I do not own Inuyasha
Rin's head snapped up in time to see him offer his obi and both swords to her. What was he doing? He apparently wasn't going to wait for her to figure it out. He dropped the bundle and she had to scramble to catch it.
"Uh, my lord what are you…"she began but her tongue stopped working when he removed his Haori. It never failed. She had seen him shirtless a few times and every time it was a shock to her system. Rin wasn't sure how many more of those she could take today. It just wasn't fair, why did he have to be so perfectly beautiful!? He placed the torn and bloody fabric on Ah-Un before retrieving his obi and swords from Rin to do the same to them. Wordlessly he took her hand and led her towards the fallen tree. As they walked, her eyes went to the bone sticking out of his back and Rin began to realize what was going on. He stopped next to the largest part of the trunk and picked up the hunting knife she had used to cut him free. He handed the blade to her, then turned and placing his hands against the tree said
"Remove it."
Rin suddenly understood. He wanted her to take out the bone curse. She looked at the knife.
"My lord, I can't! You need a surgeon for this. The growth is deep… what if I…?"
Sesshomaru didn't move.
"There is no time," he said in his usual calm manner, "The curse is nearing my heart. If the bone pierces it, I'm dead."
Rin still didn't move. She was thinking.
"DO IT!" he barked and Rin jumped.
"Yes my lord," she agreed, "But I can't do it with this blade."
She dropped the knife on the ground and drew Akita. To her surprise the long sword had shrunk down to the perfect size for this task. She approached her lord and placed her free hand on his shoulder. Sesshomaru turned his head and was watching her from the corner of his eye.
"You'll get burned again if you use that," he warned
Rin couldn't help herself. Her smile spread across her whole face as she replied.
"Sesshomaru….Be quiet."
Rin focused on his back and began cutting.
It took forever. The curse seemed to be fighting back somehow. Rin had to be careful not to touch the blade to the bone and she had to work quickly. His demon healing abilities were working against her. His flesh closing up almost as soon as she cut. Then again that could have been the curse. Rin didn't know. She worried at how much pain he was in, but the only sound that came from him was the occasional grunt.
She wasn't sure how much time passed. It felt like hours, but finally the thing came out.
It was strange to look at. It had branched out from the one piece and looked much like the roots of the fallen tree did. Only where there was soil on the tree, there was blood and pieces of flesh clinging to the bone. Disgusted, Rin threw it away from her and hurried to get bandages from her pack on Ah-Un. She came back to find her lord on his knees with his hands still bracing himself against the tree, blood rushing down his back from his wounds. It was as if his legs had quit holding him and he had simply fallen in place. Rin rushed back and quickly began to bandage him. The cuts she had made on his back had begun to close, but still blood poured from them. She tied off the bandage and eased him into a sitting position. Worry gnawed at her. Something wasn't right, she could feel it.
"Rin," Sesshomaru said quietly taking her hand and looking deep into her eyes, "Don't be afraid. I'm not…"
He stopped suddenly and, for Rin, the world stopped as well. His eyes glazed over and he collapsed to the ground.
Rin watched in horror as he fell. Panic seized her as she tried to stop it. What had happened? Did she miss a piece of bone? Had it….
"My Lord!" she yelled and shook him. Hard. But he didn't move. She turned to the only other living thing in her sight.
"AH-UN GO GET JAKEN! NOW!" she screamed, "HE'S AT THE CASTLE!"
The two headed dragon squawked and turning around, bolted into the sky faster than she had ever seen him go. She turned back to her fallen lord. Using the tree as leverage she rolled him onto his back and put her hand over his mouth.
He wasn't breathing.
Her heart constricted and suddenly neither could she.
"No," she whispered
She put her head against his chest, praying that she could hear his heart beating.
Nothing.
"No!" she cried
A second later she had positioned herself next to him and was pushing furiously on his chest the way Kagome had taught her. Everyone in the village was required to learn Kagome's CPR trick. Rin remembered thinking at the time that it was great for the other villagers, but pointless for her. Why would she need to learn a healing technique when her lord could just heal whoever was injured with Tenseiga? Kagome had insisted though, and at the moment Rin wanted to kiss the strange girl for making her learn. There was a chance. She could bring him back. One, two, three….Wait there was something else. Something that came after ten. Rin struggled to remember. Then she did and she flew to Sesshomaru's mouth. Air! She needed to breathe for him until he woke up. She had often wondered what it would be like to kiss her lord. What he would taste like. She should have known he would taste exquisite. She tilted his head back and forced air into his lungs then went back to pushing on his chest. She kept doing it long after the sun had set. She couldn't lose him! One, two, three, four…breathe, One, two, three, four….breathe! One, two, three, four, five…..
The moon came out and as she went to breathe for him again, she saw its light hit his face. He looked peaceful again. Rin stopped what she was doing long enough to remember the last thing that Kagome had said about her CPR technique.
