Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. But I have another chapter for you!

And sorry, this one is on the short side, but it is mostly just filler. But regardless of that, I hope you all enjoy it! =)

Chapter 9

Sakura looked down into the large fountain in the middle of her home, but this fountain wasn't just any fountain. This one allowed her to see anything she wanted. Past, present, and future. Right now, she was keeping a close eye on Sesshomaru.

"So Rin went and found him. How sweet." She ran her finger through the water, disrupting the image. It was not part of the plan to have Rin with him, but no matter. It would be difficult but she knew the five could do it. As long as they did it right. "Jun." She looked up as Jun walked over to her.

"Yes."

"I need you and your brothers to go and get Rin and bring her to me."

"It's time already?" Jun asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Do you dare question me?"

"I do not question, I was just asking."

"Yes. It is time. Bring her back here and put her in the basement cell. I am leaving for a bit." She turned around and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"My sword is ready. Do not disappoint me Jun."

"I won't. Getting Rin will be easy."

"Good. And don't hurt Sesshomaru. Merely distract him enough to take her. He is mine to kill."

"Will do."

"You are dismissed." Jun gave her a short bow before walking out.

Now it was time to get her sword.

She appeared in front of Hojimo's cave. She was sure that it smelt worse than the last time she was here. Stupid demons. This is why she hated most of them.

"Hojimo!" She shouted, as she walked into the cave. She heard some scurrying around and things falling. He was nervous. Good. She always did like making a good impression.

"Lady Sakura."

"Is my sword done?" He appeared out of the shadows clutching a sheath.

"It is."

"Good." She walked up to him as he handed her the sword. "Does it work?" She asked as she examined the sheath itself.

"Of course it works." Hojimo scuffed. "I make the best swords around." She pulled the sword out and examined it.

"Does it have a name?"

"No. This sword should not have been made so I have not named it. You should destroy this sword. It is very powerful and dangerous. No good will come of it." She just rolled her eyes. Stupid demon. How dare he tell her what to do?

"It looks very well made Hojimo. I thank you for making it for me on such a short notice. But forgive me for wanting to actually make sure this sword works."

"What…" She didn't let him finish. She stabbed the sword straight into his chest. Hojimo's eyes went wide as a bright red light appeared out of the sword, covering Hojimo from head to toe.

When the light died down, she pulled the sword out and glanced down at what had become of Hojimo.

There, lying on the floor of the cave was a short ugly man, clutching at his chest which was now bleeding all over the cave floor.

"Help me." He whispered out.

"Perfect." She looked down at the sword and saw that it was glowing red.

Not only does the sword take the power from them, but it can transfer it straight to her. She felt the power pulsing through her. It felt wonderful. And as long as she had this sword and was alive, she would always have the power.

Everything was going according to plan.

When nightfall came, Sesshomaru stopped to let them rest. Jaken immediately crashed against a tree. Within minutes he was snoring away. Rin hopped off Aun and let him rest as she started gathering wood for a fire.

She knew Sesshomaru didn't need it, but she wasn't tired just yet and it was quite cold out. A fire would be just the thing to take her mind off of things anyways.

Sesshomaru just stood off in the distance. Rin could tell that he was probably thinking about what to do now, planning on where to go and how to get to Sakura.

She was also afraid that when she woke up in the morning he would be gone, leaving her here with Jaken like he had always done before. She didn't know what she would do if he did that.

She almost didn't want to fall asleep.

Once the fire was started, she knelt down next to it, warming herself up. It wasn't long before Sesshomaru walked over and sat down next to her. It was weird at first. He was never here like this when she was younger. He was always off doing something in the night and would come back in the morning.

She didn't think she ever really saw him sleep. It seemed like an odd thing to think of. Sesshomaru sleeping.

"You know Rin." Sesshomaru stated slowly. "You should really be back in the village." Rin placed her hands in her lap to keep them from shaking. She hoped he hadn't changed his mind about letting her stay there. But by the sounds of it, he just might have.

But she had to be strong and keep her ground on this issue. He was not allowed to tell her what was best for her.

"Maybe if my Lord hadn't rejected my decision, I wouldn't have felt the need to prove that I can do this." Rin didn't look at him. She didn't think she could, not right now.

"You believe that I rejected you?" He sounded shocked.

"I know you did. This year was the year where I was to choose where I wanted to be. I chose to be with you, Lord Sesshomaru. I have known that since you left me there to begin with." She turned to look at him then, feeling a bit braver. "Life in the village is not for me. It has never been for me. I want to be here, with you. And you just denied all of that in one second. Forcing me to stay somewhere I don't want to, somewhere I don't belong." Sesshomaru didn't look at her. He just looked into the fire, being silent for a while. "I mean, was it all just an act, coming to the village, bringing me gifts, making it seem like you cared? Did you plan to keep me there all along?"

Sesshomaru let out a little grunt and Rin thought she had said too much. She had probably disrespected him and now he would never see her as anything.

"I never rejected you Rin." Sesshomaru whispered. Rin almost didn't hear him. Rin even thought she might have imagined the words. But when he looked at her, she knew he had really said them.

