What Happened to Forever?

. . .

"I want to follow you forever, Lord Sesshomaru." After spending so many years living with the priestess Kaede in a simple human village, Rin is faced with the choice to stay in the village or to return to her lord's side. But unbeknownst to them, her choice will set off a chain of unlikely adventures and emotions as they search for the fountain of youth.

. . .

Chapter One

"What do you mean, 'I should stay here'? You can't be serious!" Rin was clearly very angry. She had never thought that she would ever end up raising her voice at Sesshomaru, but she was very nearly screaming at him now. Still, Sesshomaru remained unmoved. "I don't want to live in a human village. I want to go with you." She wiped the fresh tears on her face. "Please."

"You'll die if you continue to travel with me like this."

"I don't care! You'll save me, won't you?"

Suddenly, Sesshomaru was right in front of her. Their height difference was great; Sesshomaru was nearly double her height and definitely several times her overall size. He knelt down on both of his knees, no doubt temporarily staining his white pants, and embraced her, holding her as he had never truly held anyone else before. Rin's face met the soft fur of his shoulder. It was like a feather pillow, and it instantly made her feel a little bit warmer. It was rather soothing, in fact.

"I will come back for you." Their eyes met for a long time. Sesshomaru had withdrawn just as quickly. He used his own fingers to wipe away the last of her tears.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

. . .

"Rin! Get back here, you brat!" A farmer thundered from afar, his voice echoing through the fields.

She was running as fast as her limbs could carry her. The feel of the wind against her face, the feel of the moist undergrowth against her bare feet, or simply the thrill of the act of running seemed to always rejuvenate her. She was passing homes too quickly, laughing as she did, with one large watermelon on one arm and the other holding a small bag of apples. These were no doubt stolen from the fields, not that it had to be.

It had been nearly ten years since Sesshomaru had insisted on her staying in a human village. She was seventeen now, turning eighteen in a few more months. That was considered a very ripe age for finding a respectable suitor and settling down. But Rin had other things in mind.

At the age of seventeen, Rin was more carefree and mischievous than ever. She regularly stole food that would have been given to her for free anyway due to her status as Priestess Kaede's apprentice. But she didn't steal them just because she was hungry. She stole them because the very act of taking someone else's things and making them angry thrilled her.

Nobody messed with her, either. It may have been simply because she was a crafty person who liked to mess with people, or maybe it was because she was Kaede's apprentice. But the closest reason to the truth was simply because she was protected by the most powerful demon in the world.

Now, most thieves—and common folk—were dressed in rags or otherwise bland kimonos. Anyone and everyone in Kaede's village could tell Rin from a mile off simply because of her colourful and ridiculously expensive kimonos, gifted to her by Sesshomaru himself. The number of kimonos she had was a popular debate in town. Some say she had hundreds of them, others thousands. Yet no matter how much they pestered her with this question, she only laughed. And so it remained a mystery.

Back to the story, now; Rin was running away with the stolen goods and not really watching where she was going. She was especially excited that day for several reasons, the biggest of which was because she expected Sesshomaru to visit her again on that day. He often visited her at least once a week on random days, but she had long ago developed a sixth sense for predicting his patterns. She was so wrapped up in her excitement in fact that she failed to see the finely-dressed aristocrat before she bumped into him, causing the watermelon to fall down and break, spilling its liquid contents, and the apples to scatter on the dirt.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin dusted her yellow butterfly kimono, which was one of her favourites, and looked back up to Sesshomaru. He had an amused expression on his face, causing Rin to smile wider.

"Out irritating the villagers again, Rin?" He mused.

"I can't help myself." Rin admitted without remorse. In fact, she seemed almost proud of it. She dusted her kimono, her eyes still glued to Sesshomaru's face. It was as if she'd forgotten all about the fruits. Sesshomaru bent down to collect the apples and put them into the small sack once more. "T-thank you." Rin stammered as she accepted it from him.

"You should be more careful." He said. "I have a present for you."

"Is it a kimono?" Rin asked, bright-eyed and full of interest. Sesshomaru reached into his own kimono to reveal his latest present, a white kimono with pink cherry blossoms adorning it.

