It's been 9 years since put anything in this web

10 years since I joined , I must be ancient compared to all of you guys

But apparently I need to come back, hahaha

And get my version of post canon Rin/sesshoumaru out of my system to join the rest of its comrades online.

Ratings will climb as chapter progress

As usual, I do not own Inuyasha, copyright belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, no profit gained from this fic,

I do however, wish to know what do you think of it :)

Wagers and Promises

Chapter 1 : 8th Summer : Farewell

. . .

"She follows me by her own will."

"Oh but I wager, great Inu no Taishou, that given the fair choice she might want to reconsider."

"Speak plainly old woman."

"Of course the child hasn't really live amongst her own kind… at better times."

"And now is the better time?"

"It seems so."

"I will be seeing her."

"We will not stop you."

As if you can. "And she'll have her choice."

"When she is ready, and not before."

"Tell me, what it is this Sesshomaru will gain out of this… wager, as you said it?"

"Oh my lord demon, if this old woman may be so bold to presume, she'd say you do not need to gain anything but victory, is she grossly mistaken?"

. . .

It was said that a fair bargain leaves both parties unhappy. The Lord Youkai of the West was not sure about the fairness of the exchange he just made with the old miko or if he's unhappy either. The old miko didn't look unhappy. The little girl soon to be left behind, however, had been most unhappy.

Her hiccups brought his attention back to her. Cradled in his arms, she looked so small and harmless. Not a few minutes before she made quite a show of her tantrum.

She had been stunned when he told her his decision to leave her behind in the village with the old miko that morning. He had answered all the questions she managed to stammer out with brisk, dismissive, matter of fact replies and, shoulders slumped she complied, or so he thought.

As the dusk crept nearer and nearer and he had been ready to start his journey, she had grown agitated, clinging to his hakama tightly, babbling promises that she'd be good, she'd be better, she'd behave, and that she asked nothing but for the Lord Youkai to allow her to follow him.

He had stopped answering her, prefer instead to stare at her disapprovingly, something he fully knew discourage her from trying to bargain her way out of his decision. There had been brief, a sulky silence. Then came the tears, flooding her small face. As she wiped them off with her sleeves, she tried to resume her plea, but it came out in hoarse incoherent garbled of noises. It frustrated her, and as she tried harder to speak, she broke in unstoppable sobs. Her tiny frame shook with each one.

He had taken the human whelp on his arms then. She's so small, even for one with no more than eight summers. He should have just left her with no word. But then she would run after him, with of without his leave. He had to have her word.

"Rin," he said to the sobbing bundle in his arms. "I will be back."

He feels her clenches tightened on his haori. She looked up at her, face flushed, eyes still questioning.

She smelled of salty tears and misery.

"I will be back when you are ready. You will have your choice. You have my word."

His hope to have her word in return was met with her burying her face on his chest. He felt her heart beat faster and sensed sliver of fear in her. "I always make good on my words Rin. Do you doubt this Sesshomaru?"

Face buried his haori still, she shook. Her tiny hands moved away, finding grasps on his silver hair. He let out a small involuntary take of breath as she yanked it and looked up, staring his eyes straight.

This is most uncomfortable. He stared back the insolent tiny creature. Her violent sobs had stopped, replaced by small hiccups.

"You have my word." Of why the Lord Youkai of The West felt that he needed to repeat the word he himself was not sure. "Now I will have yours that you will stay. You will not wander off. I will visit on you to make sure that you do."

He could see something shifted in her eyes. "Would you have me came to this place again and not finding you here?"

She swallowed a few sobs, took a labored breath and mustered a weak, "No."

"You will stay in this place." Somehow it sounded more like a question.

"Yes…" she said weakly.

He held her closer at her answer. He had had a feeling something like this would have happened, what with the child so willful, but it had gone more smoothly on his mind, and considerably quicker. He was growing more unsettled by the minutes, something tightened on his chest. He closed his eyes, willing the sensation to go away, and found himself absent mindedly stroking her back.

She had fallen into an exhausted sleep. Her breathing gradually steadied, occasionally interrupted by residual hiccups. Her hands, however, were still clasped in a death grip on his silver hair.

He sighed. Drawing his claws, he cut the locks off. He wouldn't risk prying her hands and waking her. He inhaled deeply, storing her scent his mind. Even marred by tears, dirt or blood she had always smelled of summer meadows; fresh grass and wild flowers.

Carrying her to the miko's hut, and leaving her to sleep on the futon had been a blur. What he noticed the most when he hastened his departure was how the loss of her insignificant weight on his hands strangely weighed on his steps.

. . .

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, stay tuned for next chapter,

oh and if you're interested in reading my stuff fell free to see my profile page (be warned though, last time I updated the profile was in 2003 (yes, I am an old old timer!) and my previous Sesshoumaru and Rin fic was written around that time (around 2nd season of the series, yes i imagine things too much between th elord demon youkai and his ward, but it's proven now ne?;)) and now that the series has ended would qualify as alternate reality (and I terribly need to fix the grammar and the thesaurus abuse hahahah)

till next chapter :*