Love Beyond The Age
Chapter One: Departure
Kohaku returns with Rin safely to the village. The old priestess, Kaede, runs out of her cabin and welcomes them happily. Kohaku is hurt all over the body but his life is not in danger. Rin jumps off A-uhn, the two-headed dragon demon, and cried out: "Kagome is sucked into the underworld by Shinko no tama. InuYasha chased after her!"
"Is Naruku defeated?"
"I don't know! Lord Sessormaru sent Kohaku and I and Jaken back before they started fighting Naruku. They are fighting in Naruku's body, a giant spider."
Kaede does not reply. She puts her hands back and looks thoughtful. The miasma is declining. The life of village is not in danger. And most of the monsters—an ugly moth monster is attacking a villager suddenly, a light flashes in Kaede's old eyes—and in the next moment that moth monster is destroyed by a sacred arrow shot by Kaede. The scared villager tries to get up from the ground but fails. Rin runs over to the villager and helps him to stand up. The villager thanks her gratefully. Rin smiles back.
"Rin!" Sesshomaru is flying toward Rin. Rin immediately recognizes his cool and deep voice and relishes to hear him. She jumps up and down and waves and shouts with excitement. "Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sessormaru! I am so glad that you are safe! You are so strong!" Rin looks at with the utmost admiration. Jaken also runs to his master Sessormaru and cries with relief and excitement. "Shut up." Sessormaru says impatiently. He is a little bit awkward when the situation becomes so emotional. However, he feels happy to see that Rin is safe here. Looking at her warm smile, the exhaustion of fighting Naruku and the disgusting smell of blood seem all evaporating away from his body.
"Lord Sesshomaru, is everything over? Did you win the fight?" Rin grabs Sesshomaru's clothes. She is still a small girl. He looks at her—frowning his face.
"Yes." Sesshomaru says.
"What should we go next then?" Rin asks. Jaken interjects the conversation to emphasize his existence: "Of course you are not coming with us. You are a mere human child and a burden for Master who seeks solitary journey…"
"Shut up, Jaken." Sesshomaru says coldly, "being with me can be very dangerous, Rin. I want to give you a choice of life. Now I will leave you with Kaede. Three years later I will come to see you again. You can decide that time whether you want to be with humans or with me."
Tears burst out of Rin's soft brown eyes silently, like an endless rain. She is catatonic. Departing from Sesshomaru means the end of the world. Lord Sessormaru is the kindest person. He is like a father, a mother, a lover and lovee. He is the sun, the moon. He is the air. He saved her life from the wolve demons' bite. He was the first one who ever cared about her welfare truly. Now, he is leaving her?
"No, No!" Rin grabs Lord Sesshomaru's legs and will not let them go. Sesshomaru casts the most complicated look on Rin. The look contains emotions which he used to despire: affection, sympathy, love, longing…But Rin is a human after all. She can not live forever. And he is a demon and would never understand or give what she really needs. When she grows older, she will crave for normal things and will get tired of following him around. And what should he do that time?
"Goodbye. Rin." Sesshomaru says it to his heart. He does not look at Rin—he does not dare to look back. Rin, he thinks to himself, must be really really sad.
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
Jaken, riding on the A-uhn, looks back at Rin and thinks to himself: "It is hard to believe that master is leaving Rin behind. He is so fond of her. If she ever dies, master must take my Jaken's life. However, master is not attached to that human girl after all. Ah, this should be my master whose nature is to despise humans."
"Jaken!" Sesshomaru gives Jaken a very scornful look.
"Nothing, master! I have not thought about anything…" two lines of sweats trickle down the edge of Jaken's face. "Master…are you sure that you don't want Rin to—"
"It's better for her to be at the village." Sesshomaru's cold voice sounds. He is walking slowly as if lingering or savoring everything of this beautiful rural village as a tourist. He remembers his promise he had made with Rin before he took off.
"Lord Sesshomaru: will you come to see me every year?" Under Kaede's arm Rin said earnestly. Her little face was torn into flower of worry.
"Yes." He promised.
At the sun dusk, lonely cloud lays lazily above the canopy of the sacred tree; the shadow of moon is light like a fang. Sesshomaru and Jaken gradually disappear at the line of horizon. Rin watches them until the last part of A-un's tail is out of sight. She is a brave girl and knows crying and tears won't change the present; she must be healthy and staying alive to see Sesshomaru to come back. Kaede is hurt to see how grown up this little girl has been. Maybe a little too fast, she wonders.
