the girl had followed him that she needed more rest than himself and Jaken, so he began looking for a place to set up camp for the night.
The next day found Sesshomaru so annoyed that he was seriously considering killing Jaken. Sure the girl smelled, she was human and all humans smelled. But the toad made it seem worse than it was. Actually, Sesshomaru thought, she didn't smell half bad for a human. But Jaken had complained about everything the child did since she joined their little group, so it should not have surprised Sesshomaru that the imp had started up again.
"Really Lord Sesshomaru, why can't we just dump her in some human village, or better yet in some river . . . ?" Jaken asked his lord. Sesshomaru felt like dumping someone in the river, alright. He wondered for the millionth time, why the toad still lived, when he felt something tug at his pant leg.
He looked down to see the girl. She had grabbed his pant leg to get his attention. Seeing the child touching his master so freely set Jaken off on another round of scolding, which Sesshomaru silenced with a glare.
Looking down at the small, upturned face, Sesshomaru felt another wave of frustration. He knew she could talk because she had decided to name his beast Ah-Un, if you could call that a name. But ah and un appeared to be the only words she could say at the moment. Sesshomaru reminded himself once more to be patient. Patience was something he excelled at. After all, he had searched for his father's grave for one hundred years and never lost his temper. So he had a tendency to kill people if they didn't do what he told them to do as soon as he told them. That did not make him impatient - at least not in his eyes.
The girl searched his eyes for something, what he didn't know, but apparently she found it because she let go off his pant leg and walked back to Ah-Un. Curious, Sesshomaru watched her climb back onto the two-headed beast. She wanted to ask him something. He knew it. Damn it, he was losing his patience. He would give her three more days to play the silent game before dumping her in the next village they came to.
Later that day, the party of four took a brief rest in a meadow. Sesshomaru believed in taking afternoon naps, and indulged in one under a large tree at the edge of the meadow. Jaken was supposed to be looking after the girl, but when did Jaken ever do anything right? He slumped against Ah-Un sleeping as well, so it wasn't difficult for the girl to slip away from her companions unnoticed. However, Sesshomaru watched from lowered lids as she walked away. He wondered where she was going.
After thirty minutes of searching, the child found what she hoped for: a hot spring. It didn't bother her if the toad thought she smelled, but she didn't want her savior to think that as well. As she peeled her clothes off and looked down at her dirt-caked skin, she realized that cleaning herself would take a while. Sighing, the girl began the tedious task of cleaning both herself and her clothes.
More than an hour had passed since the girl left the clearing and Sesshomaru began to worry. He knew all of the demons in the area had hidden themselves, sensing a powerful peer in their wake, but still . . . the girl had been gone a long time. Sesshomaru closed his eyes once more and tried to get some rest.
Just as he realized the futility of the act and prepared to go searching for the little human, Sesshomaru heard the girl approach the clearing. At least he thought it was her; she smelled different. Before her scent had come across as vague and dirty, hidden by all the dirt and grime that covered her, but now . . . it was floral and sweet. Sesshomaru liked this scent. Amazing. He never knew humans could smell so pleasant.
Not long after, the girl entered the clearing naked, her wet kimono draped over one arm. Seeing that her lord and the imp still slept, she silently congratulated herself on her accomplishment. Now that toad won't have anything to complain about she thought, as she walked to the middle of the clearing and laid out her kimono to dry.
Sesshomaru watched as the young girl laid down in the grass and feel asleep. He considered something that caused some discomfort, though one would never know by looking at him. The girl had gone through the trouble of cleaning herself for him and Jaken. It would be a shame for her to put that pathetic excuse for a kimono back on. But he never gave people things if he could help it. It might give her the wrong idea. Look at Jaken, Sesshomaru had given him the Staff of Two Heads and Jaken felt privy to his every thought. But then again, the girl was a child, she could simply see it as a gift, not take it as a sign that he harbored hidden feelings for her as most women would. On and on it went, until Sesshomaru came to a decision.
He picked up a rock and threw it at Jaken's head. Who told the toad he could sleep? He ought to be watching the girl, not partaking in the sleep of the dead. The imp woke with a loud cry. "Jaken," Sesshomaru said in his do-what-I-say-now voice.
The girl awoke to a setting sun. Panicking, she sat up and frantically searched the meadow for her companions. She relaxed when she saw Lord Sesshomaru leaning against a tree.
"Here," said Jaken, shoving a box in her face and interrupting her staring session of the dog demon. Turning to the imp the girl took the box, opened it and gasped when she saw what was inside: an orange and yellow silk kimono. She looked back at the imp, who shouted at her to put it on. Obliging him, she looked once more toward her lord. She knew who had gotten it for her. She had a feeling Jaken wouldn't recognize nice if it stared him in the face.
Sesshomaru was in a deep meditating session when he heard the girl approach him. Opening his eyes, he looked her over with approval. It wouldn't do to have someone - human or otherwise - following after him in nothing but rags.
"Thank you," a low, gravelly voice interrupted his musings. Did she just speak? "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru," repeated the girl.
Sesshomaru stared at her, digesting her broken silence.
"Since you seem to have finally recovered your voice, you will tell me your name, girl," he ordered.
"It's Rin, my lord," the girl - no Rin - replied.
Rin. He liked it.