AN: Thanks you for all the support so far from followers; especially belle'sdarkangel and Jeanne! It's a joy to know this was liked! I'm sorry for the lack of Sesshomaru, but the story mainly revolves around Rin and her thoughts. I just feel like too much Sesshomaru in the beginning would damage his mysterious character. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 1:
Yearning for Gold
The sun began to rise over the village, its glowing warmth cast light over all the residence to call men out to the fields and awoke children to do their chores. While many huts began their mornings in peace one particular household shook by the squeals of a very pregnant woman. A first-time birth is scary, but this new mother had the utmost confidence in her midwife. "Can you see him, Rin?"
"Yes," Rin reassured her, "The head is crowning; just hang in there Akari!"
"I can't wait to hold him," her friend replied through exhausted pants, "I'm sure he'll look just like his father."
Rin squeezed warm water out of rag, "Now, Akari you don't know if-"
"Oh, but I do," the woman interrupted, "It just has to be…Kohaku wishes so bad for an heir."
Rin put any idea of a protest out of her mind, and instead focused at the task as hand while the mother continued on about the name her husband had picked out. "Ok, Akari focus now; one last push!"
Her final scream tore through the walls of the hut, and rushed a new father to his home. Kohaku moved in haste as he removed himself off Kirara's back to hurry to the threshold of his hut. His anticipation grew with each second he was unable to see his newborn child, but reality set in once he was face to face with the straw that covered the door. Too much was going on by the sounds inside, and he didn't want to hinder his wife's progress. His patience didn't have to endure much longer, and soon the moans of discomfort vanished into little cries that echoed off the wooden walls. The demon-slayer finally gave into his eagerness, and took a step forward to finally enter the scene. However, what he didn't expect was for his childhood friend to come out of the hut with a tiny bundle of cloth in her hands. "Rin?" Of course, Kohaku was aware that she was to help deliver his baby; he just hadn't expected her to be the first one he would gaze at holding his infant. "Congratulations," Rin smiled from cheek to cheek, "It's a healthy baby girl."
"A girl…" Her announcement caught him off guard; a few seconds passed before he noticed his apprehensive behavior and proceeded to immediately gathering the gurgling baby into his arms. "I have a daughter," he smiled, "Can you believe it, Rin?" Rin couldn't help the happiness that shrouded her at the sight of Kohaku's excitement, "She looks like you," she commented, "Have you decided on a name?"
Kohaku paused in his cooing toward the baby, and turned his brow upward in an uncertain stare, "We haven't thought about it; a name for a girl that is. If fact, I don't know whether or not Akari told you this but we were very certain it was going to be a…Akari?!" Kohaku used his free hand to grip the blades of Rin's shoulders. "Akari? Is she ok?" Rin jumped at his sudden change of subject, yet found his worrisome endearing. Rin gave a comforting nod, "She's just resting is all; you should be very proud of her." Rin recalled the bittersweet look that washed across her friend's face at the announcement of a girl, and although Akari caressed her child's cheek with love she did not have the courage to bequeath the news to her husband. Instead she had Rin do it; Akari knew it would be easier for him to handle if Rin approached him with the situation first.
"May I hold my daughter?" a weak voice called out within the hut. Kohaku shifted the baby in his arms to give to Rin, but her hands brought his advances to a halt. "I think she'll appreciate it more if you were the one to do it."
"Oh, right," he agreed, and stretched his hand out to wrap his digits around her palm, "Thank you, Rin…for everything."
She gave a weary smile, and after adjusting her headscarf and apron she gave a small bow before gathering her things to head back home.
"How come you didn't have Uncle Kohaku's baby?" a curious child's awkward question was quickly silenced by a small hand over her mouth. "You have to be married to have a baby," another child replied, "And Rin didn't marry Uncle Kohaku; Aunt Akari did." The girl then proceeded to cover her own lips; ashamed that she was no different than her sister in putting her foot in her mouth. The subject of their conversation did her best to hide her humiliation. Rin busied herself with unpacking her supplies while two very identical girls aided her within the warmth of Kaede's old hut, "Are you two excited for your first baby cousin?"
"She's so cute!" One of the twins wrapped her arms around herself in excitement while the other shrugged her shoulders in boredom, "I think we have too many babies in the family." Rin couldn't help but laugh at the remark; after all 6 brothers and sisters was quite the amount to deal with under one roof. Sango's twin daughters, Sora and Sayu, were as different as night and day, and-like Rin's younger self-they were old enough now to help with deliveries. Despite their opposite personas the girls worked extremely well together which made her job easier since Kaede's passing. Kagome and Sango tried many times to convince her to move in with them after the funeral, but Rin felt comfort within the four walls she once shared with the woman that gave her as much guidance as any mother could give her.