"It sure felt that way." She looked down but jumped when Jaken let out a little snort. She turned and saw that he had rolled over. But he was still sound asleep.

"It was not my intention to hurt you, Rin." She looked back at him. "I was simply making sure that you were protected. I know my brother would have watched over you. Your safety has always been a top priority of mine, you know that." She gave him a small smile and slowly reached over and placed her hand on top of his.

She had never been this brave before. She knew she was not allowed to touch him. He would not want a human touching him. But hearing him say that just threw all the rules away in that moment.

But he didn't pull his hand away. She saw him look down at their touching hands, but he didn't do anything about it. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"I want you to know, Lord Sesshomaru, that even if you had rejected me, I would have been upset at first, but I would have forgiven you. I would always forgive you." He looked up at her and it was amazing how much emotion Sesshomaru could convey with just his eyes. He cared about her, she knew that now. No one could ever say he didn't. "Goodnight, Lord Sesshomaru." Rin slowly pulled her hand away before standing up and heading towards where Aun slept.

She pulled out her blanket she had packed and lay down next to him, trying to find a comfortable spot and get warm.

Before she fell asleep, she watched as Sesshomaru just stared at the fire, deep in thought.

She knew that after tonight, everything would change.

Sesshomaru just stared at the fire as Rin walked away to get ready for bed.

Rin had never spoken to him like that. He knew she was too afraid to, but she had grown very brave since she was a little girl. She had even touched him. No human had ever touched him and lived to tell about it.

But that wasn't what really had shocked him. What had really done it was that she had thought that he had rejected her.

That had not been his intention at all. He left to protect her. He had always done that. He didn't understand why she had taken it so differently this time. She should have understood that her protection was the most important thing to him.

He let out a small sigh as he looked over at Rin's now sleeping form.

He knew it was dangerous letting her stay with him. But he couldn't refuse her. He had never been able to do that. If she wanted something, she always got it. If he told her to go back to the village, he had small feeling that she would not go back there.

And then she would be in even more danger by being out there on her own.

He quickly shook those thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus on Sakura and killing her. She had caused enough problems as it is. And he knew that if he killed her, the Malicious Five would die as well. He had sensed their connection. They would be easy. He knew that Inuyasha had to have by now figured out Rin's disappearance and would be looking for her.

Inuyasha would come and he could deal with the Malicious Five. And Sesshomaru could kill Sakura and everything would be back to the way it was before.

But then came to ultimate question.

When Sakura was defeated and killed, what would happen then?

Rin had made it clear that she was staying with him. But would things change between them?

She was a grown woman now. He had been getting offers for her hand all over the place yet he had refused them all. None of them had deemed themselves worthy. Kaede was always angry with him for refusing these offers when Rin would be given a nice home and be well taken care of.

But Sesshomaru knew Rin. She was not one to be tied down in a marriage right now. She wanted to be free. But would Rin want to marry sometime in the near future? Maybe she felt like she didn't want to get married now, but that could all change in an instant.

Sesshomaru feared that she would get bored of this life and leave him. That was his true fear. He didn't know exactly how he felt about Rin. He had been asked many times, especially by Jaken.

But in all honesty, he didn't know. Humans were the worst thing on this planet. He had always hated humans, hated them even more when his father died to save one, hated that his brother was half human.

He would never have hesitated to kill a human before.

But then there was Rin.

Rin was different. She was so much more different than any human Sesshomaru had ever encountered. She had walked into that forest and wasn't afraid of him. She had lived in a village where they treated her like vermin. And she had smiled, because of him.

And seeing her dead by the hands of wolves. He pitied her. So he brought her back, and she followed after him.

Sesshomaru didn't know what to think of it all. At first he didn't really care much about what happened to her. He had told her she was on her own for food and everything. But then she started talking and was just different than anyone he had ever been around.

He felt the need to save her, anytime when she was in danger.

He had never felt that way towards another human before.

And then she died for the second time. It was then that he knew that he could never let anything happen to her. Sesshomaru could not stand to not have her around. She was human and he knew she would die someday, but he wanted that day to be when she was an old woman.

He wanted Rin to be able to live a full and happy life, which was the main reason he sent her to the village. He thought she would be happy there, and safe. It hurt him, leaving her there, but he always came to visit her. To make sure she was alright.

But Rin had changed since she was younger. She had matured and had grown very beautiful. Sesshomaru was not immune to her new looks. He knew that this is what his father must have gone through. What Inuyasha went through.

But Rin would never be happy with him. It just was not meant to be. He had fully expected Rin to choose to stay in the village when the time came. That she would want to be among her own kind.

But she had chosen him.

He watched as she slept, like nothing was wrong. That there wasn't someone out there trying to kill her, that everything was exactly how it had been ten years ago.

He looked back into the fire. Everything was going to change after this.

He just wasn't sure if he was ready for it.

Thank you all for reading! Things are really going to start getting more action packed soon, I guess. There are going to be about maybe 5 more chapters, give or take.

But I would just like to say thank you all for reading. I really love seeing that you guys are loving the story. I really appreciate it. =)