I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. The only character I own is Amya.
Note, when I wrote this I forgot that Sesshomaru lost his left arm, so it mentions that he has both arms. Sorry about that. I would say that this took place before InuYasha cut of his arm, but he didn't have Rin with him at the time. Just go along with it, m'kay? It was a total accident, but fixing it would mean changing the rest of the story.
So for arguments sake...InuYasha didn't cut off his arm.
Hey it's a fanfic, I mean come on.
Kay I'm done.
She stood, knee deep in water, goose bumps rose along her flesh. Water was dripping from her thick, deep black hair her bangs fell in front of bright amber eyes. She hugged herself and glanced around again. She could sense them, heading her way. She rubbed a hand over her hip and washed away the dirt that resided there. She shivered once and crossed her arms over her breasts, turning her head yet again to glare into the trees. With quick, fluent movements she stepped out of the water and pulled on a soft yellow kimono, decorated with red crescent moons.
Over the sound of the rushing river an annoying little voice rang out.
"You! Woman! Who are you?" She narrowed her eyes at the imp that had appeared on the bank not to far away from where she stood.
"What business is that of yours?" She asked coldly, turning the full power of her amber eyes on him. She watched him stiffen for a moment. His eyes hardened and he glared at her, as if he thought she was scared of him.
"You will answer the question or you will feel the power of the Staff of Two heads!" The mouth of one of the heads on the staff opened and fire spouted out. She stepped to the side and avoided the flames. The imp let out a shriek of anger.
"Jaken. That's enough." She looked from the imp to the demon that had appeared behind him. She looked at him closely, examining him and taking in every detail. He had long white hair and deep amber eyes. On his forehead stood a purple crescent moon, and there were two lines on each side of his face. One clawed hand reached down to pick the imp up and toss him carelessly to the side. His mouth was drawn into a line and his eyes narrowed. She smirked and ran a hand through her still wet hair.
"Lord Sesshomaru, it's been a while, hasn't it?" She asked, resting a hand on her hip where a sword had appeared. The demon just stared at her.
"Amaya of the Rain, what are you doing here?"
"Well, until I was rudely interrupted, I was bathing." She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. A small girl appeared from the forest between the two. Her hair was long, a dark brown to match her dark brown eyes, and some of it was pulled into a small pony tail atop her head. She wore an orange and white checkered kimono. Sesshomaru's scent mingled with hers. Another smirked placed itself upon Amaya's lips. "Why Sesshomaru, I see you've grown a soft spot for humans." He looked at the girl as if he were bored. "Maybe not? Well, we'll see about that." She dashed toward the girl who stood, frozen. She heard Sesshomaru grunt as he dove after her.
"Poison Claw!" Amaya danced out of the way and drew her sword.
"Protective of the little whelp aren't we?" She asked, her tone mocking. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in her direction and drew one of his two swords; Tokijen. He didn't hesitate in his attack.
"Dragon Strike!" Amaya gasped and held her sword in front of her, a purple barrier appeared, but the strong attack still sent her flying backwards. She rose to her feet and looked at Sesshomaru, no smile played at her lips. Her eyes had gone hard. This was personal. She charged toward the stronger demon and struck, her blade against his. There was the strong sound of metal against metal as the swords clashed against one another.
"Jaken, get Rin out of here." The absence of emotion in his voice made Amaya grin inwardly.
"Move Rin you're in the way!" The imp pulled the human child away from the river bank and back into the forest. Amaya blocked Sesshomaru's next attack.
"My my you are very protective. And here I thought you didn't like humans."
"Silence!" He brought his sword down, but the female demon leaped out of the way, chuckling as she did.
"Wings of the Phoenix!" She brought her sword down, and as she did, fire sprouted from the blade and rushed toward Sesshomaru's still frame. And just like that, he was gone. Amaya turned in circles, looking for the demon. She felt a pressure on her left wrist, and her arm twisted painfully behind her back. She let out a cry and looked over her shoulder into the burning eyes of her opponent. The cool blade of his sword was pressed firmly against the skin of her neck. She glanced down at the silver blade and then back into the eyes of Sesshomaru. Her sword dropped from her other hand and landed with a clank on the stones of the river bank.
They stared at each other for a long moment, Amaya's cold gaze matched by that of the Son of the Great Dog Demon. The skin of her left wrist was burning, pain rippled up her arm as his poisonous claws pressed down on her flesh. And then he released her, pushing her away from him. She stumbled forward and turned to glare over her shoulder. Sesshomaru ignored her and slid his Tokijen into it's sheath.
"Why didn't you just kill me?" She asked, sliding her sword-The Phoenix Blade- into it's sheath as well. "It was the perfect moment to end your troubles. Get rid of me for good."
