Thunder

Wandering Cat

Happy extremely-late Birthday, Taylor! I'm so sorry it's so late; I haven't had much time, and a lot of what I did came when my computer was too slow to work for anyone else. Sorry! I'll make it up to you... So, um...here you go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters here. Sesshoumaru belongs to Kagura and Rin gets The Fluffy, anyway, and Rumiko Takahashi owns them all.

Semi-Important notes: Inuyasha is so freaking long, I can't really put an episode to this fic, and some other details may be off. Just so you know. I also forget what Ah-Un looks like, and for the sake of the fic, let's say he carries packs with food and clothing and such, regardless of whether he actually does or not. Seriously, I have NO idea whatsoever.

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Thunder can't hurt you. It's just exploding air, or something like that, created by lightning. It's just a sound, and sounds can't hurt.

Lightning, however, is very dangerous, and the rain it always comes with makes it worse. It can kill you, it can go through you and kill someone else too, burn entire forests to the ground.

But Rin was always more afraid of the thunder. After all, from where she stood on the ground, lightning was a good thing. For some reason, it was usually dark when there were thunder storms, and so a sudden jolt of light was welcome to her. There would be a few seconds where she could see, get her bearings straight, and know what's going on around her. But thunder? It was so loud, even more sudden than the lightning, and frightening. It seemed to big, so powerful compared to the thin bolt of light. It can't be seen; it could be right behind her, waiting to strike, and she wouldn't know! Thus, thunder is scarier than lightning.

She always loved to stand outside during the storm, ears effectively plugged so she could not hear the thunder, and watch as lightning lit the sky. She was the only one left of her family for as long as she could remember. There was never really anybody to tell her not to.

Until recently.

It had already been raining very lightly for several minutes before the thunder rang out for the first time. Her new guardian, strong, silent Lord Sesshoumaru, immediately flung up his one arm, motioning for Ah-Un to stop.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Why are we stopping?" Jaken asked, his voice unnecessarily loud, as usual. (A/N: I think he talks too loud...)

"...Silence, Jaken." the demon threatened. Jaken immediately destroyed any intent to talk further and watched silently as Sesshoumaru wandered, drawing Tenseiga, in the direction of a large chunk of rocky cliff. Rin watched as well, stroking water away from her eyes. Thunder clapped loudly, causing her to squeak shrilly and accidentally pull on Ah-Un's ear. Jaken looked up questioningly, until the equally grating sound of a blade tearing through stone erupted from behind him.

Sesshoumaru kept swinging into the cliff, making an almost asterisk shape as he went. Two minutes and a pile of rubble later, Sesshoumaru had carved a large cave. He turned around and shot Jaken a "move it!" glare, silently demanding that he get the child and beast inside immediately. The kappa started and grabbed Ah-Un's reins. Thunder rang out again, Rin winced, biting back a scream.

Once inside, Ah-Un promptly decided to shake himself, showering Rin and Jaken with smelly drops from his coat. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes fell upon the wet girl and then onto the hard sacks hanging off of the beast's back. Jaken practically leapt out of his way as the lordly demon plunged his hand inside the pack, producing a tiny, colorful kimono and a dry cloth, and ushered Rin into the corner. His pants became a curtain for her while she changed.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin chirped. Sesshoumaru didn't answer. Instead, he sat down against the wall without so much as acknowledging the girl. Rin thought nothing of it and instead lay down to sleep, confident that the thunder was already over.

Sometime hours or minutes later, a loud bang tore through the skies, jolting Rin from her sleep. She lay still, clutching her eyes shut, silently begging that the last thunder would be the final one. Moments later came another, even louder bang. Tears squeezed through Rin's tightly closed eyes as she quivered on the ground.

CRACK. CRACK!

Why won't it stop? BA-BOOM!

Rin was now completely trembling, crying faster than ever. She knew it-- the thunder is coming for her! Faster and louder each time. Coming to ger her. Just go, please! Another rumble came, followed by two more.

CR-R-AACK--BOOM!

Rin sat up, hyperventilating, desperately looking around in the dark for any salvation. In the corner, only a few feet away, she could easily see a mass of white, like an angel. It's icy golden eyes stared back into her red and wet ones. BANG! Rin was sent into a fit of tears. She could barely see through the combination of the darkness and water, but her eyes opened fully again when she noticed a movement from the white.

Sesshoumaru would, between the next two minutes and the next morning, wonder why he was doing this, reaching his arm out to the little girl. He definitely did not care for her. No. She was just annoying. His heart definitely wasn't going out to her. But his hand was. Rin was staring at him, astonished. Yet another rumble prompted her to not question the lord, so she quickly snatched his hand.

Surprisingly, instead of just holding her hand, Sesshoumaru pulled Rin closer into a sort of hug. Rin was shocked, but too scared to really care. Her little arms tightened around him while she buried her face in the only soft place, the fluffy thing. Rin's breathing remained frantic along with her heart beat. This thunder just wouldn't stop!

"It's...okay, Rin. Thunder cannot hurt you."

Sniff. "Everybody says that!"

Pause. "...Would you believe that...ah, Thunder is a person?" Rin shook her head, whispering that no person could be that mean. "It...he is a demon. He is big and loud because he crashes around because nobody understands him. He is gentle though. He likes children and won't hurt them, even though he could... Thunder is kind at heart." What am I saying! I hate this child!

Something inside Rin clicked, causing her to giggle and pull her head away from the fluffy thing. This child is laughing at me!

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I know who Thunder reminds me of!" An eye twitch was the only given response. Rin's eyes shone, no longer wet, as she looked proud of herself for making the connection. "You, Lord Sesshoumaru!"

...Twitch...(kind of warm feeling in his heart).

Rin beamed more as she threw her arms around his neck. Thunder rang out again and Rin tightened her grip. Whether that was from a remaining fear or familiarity, Sesshoumaru wouldn't know.

But he did know that he does not love this child.

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WC: Finally...Once again, Tay, I'm so sorry. It didn't turn out okay...it was supposed to focus more on a father/daughter moment...crap.

I really wish I could have found a better way to represent the fluffy, other than calling it..."the fluffy thing".

Reviews would make Taylor happy!