Sesshoumaru peeked from behind one of the few buildings standing at the Higurashi Shrine.

She was there. Right there.

Once upon a time he would rather kill himself than admit the fact that he, Lord Sesshoumaru, was hiding and spying on someone.

Especially if the someone was a little human girl, a priestess at that. The one, who has been travelling with his stupid half-brother.

But times change. And five hundert years can change even a demon like him.

It was five hundert years since he last saw her. Of course, he could visit her much sooner, but he waited. He knew, what could happen if he showed himself to her.

Even if he wanted to see her, to talk to her, he waited. Waited for the opportunity to talk to somebody, who really knew him. Who knew him as the powerful lord in the times of his glory.

Sure he was still lord, but the title didn't mean anything in this era. And sure he was still powerful, but what good it was, when he couldn't prove that? When he had to hide himself and act like a mortal?

It was completely insane, but he had no other choice. Every demon in this era had to hide their true self. There were no giant beasts running across the sky, giving into their nature and destroying whole villiges with only single swipe of their claws.

Well, he didn't miss killing that much, but he really did miss being free in his true form. Not even fifty years ago, he had benn living in the enticing mountains of Romania, where he could spent some time in his true form. His occasional strolls gave rise to legends of werewolfs. It was kind of funny.

The last twenty or so years he'd lived in Japan, without the possiblity to be truly himself. He desperately wanted to meet someone, who wouldn't respect him only because of his age and heritage, or desire him because of his looks and wealth.

There was only one person, who could help him to stay sane in this terrible age. The person was known for her kindness, as well as her bad temper.

And the person will most probably hate him tomorrow.

His eyes studied the young miko. She was sitting on a bench and sewing, fully concentrated on her task. He felt pang of guilt, one he became accustomed to over the years.

She looked so happy.

A sigh escaped from his slightly parted lips. He could very clearly remember the events that happened five hundert years ago, but from the girl's perspective had yet to happen. The pang was there again, only this time it was ten times stronger. Was he really that stupid?

"It's done!" he heard the girl's joyful cry and watched her, as she repeatedly jumped in the air, all the while clutching her masterpiece – deep blue silk sash embroided with silver thread – to her chest. Then she ran home, so she could show the sash to her mother.

When he saw her again, she had her ugly, once upon a time yellow backpack on her little back and sprinted happily to the old well-house, where she vanished.

Sesshoumaru nodded his silver head, turned around and walked off in the near forest (or in the little park that was left of it) knowing that he had exactly one day, before the girl returns. He sat down under an old tree and sighed.

He had been sitting there five hundert years ago, watching Rin running around and squealing. Jaken had occasionally shouted something mean at her, but Sesshoumaru had known even at that time that the old toad was just as happy as the little girl.

They had defeated that scum Naraku at last – once and for all.

Everybody had rejoiced at that. Especially Inuyasha and his little pack.

He'd started to collect some information about them after one of his near death experiences, finally admitting that they could be dangerous. Now he knew everything about the group. The monk, Miroku, had inherited the Wind tunnel from his father. It was a curse Naraku had put on his clan. Of course, the Wind Tunnel wasn't the thing he was so famous for. No, the monk was clearly a letch, his preferred victim being the fiery exterminator.

The monk's right hand was, indeed, cursed.

The exterminator was the next member of the group. For a human, she possesed great deal of physical strength and swiftness, not to mention lot of raw beauty. Her whole clan had been slaughtered because of Naraku's evil plot and her younger brother was forced to became his slave since then. In the end the boy died, but not before the exterminator achieved her revenge. Even so, she had been saddened by her brother's demise.

Then there was the big mouthed kit, who had always played with Rin. The fox had never meant any danger for him, on the contrary, the kit had been quite helpful in keeping his hyperactive ward busy. The little fox hadn't had a family, just like the bigger part of Inuyasha's pack. But then again, they had lost their families just to find a new one. They weren't bound by blood, but by friendship. And the one who had always kept their bonds so strong was no other than the priestess. He'd thought of her as weak, because the other members had always protected her. It wasn't until much later, when he'd joined them in their fight against Naraku, he learned that the priestess wasn't weak, just too precious to her friends.

Especially to one of them.

Although Inuyasha had been always acting like a jerk (as the priestess kept calling him), Sesshoumaru knew that he'd loved her. Just not the way the girl wanted him to. But he'd never been interested in his stupid younger sibling's love affairs. What he had been immensely enjoying were their fights for dominance. Watching his brother landing face first in the dirt was the highlight of their joint journey.

Somewhen during the time, they had been forced to spent together, Sesshoumaru had stopped thinking of his brother as a nuisance. The demon lord pretty much despised him even now, but not as much as before. He still thought that his brother was a fool, when he had given his heart to a mortal and kept chasing after her dead body, but he couldn't really blame him for his feelings. Not after he had first hand learned, what it was like to lose someone precious...

It took him almost hundert years to get over the death of Rin, his little, cheerful ward. Too late he learned, that she was the beam of light in his world of darkness. Now she was away – so far away that he couldn't reach her anymore. Jaken couldn't bear the loss and withered away few years after her death. Sesshoumaru had been left alone in the rapidly changing world and since then concentrated all his hope on one reunion.

And the reunion shall take place tomorrow.

A/N: Well, this is not my first story, however, it is my first story in English. So if you think I maim English, you are probably right. But I don't do that on purpose, I swear! And next time I will try to do that better. As for the storyline, I thought it would be nice to write something little bit different. If you don't like it, good. Just don't kill me, o.k.?