"You are not the center of my troubles any longer. In fact, you are insignificant to me." He said as he walked passed. She stared after him.
"I see." She turned her back and walked the opposite way down the bank . "Keep in mind Lord Sesshomaru, there will come a day when I will destroy you." She needn't raise her voice, she knew he could hear her.
"And that day may come sooner than you think."
"Who was that woman my lord?" Rin asked in her curious fashion. Sesshomaru glanced at her and returned his gaze to the path before him. When he didn't answer, Jaken took over.
"Stop asking stupid questions Girl. Lord Sesshomaru doesn't need to tell you anything." Rin frowned at him and quickened her pace to keep up with Sesshomaru's long strides. He glanced down at her again. She was growing at a rapid rate, getting older right before his eyes. He fixed his gaze on the path before him, lost with in his own thoughts.
How do you tell a child that the woman who went after her was a ghost from your past? He wondered. He sighed in frustration and stopped.
"We will stay here for tonight." The tone in his voice warned his followers that he was not in the mood for arguing. Rin dashed off in search of firewood, Jaken followed as always. Sesshomaru sat on the ground and leaned back against the tree behind him. He closed his eyes and appeared to have fallen asleep, but instead his mind was more active then ever trying so hard to remember the things of his past, and trying to lock many things away.
At one point in time he had told his father that he had no one to protect, and at that time it was true. However, it didn't stay that way. In fact, he found that there was someone he would protect with every fiber of his being. Every pore in his body tingled at the memory of it all, the sheer thought that she had been in his grasp, and he had pushed her away. What had happened all those years ago, before his brother had been pinned to a tree by his mortal lover, when he too cared deeply for someone.
He gave himself a good, strong mental shake and pushed away the memories of the past. He would not linger on the things that had pained him for years, and still pained him as he thought of them.
He heard Jaken and Rin return, but made no effort to open his eyes.
"Lord Sesshoma-" Rin's cheerful voice cut off. "Master Jaken…look." He could feel their eyes on him, and he wondered-if but for a moment- why they were staring at him the way they were. And then he felt it. It was strange, and foreign to him but it was a feeling even the coldest beings knew. It left a cool trail on his skin but it was warm when it hit his hand. It was a single tear, which had escaped his eye while they were closed. "Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin whispered. Sesshomaru opened one eye to glance at her.
"What is it?" He asked, his voice holding no emotion.
"Is there something bothering you my lord?"
"Why would you ask such a stupid question! Insolent girl! You should learn to keep your mouth shut!"
"I wasn't speaking to you Master Jaken!" He watched as she struck him on the head with a stick she carried. Glad for the distraction, he closed his eyes once again and this time drifted off to sleep.
When he awoke he was slightly surprised to see that the fire had died and both Rin and Jaken were sleeping peacefully. He stood and stepped away quietly, as to not wake them. He needed time alone to think.
He walked the darken path in a daze, still half asleep and lost in thought. He cursed himself for letting his mind wander back to the past and settle on his days with his love. He needn't be reminded of her again. She was gone from sight and gone from mind. Let her memory rot. But he stopped dead in his tracks. There she was. Once again in the river, bathing under the glow of the full moon. She would surely sense him there if she hadn't already caught his scent. He watched her stiffen. She glanced over her shoulder, her amber ireses glowing in the moon light.
She walked through the black water, barely making a sound and-dripping wet- pulled on her kimono.
"Apparently I cannot bathe in piece." She mumbled, glaring at him.
"You should choose a less populated area if you wish to bathe in the river." He countered, stepping from the shadows. She rolled her eyes and slid the sheath of her Phoenix blade into place on her hip.
"It was just fine until you came along." She faced him full on. "What are you doing here?" Without a thought he spoke.
"I couldn't' sleep." He cursed himself for showing any signs of weakness. A mocking grin plastered itself on her face.
"Lord Sesshomaru, Son of the Great Dog Demon, could not sleep. What a shock. Well I'll leave you to you're worries." She turned to walk away, but again he spoke with out thought.
"Why did you leave Amaya?"
His voice caused her to stop in mid step. It was the question she had been dreading for years, should she ever run into him again. And she did. She had hoped that going after the human child would keep him away from her, would keep this question at bay for another hundred or so years. Of course, luck did not work in her favor. She stopped where she was and stared out at the dark waters. It was a long moment before he spoke again.
"Why?" It was a part of him that no one had ever seen, no one but her. A vulnerable side that needed a companion. He put up that strong, cold façade and for what? The respect of others? She shook her head.