"That's the most beautiful one yet, Sesshomaru." Kaede said from behind him. Rin accepted the kimono from Sesshomaru as they both turned to face Kaede. "But she has enough kimonos, don't you think? You should have gotten her shoes; god knows you're the only one who can make her wear them."

Rin stuck her tongue out immaturely at Kaede. She tugged on Sesshomaru's arm, capturing his attention right away. "Will you stay for a little while this time, my lord? Even just for lunch?"

"What a request!" Rin looked down surprisingly at Jaken, who she had not noticed until then. "The great Lord Sesshomaru dining with humans! You should be ashamed of yourself for so much as thinking that—"

"Alright." Sesshomaru said nonchalantly. "I'll stay for lunch."

"Great! I'll go get everyone." Rin said as she ran the other way, her arms flying on her sides. Jaken was feeling pretty small, not that he wasn't used to the feeling yet.

"She's learned a lot, you know." Kaede said wistfully once Rin was out of earshot. "But I guess there's no sense in delaying the inevitable. I'm sure you'll take good care of her."

Sesshomaru looked to the direction Rin had gone pensively and sighed inwardly. He had both longed for and dreaded this day for different reasons. But he supposed that Kaede was right; there was no sense in delaying the inevitable.

. . .

Rin didn't think that Sesshomaru would have agreed to lunch had he known she would invite his half-demon, half-human brother Inuyasha. It wasn't like her lord would hold it against her, though, and Kagome did say to her before that it would be nice if the brothers got along even just once in a while.

Sesshomaru didn't seem to mind at all, but she knew that he had a natural talent for ignoring his little brother. Inuyasha, however, was the problem. He was rigid and twitching, guarding his food as if Sesshomaru would take if from him at any given moment. Kagome had already scolded him several times for it, but Inuyasha was never one to take an insult lying down.

"I don't see why he has to be here when Kaede's house is just up the hill." Inuyasha whined for all to hear. "It's our house—"

"And they're our guests!" Kagome argued, barely managing to keep a straight face. She had gotten the feeling that Sesshomaru was finally going to pop the question to Rin that day, which was why she insisted on a big family lunch together with them both. Besides, with Rin around, Sesshomaru was more or less harmless. "So how are you, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, hoping that some conversation would help quiet Inuyasha's unnecessary tantrum.

"That's Lord Sesshomaru to you, human!" Jaken answered automatically, his irritatingly high-pitched voice hurting their ears.

"Who cares?" Inuyasha retorted, his mood sour.

"Why you—" Jaken was turning into a dangerous shade of red in anger now despite his sickly green natural skin stone.

"Jaken, silent." Sesshomaru ordered coolly. Jaken immediately froze. "Rin?" He had long ago noticed her empty plate. The girl was already stuffed, having eaten way too fast. She looked to him enthusiastically, eager to please him. "Will you come outside with me? There's something I'd like to ask you now." Rin cocked her head to one side in curiosity.

"Of course, my lord." She finally answered.

Kagome had hidden her growing smile behind her hand as Rin and Sesshomaru left their home for some privacy, no doubt heading for the clearing around the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha looked to her rudely.

"What are you smiling about, Kagome?"

"Oh, nothing." Kagome sighed. "You're just as dense as ever."

"Wait for me, my lord!" Jaken called out as he scrambled to his tiny legs, but Kagome held him by the collar of his shirt.

"I think it's best if you stay here."

. . .

"Look at the sky, Lord Sesshomaru! That cloud almost looks like Jaken, only it's not green." Rin pointed out cheerfully and as she gazed up on the clouds overhead.

Sesshomaru, behind her, looked up to the midday sky, following her gaze. It does look like that little imp, he thought. "Rin, turn around and face me." He said. The girl did as he asked of her. While she had grown tremendously in the past years, her face had yet to change to him. Every time he would look at her face, he saw the brave little child he'd rescued so many years ago.

"Yes, my lord?" Her eyes were as big and bright as always, childlike and yet so very distinctly that of a mature and intelligent woman's.