"Where do you want these, Rin?" Sayu asked as she held a basket of herbal liquors and ointments. "Atop that shelf is fine," she pointed, thankful that Akari withstood the labor pains without too much medication. Sora helped her sister lift the basket to the third level of the shelf, but the weight proved too much for the girls as they slipped and brought half the contents down with them. "I'm sorry!" they immediately apologized in unison amongst the mess of papers and boxes. Rin stopped what she was doing to kneel down to their level, "Are you both alright?" They nodded their heads, and proceeded to help with the cleanup. Their guilt over the accident was easily sensed so Rin brought up topics that would drive away the silence.
"How are your studies with Kagome going?"
Sayu spoke up first; her eyes twinkled with delight, "She's teaching us about the man from the moon!"
"No, dummy," her sister scolded, "She's teaching us about how man was put on the moon. Personally, I think the whole thing was made up for our amusement. I mean, I've heard of man making it to the peaks of mountains, but never the moon."
"Lady Kagome would never fool us; she knows everything! And I'm no dummy; any man that was put on the moon must have returned so-" Sayu blew a raspberry; an act of immaturity that made her twin shove a small box at her from across the room. The box fell to the floor, and the treasures inside spilled to the floor. "She started it!" blamed the girls as they pointed at one another. Rin sighed; she mentally applaud herself for living her life thus far without children, and simply redirected the two of them to get back to cleaning up their mess. In the midst of her focusing on reorganizing her scrolls she failed to notice the specific box that spilled to the floor; a dusty old thing that housed a lot of old memories for her.
"So beautiful," Sayu commented as she picked up a hair pin that fell; it gleamed a soft lavender color with a dark crescent-moon pendent displayed at the tip, and strings of tiny crystalized flowers hung down making it one of the most elegant accessories the twins had ever seen in their young lives. "So expensive," Sora remarked knowing full well Rin's everyday salary was hardly enough to pay a fraction of what the ornament must have cost. The elder of the twins eyed the rest of the trinkets that stood out against the wooden floors like diamonds buried in sand. A fan with an ivory base and gold-painted rice paper, bracelets made of polished blue pearls, hand-held mirrors with elegant designs against the silver backside, and lastly sea shells that cradled a pink substance the girls could only deduce to be make-up. "Look at all this stuff, not even the headman's daughter has as many riches. We know, we…sort of look through her things when brother distracts her with his poor excuse for flirting…"
"As I'm sure you tell your mother, right?" Rin amusingly questioned as she went to work picking up all the little gifts she received over the years. Sora chuckled nervously at her interrogation and quickly changed the topic, "Why don't you sell some of this stuff? That way in the winter you can relax instead of having to find extra work. I've overheard Papa tell Mama that money is hard to earn in the winter due to food shortages-"
"That's enough of that," Rin put her finger to the child's lips, "You shouldn't worry yourself over your father's income nor mine for that matter." The finger on Sora's lips traveled upward to rub the hair atop her head, "If you must know, this stuff simply isn't for sale." Honestly, it was a little more complicated than a matter of simply not wanting to sell them; more like a matter of she couldn't. She knew it made no logical sense to hold onto the things that were once delivered by fair-skinned hands, but regardless of the choice words she had been storing up over the past few years she couldn't find it within herself to do him wrong in such a greedy manner as selling his gifts. Perhaps one day when push came to shove, but for now her body was more than strong enough to work even in the frigid winters.
"Where did you get all these?" Sora then inquired as she continued to pick up embroidered handkerchiefs and decorative combs.
"Were they gifts?" she added what she assumed to be the more reasonable question. Rin removed the combs from her hands and gave a slick smile. "Maybe," she told her with a wave of mystery behind her voice. The girls most likely had no recollection of Sesshomaru, and if he were ever described they'd just confuse him for Inuyasha. To top it off, the half-demon's older brother rarely made an appearance amongst the crowd of his comrades and their growing family.
"Who gave them to you?" the younger twin asked as she spun the hair pin in her hands, "We won't tell no one, promise." Sayu then moved her finger to make an x-shape over her chest to signify her seriousness in keeping true to her word. Rin struggled to keep from chuckling; Sora's mature mind and quick-witted mouth complimented her common sense about the world while Sayu preferred to stay within her own little realm of childish dreams and innocent smiles. That alone made it difficult to deny her any request, even Inuyasha had a tough time going against her wishes. For the time being Rin decided to appease that child-like mind, and after plucking the hair pin from her hands she gifted Sora with a mystical image for her to daydream about.
"The man from the moon."
A dim light was cast from what remained of the small fire dancing in the middle of the hut. The twins finally wore themselves out after their heated discussion over how Rin came to acquire all her abnormal possession, and found rest on the futons that had been laid out for them. She had Shippo sent word to Sango that they were sleeping peacefully at her place. It wasn't the first time one of Sango's young ones spent the night, and Rin had a feeling their mother and father could go an evening without one less child to have to put down to bed; or in this case two.
In the midst of organizing the last of her items Rin found herself opening one more box that night.
