A/N: A cute, pointless ficlet that somehow never made its way onto my first account. Enjoy!
Reincarnation
"Sesshomaru-sama?"
"Yes, Rin."
"Do you..? Never mind."
The girl in AhUn's saddle twisted nervously, crossing her legs and locking them at the ankles only to -mere seconds later- uncross them so that they swung idly above the ground.
"Rin."
"Yes, my lord?"
"What is it?"
His tone was sharp. Sharper, perhaps, than it otherwise would've been had this not been the third repetition of its kind. Rin obviously wanted to ask him something of importance but was stalling needlessly.
Had Jaken been in the vicinity, he would've tried to swat her over the head already, thereby placing Sesshomaru in the precarious position of having to both stop him and step on him in retaliation.
"I just -you know what? It's silly."
Again, she crossed her legs, uncrossed them and began to shift on the leather saddle, which creaked with each movement.
"Do you believe..? Never mind."
"Rin."
She gulped.
It was rare that Lord Sesshomaru ever lost patience with his favorite ward, but that wasn't to say it couldn't happen...
"Reincarnation," she spit the word out like a shield to buffet his mounting annoyance, which ironically only served to annoy the demon more.
"What of it?"
"Do you think -do you believe in reincarnation?"
"Hn. Inuyasha's miko is of the dead priestess, is she not?"
Rin felt stupid. No, not stupid necessarily, but very forgetful. "Oh yeah."
Sesshomaru continued on his way, wondering vaguely why that had caused so much tension in the girl before deciding that it didn't matter. The day's errands were far from over, and the less distractions the better.
Rin began to hum, but it was not her usual upbeat, spur-of-the-moment composition. This time she hummed and murmured in a decidedly minor key, and his demon ears twitched at the change.
"Yes, but Kagome doesn't remember her life as Kikyo, does she?" she asked, a note of sadness lacing her young voice.
At this, they stopped.
"I wouldn't know," was all he said.
"It's kind of sad, my lord, to think that even if our lives are recycled the same cannot be said of our memories..."
Her sudden eloquence on the matter stunned him, but he would never admit as much.
"Such is the way of humans."
"Hm. Is it different, then, for your kind? Demons?"
"Rin."
"I'm sorry, my lord. I'm just curious."
"What disturbs you?"
"Oh."
She thought he'd called her out for the disturbance she created, but of course he could sense her anxiety.
"When I die, Sesshomaru-sama, I don't want to come back some day and not remember you...That is all."
Pale lips parted and his brow rose, but words did not suddenly bubble up in his throat to be made useful. The fact of the matter was that -for once in his life- the demon lord didn't know what to say.
A long silence passed before his mouth set into one of its rare smirks.
"Do not worry, Rin. I will always find you."
Her melody immediately transformed. The notes became sharp and clear, almost as though he'd startled the tune straight out of her, and Rin smiled brightly.
"Then I am not worried, my lord. I will try to make it easy for you."
-fin-