A brief look at Sesshoumaru's thoughts on his ward. Personally I don't think Sesshoumaru is as in character as I would like him to be, criticism, suggestions, and comments are welcome.
Misconceptions
I watched her prance among the flowers singing a silly tune occasionally pausing to pick up a small weed, whose blossom managed to catch her eye, and weave it into the garland in her small hands. I've always heard and was always told that ningen took the small gifts nature offered them for granted, walking by them without even sparing a single glance too caught up in their own conceited minds. I watched her run over to Jakken, showing him another blossom and asking him to name it for her, as she always did much to his immense chagrin, Jakken always made his displeasure at caring for a ningen known. I gazed at the simple clothing she wore, a plain orange and white pattern, and inexpensive fabric and remembered hearing that ningens felt themselves too almighty to don such simple clothing and passed the majority of their time displeased with their attire, however, not my young ward. Rin, the name was simple, just as she was simple, not simple minded I noticed early on that the girl was clever, but simple in her way of life an new robe regardless of its make caused her great excitement just as flowers not jewels brought her joy. She wore no shoes, another anomaly, although I knew she was unaccustomed to wear them and never asked for shoes even though I wore boots on my feet, I was always told that ningens felt that their feet were too sensitive to be placed on the hard ground without any type of protection. She was innocent and pure but she also knew the cruelty of the world, her mistreatment early on by the people of her own village demonstrated that she cared nothing about a creature so long as she knew that someone still realized that she existed. She feared ningens that much was evident, she also feared some youkai but she does not fear me, she never did and somehow I know she never will despite everything she has seen me do, despite all the cruel actions I have performed all the pain I have inflicted. She was an infinite paradox, innocently wise, naively sensible, childishly jaded, an interesting juxtaposition of purity and wisdom. However, I also knew how stubborn she was, her foolish voyage in search of the plants that Jakken needed when he was stung by the poisonous insects proved that, even though she knew that she was endangering her own life. I was always told that ningens were so egotistical that they refused to help those in need, refused to help even their closest friends and family if it meant putting themselves at risk, not Rin. She nearly died in her attempt to save Jakken, it was fortunate that I was close by and able to catch her during her plummet to the ground, but she managed to pluck the flowers before she fell, and for that I admit I admired her for a moment. I also noticed that Ah-Un was with her at the time, protecting her from the youkai who inhabited the area, the beasts were fond of her despite her humanity. Perhaps it was her loyalty, he undivided devotion, her integrity. I remember hearing that ningens learned things slowly, that teaching required constant if not excessive repetition and before the lesson was internalized and even then more practice required to truly demonstrate that the lesson was learned. Nevertheless, I instructed Jakken to teach her to read and write, if she was to remain as my ward then she needed to be taught, for I refused to be associated with a simpleton. She learned quickly, even Jakken appeared surprised at her rapid progress and treated her slightly less harshly than before. Another fact that I was taught, disproved like so many others.
I watched her age, four years after her revival, I assumed her to be eleven years of age, I bought her a new robe, of finer material than the previous ones and of a showier design, a lavender affair with a pattern of butterflies, not silk but most certainly not cotton. I also bought her tabi and sandals, not lacquered ones of course, these were simple straw sandals. She thanked me profusely for the gifts and appeared to be pleased, she wore the sandals but struggled to walk in them, so unaccustomed to their weight and the presence between her toes. I expected her to complain, but she never did, I expected her to take the shoes off and resume her previous habit of walking barefoot but again she did not. Soon she walked unhindered in her robes and sandals, the next year I gave her a new robe as well as an under robe, the weight more than she was accustomed to. Once again I expected her to regress into her former habits, after she struggled to walk in the heavy robes but she demonstrated her determination once more and bore the burden without complaint. The following year I gave her a simple wooden comb for her ebony hair as well as the usual gift of a new robe and under robe. The following year, I gave her the usual gift however the tie for her robe was different than the ones before, it was made of heavier material and far longer than the ones before and had to be wound several times around her small waist and tied into a relatively large bow in the back with the ends dangling near the ground. The weight was excessive and she nearly fell backwards the first time she attempted to stand up while wearing it, but managed to keep her balance. I instructed Jakken to teach her proper court protocol, this she learned as easily as writing and reading but her love of running through the fields and picking flowers remained unchanged, even though she was unable to run and skip due to the constricting fabric of her robes and their weight she still managed a brisk walk and always picked flowers. I knew that as each year progressed the closer she was to adulthood, the closer she was to taking a mate and starting her own family, to leaving my care. That same year, her thirteenth year of life, I noticed the change in her scent and recognized the dangers of having her near so many youkai I never left her alone during these times, not the days right before her monthly flux or the days immediately after, her most fertile times. The change of her scent attracted several lesser youkai that I destroyed with relative ease, I did not trust Jakken and Ah-Un to protect her as well as I. I ignored the affects that her scent had on my body, it was a relatively easy task all I needed to do was remind myself that she was a ningen (a young ningen) and she was my ward.
More years passed, my young ward was now a woman eligible to mate and bear children, and she was beautiful, not the ethereal beauty that a youkai possessed but as close to it as humanly possible. I did not chose her mate, I refused to chose one for her knowing that no mere ningen deserved her, no instead I allowed her to chose her mate, and chose she did and I suppose that I ought to have realized her choice long before she made it, or had some inkling of it. She chose a simple man, one who I would have never considered, in a simple village as her husband and I allowed her to marry him ignoring the sense of loss and sorrow that filled me as I watched her leave my life forever; she left to live a simple life, for she was a simple ningen with simple desires. I knew that the moment I saw her eyes light up in joy while weaving garlands of flowers, all the lessons and gifts were for naught they did not truly make her happy she only acquiesced to please me. Ningens are not simple, they are tenacious and love luxury –thrive on it and nothing less will please them, a lesson forever ingrained in my mind but thoroughly disproved by a barefoot beaten up young ningen in tattered robes who was missing several teeth.