Hello, sorcerousfang here. I'm just doing a one shot here, so enjoy the little fluffiness.

XD

After he saved her…

"Ooooh, Lord Sesshomaru why won't you answer me?" Jaken continued. The Taiyoukai walked along in front of him, still so easily ignoring him.

It had only been a few hours after the incident. The incident just so happened to be that his Lord tested the Tenseiga again, and brought a human girl back to life! He was still in such shock; he hardly knew how to ask about it.

The girl now walked behind him, completely silent and big eyed. He could only guess that she was still in shock about her own death, but her silent stares were very unnerving.

He gave up for a while. His Lord would not answer him anyway.

"Ses..shomaru."

They both suddenly stopped and turned to face her. She finally spoke, and Sesshomaru's own surprised look made Jaken realize it must have been for the first time. His face suddenly hardened and he gripped his staff.

"That's Lord Sesshomaru to you, hu-!"

He suddenly toppled over when his head was struck by a rock.

'…glad I kept it…' ran across Sesshomaru's mind.

"Lord…Sessho…maru. Lord…Sesshomaru. Lord Sesshomaru."

The girl repeated it, saying it faster each time and becoming familiar with the name. A small smile spread across her face as she said it a fourth time.

"So, you can speak."

She looked up at him suddenly, and then cast her gaze to the ground. She bit her bottom lip before taking a short intake of breath, and then looked back up at him.

"You should not be afraid to use your voice."

The words slipped out of his mouth so easily that he surprised himself. His choice of words was unusual again. He mentally shook his head.

"Do you…have a name, girl?"

He hardly believed he hesitated. Yes the girl was fragile at the moment, but he shouldn't have cared, should he?

"Ri…ri…"

His eyes softened as he waited patiently for the girl to find her lost voice.

"n…Rin. My name is…Rin."

"Rin, is it?" To this Rin nodded her head, "Good. Jaken."

Jaken stiffened, then got up at his Lord's request.

"Y-ye-yes my lord?"

"See to it that a fire is made. We shall stop here for the night."

"Stop…? Oh! Yes, of course, my lord!"

He watched Jaken scurry off to collect fallen twigs and branches for a fire. Normally he would continue walking through the night, but with the young girl, Rin he reminded himself, following them, he knew that the human would need to rest. He looked over at Rin who repeated Jaken's name a few time. He found it amusing, really, that a girl could find pleasure in saying a name a few times over, but then again when they had met, she had been mute. He didn't know how long it had been since she had spoken, but guessed that hearing one's own voice after so long might make one happy.

He sat down against a tree and watched her reach over to Ah-Un and pet its two heads cautiously. When they purred, she smiled. He found that he liked it when she smiled. He wasn't sure why, but it made him feel like smiling himself.

Tenseiga was to blame. Yep, it was the sword's fault, he decided.

Rin walked over to him and shuffled her feet. He let his eyes question her and she opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it instead.

"What is it?"

"Umm…I…" She paused again, trying to find the words she wanted. He tried to put himself in her position for the moment. Being mute and then suddenly finding out you have a voice could make it hard to find words, especially if one hasn't used them in a while, or so he assumed.

"I wanted to say Thank you, but I don't have anything to give you…"

Her eyes went downcast.

"I don't need anything from you."

"Oh…"

She seemed disappointed, and Sesshomaru decided to reform his words.

"You don't need to give me anything. I don't need thanking."

She sat down across from him, not quite as disappointed as before. Sesshomaru couldn't help but find he needed to question her. She seemed like she should talk more. She was uncomfortable in the situation she was in and he felt he needed to change that fact.

Actually, he wanted to know why.

"Why did you keep coming back?"

She looked up and shook her head, perhaps trying to find words again that were lost to her for however long it was.

"I saw a bright light and I followed it and I found you, and you were hurt. I didn't want to be scared because you looked like you were in pain, and you didn't tell me to go away."

"I could have killed you."

She swallowed her breath, then spoke again.

"I knew you were a demon when I saw your eyes were red, but you were hurt, and I would have felt bad if I had just left. I didn't want someone else to feel alone, too."

"…Alone?"

"Every one ignores me in the village because I don't talk. They took me in, but I don't think they really like me."

Jaken came back into the camp and saw them sitting down across from each other. He paused a moment, stared at his Lord who stared back seemingly daring him to ask him to answer again, and turned his attention back to making a fire. He knew the fire was to keep the girl warm, but he didn't see why his lord should care. It wasn't like the girl was staying or anything, at least he thought so anyway.

"Umm… can I help you any,…Jaken?"

Jaken stared at the girl now. She seemed eager to help him make the fire, and she seemed to understand that it was really for her sake more than anyone else's.

"Umm, well… can you make a fire?"

"Yes! Here, I'll set up the sticks!"

Jaken seemed surprised that she was excited to help. He looked at his lord to see his expression, and he was surprised to see pleasure in his eyes. It wasn't a lot, but it was there, along with amusement and some surprise.

She finished quickly, and the set up was very elaborate, but quite practical.

"Brother and I used to fight over doing this…"

Sesshomaru caught what she said, but decided against asking about it.

"Do you want me to make the fire, too?"

"I can do that, you silly human girl!"