It was larger in size compared to the one the girls were fiddling around with earlier, but considering its quality it wasn't any less valuable in price. After all, the finest silk wasn't a luxury many villagers could afford; at least not the quantity Rin currently had her eyes on. She ran her hands up and down the folds of smooth, colorful fabric. Sometimes even she found it a shock to see how many outfits had accumulated over the years. Since her early growth-spurt a new kimono was bestowed to her at least once per season. Her fingers stopped once she came across the only bundle of white silk in that colorful chest of clothing, and her mind brought her back to a time when her demon lord once thought ahead to bring her a kimono of longer length then her 14-year old body was accustomed to. Jaken explained how their lord brought it so she'd be guaranteed fine clothes even in her adult years; she remembered how the little imp continued on about how any vassal of Lord Sesshomarus' should always represent him in the finest wardrobe and blah blah blah…she wasn't his vassal anymore so she chose not to wear it. That was the last gift he ever gave her…
It was beautiful; the base was as pure white as she remembered his attire to be, but the colors of blossoms and ribbon-like designs adorned around the dress like a twister of orange and purple hues mixing together to create a pattern she couldn't take her eyes off of. She remembered the nagging desire that made her pubescent body try it on as soon as she was alone, but in the end it only reminded her that she had a long ways to grow. She hoped that by the time her demon lord visited again that she's fit into it a little better, but sadly that day never came.
She closed the box instantly upon remembering how long it had been since she last saw him, and after pushing it to the darkest corner of her hut she slipped on her sandals to gather some water from the well. She was sure the girls would wake up more times than necessary for water, and is she was honest with herself she could use the fresh air. The moon was out, and the midnight air blew a pleasant breeze against her skin. The trip to the well was short, and while she hoped to have settled her uneasy mind by the time she filled up the bucket she instead gave in to losing herself in her reflection.
Of all the clutter in that hut, why did they have to come across those old things?
Rin promptly regretted her mentality and reminded herself that it was an accident from the start; not to mention the twins had no idea that the mess they made on her floors would all the same leave a mess within her heart. For so long she tried to keep that part of her life from surfacing. It's been nearly three years since the almond shape of her eyes met with the piercing gaze of his. She shouldn't have been so surprised; after all his visits were become less and less frequent. She denied the truth for a long while up until Kaede's death last winter, a time where his presence would have greatly been a comfort to her. Since then she did her best not to think about him, and instead focused on her life in the village.
Her gaze lingered on her headpiece; a typical style worn among the women in the village to keep their hair free from any dirt or sweat. She thought it ironic considering her younger-self used to make a fuss about how she would never hide her hair from the sun. She rubbed the excess moisture on her hands against the apron she was wearing; yet another piece of practical fabric that most of the girls wore in the village. It kept true to its purpose in keeping her leafy-green kimono clean from the waist down, but too often did she long for her legs to have the freedom they once had when it was just one layer of fabric wrapped around them. Last year she graciously received her current outfit handed down from Sango, but tonight her trip down memories of old clothes made her realize she was very different from that little girl with wild hair that used to fit into those bright and colorful kimonos.
She was orderly here, and just couldn't see herself going back to the days of careless travels. At least that's what she told herself, but the sight of the treetops visible over the horizon was too pretty a sight to look away from so soon. Eventually, she grabbed ahold of her water bucket and made the short walk back to her hut, but her heavy heart caused her head to tilt at the doorway of her home to gaze off into the distance. The dirt-path she stood on traveled onward till it disappeared into the forests surrounding the village. Without any part of her brain stopping her she found her legs had delivered her close to the unknown land of tree barks and vines. The dewdrops made the leaves sparkle in the moonlight, and the darkness of the woods called to her like the sea called a baby turtle back to its home.
Lord Sesshomaru was out there somewhere.
All she had to do was leave this place, and she could go after the answers she'd been searching for since the day he left her behind.
Is it okay if I were to travel with you again one day?
Without a second thought she took a step forward, but then hesitated.
What am I doing?
She immediately thought of Kaede, as if some ghost that was blocking her way from taking any more steps. Rin couldn't stop the remorse from enveloping her, and how disappointed her old guardian would have been seeing her turn her back on her responsibility to the village; to her friends. "Lord Sesshomaru…" his name came from her mouth in a whisper. It had been so long since she called out to him she could even feel a funny taste spreading across her tongue.
Why keep your distance from me? It makes staying here so…
She turned her misty eyes up toward the stars; the nightly diamonds had her yearning instead to see heated gold twinkle back at her.
"When you are troubled, or anxious, or sad, or any other time, feel free to call on me.
I will come to you immediately.
Even if we are far apart, if you call my name I will absolutely come flying to you.
Distance is no object."
She felt a surge of fury at what she once thought to be a considerate declaration made towards her. Never would she have guessed it to be nothing more than treacherous nonsense spewed from the mouth of someone she thought she cared for. She threw her bucket against the ground in frustration, unfazed by the splash of water that soaked through her clothes.
"LIAR!"
She had an excuse as to why her clothes were wet; now all she had to do was come up with a reason as to why her eyes were too.
End of Chapter
AN: The bold piece was taken from an Inuyasha drama CD; of course I'm sure any die-hard fans already knew that. I own none of the Inuyasha characters nor do I own any quotes from that cd. Thanks for reading!