"I couldn't live up to your expectations of me." She answered truthfully. He had so much that he had to live up to, being the Son of the Great Dog Demon, Ruler of the lands of the West. He had expectations of her, things that she couldn't live up to. "I couldn't be the perfect female counterpart to the Great Lord Sesshomaru." She shook her head. "Your father was a great and powerful demon, and when he died this left you. You have so much to live up to, so much to do and you wanted me to be able to keep up with you. You wanted me to be like you in almost every way and I couldn't." She turned to face him.
"All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, to have all you wanted. And I knew that by…leaving you I could do that. And when I left I hated you. I hated the expectations you had for me, hated the things you wanted me to be able to do and I only hated you because I hated myself. I swore to one day destroy you, to rid myself of this pain that has lingered in my heart for decades. And now I see you and your strong and powerful, just like you always wanted. But your cold and hateful. And I wonder…is this how you would have been, had I stayed?" She shook her head again. She hadn't realized he had been getting closer to her until he reached out to her, brushing away the stray tear that had fallen.
She looked up at him. Seeing a warmth in his eyes that she hadn't seen in years. She turned her face into his warm palm and sighed.
"I did what I thought was best for you my lord." He cupped her face in his hand gently and pulled her toward him. She didn't fight. She rose up and met his lips with hers. One strong arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, the other had a firm grip on the back of her neck, making it impossible to move…even if she wanted to. The fingers of one hand tangled into his soft white hair, while her other hand rested on his chest. She could feel his heart pounding under her palm. She smiled inwardly.
Hours slid by and when their passion died down they lay together on the banks of the river. She traced the lines of his chest with the tip of her index finger while she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt his clawed fingers running through her hair and she sighed.
"Sun rise approaches." She whispered. Dreading what she had to do next she stretched up to kiss Sesshomaru's jaw. He glanced at her, startled when she pulled from his embrace and slid back into her clothes.
"You're leaving again." He sat up. She smiled sadly.
"There is still much you have to do my lord. And I refuse to be a burden." She tied her long, dark hair back away from her face. Confusion danced with in Sesshomaru's eyes.
"You wouldn't be a burden to me." She shook her head.
"When you have done all that is needed I will return to you."
"I'll be waiting."
Years passed. Sesshomaru saw how the mortals developed and changed. He had gained power over the western lands, and lived up to his fathers name. Rin had grown and left Sesshomaru's side after falling in love with a man. He checked on her at times, watching her grow older and older until she finally drifted into her final sleep. Jaken had also come to meet his end after centuries of servitude to Sesshomaru. Even his half-demon brother had moved on, giving up his demon blood to live in another era with his human lover. Sesshomaru saw them sometimes while he walked the streets of modern day Tokyo. Inuyasha had cut all his hair off wearing it short and black. He had traded in his clothing made from the fur of the fire rat for t-shirts and jeans. The two were expecting their first child, and his brother seemed very happy about that. He had adapted fully to his new life.
As had Sesshomaru. To keep his power he became the leader of a large company. He never understood why, but he enjoyed the power he had. Like his brother, he had traded in his old clothing to keep with the times, but unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru kept his hair long, reminding him of who he was. At times he longed to return to the past, but he had come to find that it was impossible. Not even the human girl, Kagome, could travel back now that the Shikon Jewel was finished.
It was a day in mid September, as he walked to work, that thoughts of Amaya began to plague him. It had been centuries since he had last thought of her…or allowed himself to do so. After becoming the powerful demon that he was, and finding that she wasn't going to return to him, he accepted the fact that she had either died or found a mate. And if that had been the case he knew he couldn't ask her to return to him because demons mated for life.
He entered a tall building and stepped into the elevator and rode up to his floor, where he exited and was met by his secretary who was eight months pregnant and leaving on maternity leave.
"Sir, your sister-in-law called to check up on you, see how you were doing. You have a meeting at three with Mr. Setsuna oh and my replacement has arrived. I sent her to your office."
"Thank you Rika." Sesshomaru took the stack of messages from the pregnant woman and headed for his office. He stopped outside the door, sniffing the air. That scent… he thought turning the knob. He pushed the door open and was met by a strange sight. A woman sat on his desk, her lightly tanned legs crossed under a knee length black skirt. She wore a white button up blouse under a black over coat. Her black hair hung in thick waves along her back and she looked up from her long nails to stare him in the eye with bright amber eyes. She slid off the desk and walked toward him, her hips swaying seductively.
"You took your damn sweet time." He growled as she took hold of his tie. She smiled and pushed the door closed.
"Just shut up and kiss me." She ordered pulling him down to her.
Oh Amaya… his arms tightened around her, letting her know that he would never let her leave him again.