It could not be helped. Her feelings on the matter swayed from disappointment to complete and utter relief. Rin bent over and angrily plucked wildflowers in a field near the village of Edo. A breeze picked up and her dark smooth hair swayed forward. She stopped and closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath.

I need to let it go, Rin thought in a resigned tone, and resumed plucking what were essentially weeds, out of the Earth. It had been nearly six months since she went to live with Inuyasha and Kagome after her failed marriage. If you wanted to call it that, since it had never happened in the first place. Failed engagement, her mind amended.

Kaede-sama had arranged Rin to be married to a man who was much older than her, months before she died. It was an obvious attempt to ensure Rin's future. Toshi-sama was not her ideal match by any means. He was a scrawny looking man who valued traditionalism over everything. He was intense, a disciplinarian, and not overly friendly. But, Rin respected Kaede-sama's wishes. Rin assumed that whomever Kaede-sama had chosen, would surely be sincere and honorable. Silently, she wished for her own happiness in a new life with Toshi-sama.

However, Kaede passed away a week prior to the ceremony. Toshi-sama's family abruptly called off the union, declaring that Rin's social status was too low to marry. The notion sent her reeling and she had very angrily ranted to Kagome-chan about it. Still grieving the loss of Kaede, it was a blow she had not been expecting.

"Too low of a social status! What, just because I was orphaned with nothing to my name, I'm not good enough for them?" Rin raved inside Inuyasha's home while she chopped radishes at an increased speed.

Kagome whispered to Inuyasha in a low voice, "I have never seen Rin-chan so upset before!"

"Can't blame her, but if you ask me, she's lucky– did you actually see the chump that she was betrothed to?" Inuyasha whispered back.

Rin was oblivious to the side conversation that was occurring. She raised her voice even further, "We couldn't even grieve Kaede-sama for one day! Not one day and I received that cowardly letter breaking off the union!"

Rin slammed down the knife on the bamboo board she was cutting on and everything stilled. She stomped towards the entrance, bowed, and stated, "I apologize for my outburst, excuse me." She left for the rest of the day.

"She's nuts. Let's send her to live with Sango and Mirouku. Or hell, summon that sad excuse for a brother I have and tell him to pick her up."

"Inuyasha! Enough! She's lost so much this past week, the last thing she needs is more abrupt change. Give her time to grieve and heal," Kagome chided.

It was only until weeks later when Rin heard what Toshi-sama's family had really thought about her that set her off. She heard renewed whispers that she associated with demons and hanyou. That she was involved with a demon and thus unclean.

Rin determined the family was too cowardly to call off the union while Kaede-sama was living. She would have given them an earful. In Rin's own speculation, had she married into Toshi-sama's family, would he have divorced her as soon as Kaede-sama died? It was preposterous. And shameful.

Rin had assumed the villagers meant involved with Sesshoumaru-sama, yet she hadn't laid eyes on him in at least three summers, if not longer. She had received the occasional gift or very brief letter from him. Always, she had written a long prose in return. Instead of responding at length, Sesshoumaru-sama usually replied, I am glad you are well. Take care. It warmed her when she received his official correspondences, but she secretly desired more .

And so, the seed of being involved with Sesshoumaru-sama was planted in her head. After her initial outburst, she didn't want to further perpetuate the idea– the very thought of it made her blush.

Rin finished plucking wildflowers for the household vase, tucking them in her sash. Wandering out the confines of the village in the direction the wind carried, she felt oddly light-hearted.

"Something feels off," Inuyasha stated plainly as he sat on the roof's edge of his shared home with Kagome and Rin.

"Eh? I don't sense anything. Come in here and help me with this," she replied. Kagome dismissed his concerns easily while she milled about preparing their meals.

"It's not demonic or anything, but something feels… not right," he said in a more thoughtful tone.

Kagome ignored him and began chopping more vegetables. "Inuyasha, if you're not going to help me in here, could you please get Rin-chan?"

"It looks like I don't have to. She's coming right towards us, with something strange around her neck."

"Eh?"