"If it's been a couple of hours and his heart still isn't beating then it's over. He's gone…"
She lowered her head to his chest.
Silence.
Her tears fell in waves as she cried into that silence. Her grief consumed her as she cried. She clung to him wishing she could tell him how much he had meant to her, how she had… Rin lifted her head slowly and looked at her lord's face. Peace. She hoped he could feel it now. She leaned over him and kissed her lord's lips.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm so sorry!"
Then so softly, she barely uttered the words, she spoke one last time.
"I love you."
She placed Sesshomaru's head in her lap and, taking mokomoko, wrapped her lord and herself in it. The tears had stopped, but Rin felt like she was dying all over again. Only this time it was a thousand times worse. She felt herself die, but her body went right on living. Rin watched the sun rise, but its heat was lost to her. She couldn't feel anything. She was dead. Soon her body would figure it out and she would have peace next to her lord. Her Sesshomaru.
He had tried to tell her. He simply didn't have time. Sesshomaru, Lord of the west, could not be killed by something as insignificant as a serenity blade curse. His senses were still there. He could still hear and feel, but they were dulled. He felt his body fall to the earth and could hear Rin's desperate denial. He had told her not to fear, but she had apparently ignored him. He felt her moving him and felt her pushing on his chest. What in the world was she trying to do? He wondered, but the next thing he knew she had her mouth on his. She was….kissing him?
Desire he had long kept in check raged through him as he tasted her. She tasted like sunshine and cinnamon. Rin went back to pushing on his chest, then came back to his mouth. There was a pattern, a rhythm to her actions that suddenly made sense to Sesshomaru. She was trying to revive him!
He wasn't sure how much time passed as Rin continued in her efforts. However, he knew when she had given up. The pushing on his chest stopped and he could feel her wet tears pouring onto it. He listened to the sound of Rin's heart and he could feel that it was struggling to keep beating. Her heart was breaking? For him? Her soft lips touched his once more. The salt from her tears mingled with her taste, making it bitter. Rin!
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
Any other creature would have missed it, but in his ears, the words rang as clear as a bell.
"I love you."
His mind went blank in shock before a wave of reactions churned within him. It happened so quickly he couldn't make sense of what was happening. Then amidst the chaos, a feeling stirred deep within his being. It made his desire before feel like a weak echo, but desire was only a small part of this feeling. It resounded with the words Rin had spoken to him and he felt his soul burn with the overpowering sensation of it. He couldn't describe it. He had no name for it because it was nothing he had ever experienced before, but with that feeling came understanding. Sesshomaru finally understood why his father had turned his back on three thousand years of disdain for humanity. Why the Dog General had abandoned Sesshomaru's mother and allowed himself to become the biggest hypocrite Sesshomaru had ever met.
He had found his mate. Nothing else mattered once he found her.
Sesshomaru thought about Rin and the feeling stirred again. She loved him. He knew that. He had always known that. How could he not? Every action she took screamed the fact, but he had always thought her love was for a father, a brother or a friend. Deeply felt perhaps, but hardly romantic. Her kiss, though….You did not kiss a friend or relative that way, and her words…those words spoken to him that way, filled with such tenderness and longing...It had filled something within him
He had found his soul's mate.
He knew it and could not deny it.
He had been her protector, her guardian, her teacher, and now….. now they would somehow evolve into something else. Something neither of them had thought possible. The irony of his situation was not lost on Sesshomaru. To have found his other half in a human…there would be serious consequences if anyone dared compare him to his father! His Yokai growled. One word from anyone and he would tear them to pieces!
Time passed and Sesshomaru began to plan. The implications of this were monumental for him. He understood in that moment exactly what some of the consequences would be and what would be required of Rin, not to mention himself. He would have to make sure she knew what she was getting into, before she committed to it. A life with him would not be easy for her, but he would give her that choice. It was too late for him. He had never had a choice. His soul yearned to complete itself with her and he was powerless to stop it. He knew that and just like all dogs, accepted it fully without question.
She moved his head to her lap and he couldn't hear her grief anymore, but he could feel it. She was silent as she sat there, stroking his hair, caressing his face…. He was shocked as he recognized her behavior. It was exactly the way an InuYokai would mourn for their mate! Sesshomaru didn't know when she had begun to see him that way, but clearly she did, and if she stayed true to her instinct she would die within a matter of days.
'Wait for me Rin,' he thought, 'Wait for me…'
Thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I'm sorry I didn't have it finished sooner, but as I was planning for this chapter I re-read the beginning of this story. Imagine my mortification to find that I had left out a key part of Sesshomaru's character and history! I had to fix it before I posted anything else or the conclusions wouldn't make sense. Thanks again for sticking around!
Enjoy Memories of Rin!