Chapter Two Falling in Love
"Master! Master!" Jaken runs ridiculously with his short legs. The imp waves his nitojo and is out of breath. Sesshomaru ignores him completely. Recently, Sesshomaru has become less and less talkative. The aura around him is getting chillier after Rin left, Jaken thinks to himself, am I just imagining it or…
Sesshomaru stops. A beautiful woman in a pink kimono is standing before Sesshomaru. The fan in her hand covers half of her face. Jaken is surprised to see her resemble so much like Kagura. Sesshomaru does not hesitate to tear that woman in half. "hahaha…" the real demon with horns appears when the figure of kagura is turned back to ashes. The demon says coarsely, "you are truly unmerciful man. You don't hesitate even before kagura." Then the demon aims at Sesshomaru's belly with a fork. Sesshomaru dodges adroitly. He tears the demon's body with his poisonous claw with a deep roar. The demon is destroyed within a second. Sesshomaru looks at the corpse and says: "Don't you dare insulting her like that."
"Sesshomaru." Ayame, the dog princess of Northern country, said, "We should get married."
"No." He walked off, regardless of her request.
"Sesshomaru," his mother, the queen of southern country, said to him, "your father already had you at your age."
"So?"
"Oh, my dear son is so shy! Are you afraid of girls? Don't worry, let mommy teach you—"
"Shut up!"
"Ah, even Inuyasha has married now. I just receive the invitation to their first daughter's eighteen months' birthday. Why is only my boy that is still single? How can you let me this mother ever rest?"
"Don't be so fake. As if you ever cared." He shoved back.
"It's been three years," his mother returned back to her real self, "what are you gonna do about that human girl?"
"None of your business."
"Do you like her? Loving a human can be complicated." The queen said to him coldly, " I have already lost a husband. I don't want to lose a son."
It has been three years. Sesshomaru could not believe how much change Rin has taken. She has grown much taller. She has hit the puberty. Her face is smaller than before. Her eyes are brighter and warmer; they are pulling against the thread in his heart. A strange, tumultuous emotion hits the bottom of his heart. He feels so stupid to see her. Rin walks up to him with incredibility.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" she runs to him like when she was a little girl. The fresh and soft smell stimulates his acute sense. He tries hard not to lose his calmness.
Rin, Rin, Rin.
Jaken watches his master closely. Lord Sesshomaru seems to hold a special feeling for Rin. Does he really fall in love with Rin, a mere human? Wait, seriously? The great dog-demon who despises the humans the most? Wait… "Jaken!" Sesshomaru hisses.
"Master Jaken! Master Jaken! You look still the same! Very short, indeed!" Rin kneels down and smiles at Jaken. "Who are you in the position to talk to like that?" Jaken snaps infuriously. But sadly no one takes him seriously. Rin's attention is attracted by the kimono Sesshomaru has brough her. It is ocean blue. Rin is a little baffled: why does Sesshomaru give her kimono every year?
"Sesshomaru." An old voice comes from behind. It is Kaede. She steps forward slowly with a wooden crutch. "What is the matter?" Sesshomaru asks. He does not like to see this old woman with her sharp, penetrating eyes. They make him uncomfortable.
"It has been three years. Rin, you remember the choice?" Kaede says, "you are going to choose to become a part of humans or of demons."
"Couldn't I choose both?" Rin asks.
Kaede shakes her head. She touches Rin's head affectionately. "I won't blame your or resent you if you choose to stay with Sesshomaru. Maybe that's the better choice for you." Then she looks down to Rin's hands and changes her face when she sees the kimono.
"Rin," suddenly the always quiet Sesshomaru speaks, "you don't have to be with me."
Rin looks at him with a little discouraged and hurt face. But she says to him that she will follow Lord Sesshomaru forever until she dies and will never regret her decision.
"Will you miss being here?" Jaken asks.
"Surely I love the people." Rin admits, "but Lord Sesshomaru can not be compared with them. I love him."
Sesshomaru's eyes widen and the iris shrink. Love? How funny. Does she know the meaning of this kimono?
"Rin." Sesshomaru says to her, "Come with me."
"Yes, my lord."