"You may resume your travels with me if you so wish. You've spent enough time in this human village as it is." Sesshomaru watched very carefully the way the expressions seemed to dance in her eyes. It was a very grave thing to him, this moment. It wasn't often that he had felt so anxious.

In his thoughts, Rin had always smiled very brightly when he would ask her to return to his side. She would laugh and embrace him and sing her sweet melodies and it would be as it was before. But Rin wasn't smiling now. Her bright expression was slowly growing dimmer and Sesshomaru saw that the light reflected in her eyes was growing ever darker. Did she not want to return to his side? His heart was beating quickly.

"You want me to leave Lady Kaede and the village to...to be with you again?" Rin repeated. Sesshomaru felt the wallowing pain of rejection accumulating.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Sesshomaru interjected in his defence. "It's only an option." He regretted this as soon as he did. He had just made himself seem vulnerable to this young girl. On the other hand, Rin smiled, realizing what had just happened. She had unintentionally trampled on his pride.

"A little girl once promised me that she would follow you forever." Sesshomaru's face softened. "I'm aware that I'm not the most innocent nor am I the most morally good girl in the world, but that little girl's heart still beats within me and...I don't break my promises. Especially that ones I make to myself." Rin tucked a long lock of Sesshomaru's silvery hair behind his ear, making him suddenly realize just how close their faces had become. "I will go with you, my lord. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if you let me."

Sesshomaru, in his delight, had suddenly pulled her closer. He kissed her hair deeply before letting her go. It was very out of character for him, and he would never have done it had it been any other girl before him.

"Ah-Un will be pleased to travel with you again, too." Rin said as soon as she recovered from the initial surprise. "I've taken very good care of him here, but nothing beats the thrill of travel." A silent understanding passed between them. "But let me stay here just one more night, my lord, if only to say goodbye to Lady Kaede and the village and the trees and the flower gardens."

"Very well. Just one more night."

. . .

"Where's Sesshomaru, Rin? Isn't he going to sleep here with you?" Kagome asked as she laid down the mats to sleep. Rin adjusted hers and shrugged.

"He's always preferred sleeping outside. He's really more in tune with nature than one might think." Rin said, confident in her answer. It was true; she had never seen Sesshomaru sleep indoors. In fact, she had never even seen Sesshomaru sleep at all. He rested often, sitting on the base of a tree watching as she and Jaken went about in their antics, but she had never seen him actually close his eyes for more than a few seconds. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure as to whether he slept at all.

"Maybe you should check up on him anyway." Kagome requested. Rin shook her head.

"I'll have him from tomorrow onwards. You and the family are top priority. I don't know when I'll be seeing any of you again."

Kagome smiled. "I know. But you should go anyway. It's what you want to do, isn't it?"

Rin sighed, glancing out the open window and past the stars one last time.

. . .

"You're always watching the stars."

Sesshomaru turned to see Rin take a seat beside him. They were on a short cliff overlooking the village only meters away from Lady Kaede's house. They were snuggled up against a great oak tree under an infinitely large blanket of constellations, most of which were known to Sesshomaru by their ancient names.

"I used to watch them a lot, too, especially back when you first brought me to live in this village." Rin smiled, eyes glued to the stars above her. She traced to trace as many of them with her eyes. "With you, I never knew when or where I would get breakfast or lunch or dinner if at all. I wouldn't know where I'd be the next day, or even when I woke up after napping on Ah-Un's back. In the village my life fell into a routine; wake up to the sound of the neighbour's chickens in the morning, fetch for of their eggs for breakfast, catch some fish for lunch, and then dine at Kagome's for dinner sometimes. I get to see a lot of people here. Kagome and Inuyasha live right across us. And Kohaku visits sometimes. He's always busy. He's travelling, like you, slaying demons everywhere he goes." Then she smiled. "But then nightfall would come and all I could do is stare at the stars before I dream, wondering if you were looking at the same stars too."

"Rin..." Sesshomaru murmured. Rin rested her head against her shoulder, feeling his soft fur caress her cheeks. She smiled and she slowly drifted to sleep. Sesshomaru did nothing to move her. He quite liked having her close.