It had been 12 years since an injured Sesshomaru had met Rin in the forest. Since then, they had gone through much together. Many battles, long times apart, her time in the human village, learning to be with her own kind and her eventual return to his side. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, though she still had the laugh of a child that he cherished.

He sat against a tree on the side of a hill, watching her wash clothes on the river bank below. It was a bright, sunny day. A slight breeze from the North hinted at an early winter as it blew through the valley, whirling Rin's hair around her. She turned her face into it, noticed him watching and waved.

Sesshomaru stood and walked down to the bank to sit beside her.

"Hello, my lord." She greeted happily, scrubbing at a dark stain on one of her kimonos.

"That is blood." He noted, looking at the stain. "Your blood."

"Yes, my lord." she replied, "But it will come out." She smiled at him and he stared at her.

"You enjoy your travels by my side?" he questioned a few minutes of silence later.

"Very much, my lord."

"Even if you are endangered and often hurt by being there?"

"Even then." She continued scrubbing at the spot. It didn't seem to be getting any lighter to him. The heavy feeling of guilt settled on his heart.

"Rin, where would you be happiest?" he asked with slight hesitation.

After giving her answer some thought, she smiled. "With you, my lord. Always with you." She stopped her scrubbing to sit closer to him.

"Why do you ask, Lord Sesshomaru?" Her bright eyes stared into his, waiting for him to answer. Unlike when she was a child, he now almost always answered her when she spoke to him.

"Rin, you would be safer if you were not with me. You would not have to wash yours or my blood out of your clothes." Her hand went to his sleeve.

"My lord. Please don't leave me in another village. I hate when you're gone and I don't know where you are. I fear that you may never come back for me." Tears began to well up in her eyes. This sight made something snap inside him.

"Rin, I won't leave you again." He pulled her closer to him, staring into her eyes. "I would give up my immortal life to always be by your side. You are the brightest thing in my whole world. I'll never let you go."

Their faces were so close, she could feel his soft breaths on her lips and he could smell her scent stronger than he ever had.

"My lord, I…" she whispered against his lips as he pressed them closer. He quieted her with a soft, delicate kiss. His lips were softer than any rose could ever hope to be and her lips molded perfectly to his. This moment, right now, is where they both wished to stay forever. Never tasting, breathing, or feeling anything but each other. In that moment, they were both as close to heaven as earthly possibly.

In his mind, Sesshomaru reminded himself over and over of her short, human lifespan. She could never stay as beautiful - as perfect – as she was in this moment. She would grow and age and die, and leave him all alone in a world he despised.

Her hand caressing his cheek drew him from his thoughts and back to the moment.

Perhaps she would one day die, and leave him alone. He would then search the world for her reincarnated soul and live his life with her again, over and over, until the end of time.

Never would he be without his precious Rin, and never would she be without her beloved Lord Sesshomaru.