Jaken put out the staff and one of the mouths opened, releasing a surprisingly controlled amount of fire onto the sticks. Sesshomaru was quite amused. Jaken seemed to think he had to prove himself worthier than the girl. The little competition that Rin had no clue about made him smirk to himself.

"Wow… Jaken, that's amazing!"

"That's Master Jaken to you."

"Okay, Master Jaken!"

Sesshomaru nearly laughed. Jaken having someone under him after all this time was amusing. Sure he used to command an entire army of his kind, but it'd been years, and he'd grown more dependent than of higher authority since. He followed him because he saved him by chance. The stupid demon in his way just so happened to be holding Jaken in his grasp when he killed him, so there really was no reason for him to follow him, except to hold the staff of heads, which he himself did not feel like carrying around all the time. Besides, it suited Jaken more than himself.

The fire burned brightly, and Sesshomaru found he liked the flames in front of him. It did nothing for him, but it was calming, almost.

"Eh, Lord Sesshomaru, where are we heading after this?"

Sesshomaru looked down at the imp.

"Isn't it obvious?" He glanced at where his now missing set of armor had been, and Jaken sighed, realizing how stupid the question was.

Going back to the old man's place was a nuisance. All he did was babble on about when his father had still been alive, and he would have killed him for bringing it up again if it had not been for the fact that he made his armor. And he was the only one that would keep quiet about his recent visits. Especially after the first one in nearly 100 years, when he came back, missing a limb. He seemed to have to visit him more since Inuyasha's resurrection. Of course, he never told the old man that.

The old man was too cocky for his own good.

Jaken sighed. He knew where his Lord's thoughts were running. He didn't want to visit him, either.

He glanced at the girl. She was tending to the fire at the moment, making sure all of the sticks were catching fire and burning equally. He had to admit, she did know what she was doing.

./-/-/-/-/-/.

Jaken was snoring off at the side of a tree, quite childishly, Sesshomaru noted. The fire was still going thanks to Rin's tending of it, and the stick pile had dwindled immensely. Speaking of Rin…

The young human girl was still awake, and it was already well into the night. Sesshomaru pondered on the reasons; perhaps she just wasn't tired, or she was still shocked about her death and resurrection. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it wasn't normal human behavior, as far as he knew.

"Rin."

Rin looked up at her name.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru?"

His train of thought stopped immediately. The girl had remembered his name, and it was quite different having her say it. He pondered on how long it might take for him to get used to that, if the girl stayed, following right behind him.

"Why are you not asleep?"

Rin's eyes went downcast. He seemed to have struck something he shouldn't have brought up, and he regretted it quickly.

"Ummm…I…I don't want to."

He hesitated before pressing her, but he wanted to know what it was that made her ignore the rest that her body needed.

"Why not?"

Rin turned to the fire and fumbled with a stick before throwing it in. She took a breath, seemed to think better of it, then took another one when she realized she was required to answer. She knew what the title "Lord" meant. She wasn't that naïve.

"I'm afraid to."

The answer was so quite, Sesshomaru nearly had to strain his ears to hear it. Afraid? What would make a human afraid to sleep? Was she afraid of him; that he would kill her if she slept?

As if she had read his mind she shook her head.

Rin was trying to shake the memory away. She wanted to tell him everything that had happened. She could trust him. If she couldn't, her feet wouldn't have made her follow after him after he brought her back from everything that was cold, crowded, and black.

"The village where I used to live was attacked by bandits. My Mom and my brothers were all killed, right in front of me. I still have nightmares about that night. I don't know why I was left alive, and I didn't talk to anyone after that. Other people that had survived brought me to that village, and I was left there, until the wolves attacked."

Sesshomaru felt like he could feel every bit of pain that poured out of her voice as she explained her fear. It was nightmares about being left alive while everyone else was killed, and yet she could hold back the tears that he could smell. She wouldn't show the sadness or the pain, except in her own voice.

He was at loss for words.

And then suddenly he found himself saying something. He barely understood it until it was out and had already reached her ears. It wasn't something he would say; not in a million years if he lived that long.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, Rin."

It was nearly like his father's voice, he suddenly realized.

Rin smiled.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru. I think I'll go to bed now."

She stood up and bowed with a smile on her face, and then she walked over to Ah-Un and curled up at its side.

He waited a little bit until her could note the steady rise and fall of her chest that signaled sleep, until he stood up himself and walked over. She looked peaceful, and not haunted by the nightmares she had described.

He thought back a few moments ago, to when he thought about how long it might take him to get used to her calling him by his name and title. He decided, with a small smile on his face, that it wouldn't take as long as he thought, so long as she was there to call him every day.

./-/-/-/-/-/.

"Come on, Master Jaken!"

Jaken stumbled as he ran to catch up to the girl. Apparently they were racing to the lake in view to catch fish.

"Ooooh…, Rin! Wait!"

Jaken tripped. He was flat on his face, so he couldn't catch the smile that had, yet again, overcome Sesshomaru's features.

He could get used to this, so long as Jaken did not whine.

so I hope you liked. oh and the old man, I don't know who he's supposed to be. I needed an explaination for how he always got his armor back, and filler. and just someone who annoyed sesshomaru enough that he wanted to kill him, even though he can't :)

anywho, so something else like this might come up eventually, just give me some time to think of something.

Jya ne