"Intriguing..." Sesshoumaru thought. "There is not even anything I can find here."
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin is here!" Jaken announced loudly.
"Huh?" asked Sesshoumaru. "Rin?"
"Yes! You mentioned that she is coming, right? She is here already! She's with Kohaku."
"Ah. I shall see her, then." said Sesshoumaru nonchalantly as he walks away from the garden of his castle at the West.
"That Lord Sesshoumaru. This few days he has been acting weird..." said Jaken none too softly.
"Jaken..."
"Errr... Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"What did you say?"
"Errr... Nothing! Nothing!"

Jaken caught up with Sesshoumaru and walked behind his master in silence. His vocal thoughts about the worries of his master were forgotten as soon as he heard the all too threatening voice of his Lord Sesshoumaru.

In the darkness somewhere, a female youkai hid behind the trees. Indeed, she has been coming to this castle of this Lord Sesshoumaru often for the past few days. Evidently, Sesshoumaru had noticed her presence despite her attempts to hide her scent. The youkai fist her hand close to herself. The temptations to go up to Sesshoumaru was so intense - especially when Sesshoumaru had been so close - but she was never courageous enough.

However, she is here to talk to Sesshoumaru on Lady Shiriwa's orders. Sooner or later, she has to face up to him. Yet, she will think about that later. For now, she has to worry about when she would finally overcome her fears.

"Rin!" exclaimed Jaken as they all sat in the living hall in Sesshoumaru's colossal castle.
"Yes, Jaken-sama?"
"Humph. You are talking too much, aren't you?"
"I am? I'm so sorry! I was so excited to see Sesshoumaru-sama and you. It's been awhile since Sesshoumaru-sama came and sees me."
"You aren't serious! He is busy, you know."
"Uh... I know. I'm sorry."

"Rin..." said Sesshoumaru suddenly.
"Huh. Uh, yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
Sesshoumaru turned his gaze at Rin with the softest of expression. This, in turn, got him a warm, sweet smile.
"I never forget you."

Rin was in the happiest mood she had ever been in a long while as she prepares to be returned home on Ah-Un. Sesshoumaru-sama was already somewhere else. She and Kohaku climbed Ah-Un's back and waved goodbye to Jaken.

In the meantime, Sesshoumaru had noticed that presence again. He is determined to find out who is it that has been lurking around his castle for awhile now. Weirdly, that presence has a certain form of magnetic attraction that pulled him along. He silently and calmly followed the lead. Whoever that thing is, they have no intention of leading him there since its scent is cleverly masked. If it wasn't for that strong sense of presence, Sesshoumaru would not have noticed anything. The sense of presence had amazed Sesshoumaru to a certain extent. It seems like whomever it is with that strong effect of presence of Sesshoumaru is unintentionally leading him.

It was too late - way too late - when she noticed that someone was lingering too near to her. She had been anxiously waiting for the arrival of her pet that would be bringing a message from Lady Shiriwa that she had hardly noticed anything. She cursed herself for being so foolish. When something moved behind her, she turned abruptly and is immediately in a crouching position. She would be ready to attack at any time - she is as fast as lightning, too.

When she finally saw her opponent, she froze in place. Her opponent, on the other hand, was still sporting a look of total boredom. A few minutes passes and she did not as much as twitch her muscles in that position. However, Sesshoumaru made no move to attack her. She finally relaxes herself and stood upright.

She looked at Sesshoumaru and was amazed at what she saw. From what she had learnt, Sesshoumaru went through eons of changes. She stood in silence; her face passive. Then again, there's the human girl, Rin. Rin alone had been able to change Sesshoumaru drastically. Even though the reason why Sesshoumaru had become so heartless is...

Her face cringed at the thought. She mentally pushed them away and returned to the situation at hand. She looked at Sesshoumaru once again, his face showing a small hint of interest. There is a lot that she would want to explain to Sesshoumaru, but she knows that now is not the time. She decided to tackle it one at a time.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," spoke the female softly.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly. In front of him, a letter floats. He looked at the letter warily, before looking at this fascinating female youkai in front of him. So reminds him of an incident that happened - heh, ages ago. Then he kept his eyes at the letter that is floating nearer and nearer to him.

"It's for you. From Lady Shiriwa."

Sesshoumaru looked up at the mention of the name. Yet, all he could see was the lake that the female youkai had sat by. The female youkai was gone, along with the presence.

"If my instincts were right..." Sesshoumaru thought as he grabs the letter. "Then this wouldn't be the first time that this female went missing on me. Heh."

Somewhere in the sky, the female youkai could hear Sesshoumaru's thoughts. Again, her fisted hand is held close to her chest; where it is the closest to her heart. It had hurt that badly. So badly that as she flew on her reliable pet, a phoenix, she could feel her tears against the cold, stinging wind.

If she could, she wishes to explain to Sesshoumaru everything. The very reason why she had to break her own promise nearly hundred years ago.