Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
The wind blew across the moonlit meadow, it brought with it the scents of moist earth and fresh growth. It had rained earlier in the day, and the late-spring sun hadn't been strong enough to completely dry it up. She sat on a large boulder and stared at the moon, as she tended to do whenever she felt particularly lonely. The sight of the moon seemed to have the power to cheer her up, it reminded her of him. He was due for a visit, it had been over a month since the last time he came, that could be another reason for her silent vigil.
She sighed into the breeze, then stood up and brushed off her beautiful dark blue kimono, it was his most recent gift and she wanted to wear it for him. Her heart ached to see him again, she wanted travel with him like she used to when she was small but, she knew he did not want her in the way if he got into a fight, she had already died twice, after all.
She headed back to her home of the past ten years. It was not the usual human dwelling. She was not comfortable in the type of huts favored by the villagers. They were too open to attack, and since it was located outside of the village she wanted something a little more secure. She had asked Inuyasha to help her build it and it turned out exactly how she had hoped. It was a tree house. She had thick curtains that lined the walls in the winter because she couldn't have a fire inside it, she had only taken one of them down so far in case the weather turned chill again. The tree house was situated about halfway up a rather large tree with a lot of branches. There was no ladder because there were plenty of branches for her to use to climb her way up. The outside of the tree-house was camouflaged so the casual observer wouldn't notice it
She climbed in side and slid her door shut. Then she lit a candle and started her nightly routine of brushing her waist-length dark brown hair and putting on her nightclothes, before she finally laid down in bed and extinguished the flame. She stretched out on her futon and tried to fall asleep. Her mind raced with thoughts of him.
Why can't I get him off my mind? Why do I miss him so badly? Is it love? I am a fool.
She slowly began to doze off, and about an hour after she laid down she fell asleep. She slept fitfully that night, tossing and turning, but she did not wake until dawn. As the sun rose it filtered its rays through the branches of her tree and, into her open window. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched herself into wakefulness. She then rose from her bed and started to gather her blue kimono, a towel and, the "shampoo and conditioner" that Kagome had given her to bathe with. Then she headed out to the stream. The dew from the grass was cold on her bare feet and sparkled in the morning light as she made her way across the meadow.
When she reached the stream she placed her things by a nearby tree and proceeded to undress. She eased her way into the icy cold stream. It was late enough into the season that the banks were no longer swollen with the snows of winter. The water at its deepest came up about halfway up her thighs so she sat down slowly and washed her hair and body thoroughly, she was pretty sure Lord Sesshoumaru didn't like the smell of humans who were dirty. She tried to bathe everyday or every other day when weather permitted.
When she was clean she headed for her things, dried off, and carefully dressed in her dark blue kimono and silver obi. She toweled her hair, and shook it out a little to help it dry. She brushed her long hair and gathered her things up. She stopped by her tree-house and put her things away before she headed to the village. She headed straight for Kagome and Inuyasha's hut.
She was greeted by the happy shrieks of small children before she even got close. "Its Rin! Its Rin! She's here Mama! She's here!" Asuka's voice exploded out of the hut. She's the eldest, seven years old, and very talkative and full of energy. She had her mother's hair and her father's eyes.
"I heard you the first time sweetie there's no need to repeat yourself." Kagome said, as Rin entered the hut. "Good morning, Rin. Did you sleep well?"
"I did, Kagome, thank you. Can I help you make breakfast, or would you rather I tend to the twins?"
"Well seeing how my husband has already snuck away to "hunt", I really could use the help with the twins. I don't blame him, they're in a rare mood today, they're trying to break their puppy teeth." Kagome said.
A feeling of dread came over Rin at those words. She remembered Asuka at that age. She still has visible scars on her hands and legs from it. The very idea of going through that again, but doubled, almost made her bolt for the door. Unfortunately the twins had entered the room during the conversation and were making their way straight to Rin. They were fraternal twins, one male, Hiro and the other female, Hina. It even showed in their looks, they were polar opposites. All the children have their father's hanyou ears. Hiro has his mother's dark brown hair and brown eyes, and Hina was the spitting image of her father. Before Rin knew what happened both of the twins had grabbed a hand and clamped their jaws down hard.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Rin's scream scared the nearby birds from the trees. Inuyasha heard it, but sniffed the air and knew it was just the twins doing, he wanted no part in that- just yet. He was out looking for a fight, if he could get a strong enough bone he was sure he could pacify the twins. Suddenly, he smelled it, the scent of another demon nearby. He ran through the forest following the scent,when he was attacked from the side by a tanuki. He bopped it on the head and ran on, there's no way its bone could stand up to the twins. He needed something bigger.
He ran on until he smelled another demon. Okay, hopefully this one does the trick. The earth shakes suddenly and a deep roar sounds from nearby. It was Koumajutsu, a bear demon. That oughta do it. Koumajutsu growled at him and charged, Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsaiga and yelled "Kaze no Kizu!" and the bear was knocked back. He crashed hard against a tree, but was back on his feet in a moment. He uttered a fierce growl and charged at Inuyasha again. Koumajutsu pulled his sharp-clawed paw back and slashed across at Inuyasha, who dodged to the side and yelled, "Kaze no Kizu, again. Koumajutsu did not rise again, he was reduced to bones in moments. Inuyasha walked up and collected two thick femur bones. Thank you Koumajutsu. He thought as he headed back to the village with the bones for the twins. Suddenly he smelled an annoying scent. He picked up his pace, he would arrive at the village first.
Back in the village, the twins are leashed to a tree in the yard while Kagome bandages Rin's hands. "I'm so sorry, Rin. I've been trying to teach them not to draw blood, but they just don't listen. I'm just glad they weren't like this when I was breast-feeding." Kagome said.
"No leash Mama!" Hina shouted.
"This sucks!" said Hiro, he may look like his mom but he takes after his dad. He started chanting, "This sucks!," soon Hina joined in. At first, Kagome ignored it. As the minutes ticked slowly by and the twin's chant started to rake on her nerves, her face took on a scary looking aspect, and she turned to the twins slowly. They looked into her eyes and quietened and their ears flattened back against their heads. Mama is scary sometimes, they think to each other that odd way twins sometimes do, as they looked sidelong at each other.
Something rustled in the nearby bushes, the twins were immediately on alert, but relaxed as their father emerged carrying a bone for each of them. Kagome leaped up and stormed towards Inuyasha. "What are you doing? I don't want them chewing on those things!"
"Huh? Don't worry Kagome I know what I'm doing. They'll be fine in no time. They have to break in their teeth, then we won't have them going around biting people."
Kagome growled dangerously, but knew her husband was right. She looked toward Rin, "Are you okay? I really feel sorry about what the twins did."
"Yes, I'm fine, really. I should be used to it by now." Rin said. She heard voices approaching, and her eyes lit up.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, its been ten years, I don't know why you continue to waste time with this silly human girl." She heard Jaken saying as he and her Lord Sesshoumaru emerged from the forest. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she caught sight of him. She froze in place and was almost afraid to breathe, lest she scare him away, or even awake from a dream. He caught her pause in breathing and could smell her nervousness and wondered what was the cause. She slowly approached him, bowed, and then looked into his eyes and her face lit with a smile. "Uncle Sesshoumaru! The twins screeched when they looked up from their bones. They stood up and reached their small arms toward him. He looked at them passively and remarked "Teetheing, huh?" The twin's frowned and went back to their bones, their uncle was no fool.
*****A/N: Well, that's Chapter One, Please reveiw and let me know if you liked it, if I should continue, and any typos I missed. Thank you all so much! ^-^
