Disclaimer: I've commissioned a composer to help me with my hunt for Sesshoumaru. After intensive study of several movies in my video library that I've pirated from the internet machine, I realized that the key to all of my failures in capturing the characters from Inuyasha lies in my lack of appropriate theme music. I've given the composer exact instructions regarding my artistic vision and am excited about the result, though he looked less than confident at my insistence that there be a melodic battle between a harpsichord and a didgeridoo.

~Chapter Thirteen~

Rin stared uncomprehendingly down at Arata.

"What did you say?" she asked weakly, her incorporeal legs threatening to give out beneath her.

"Mistress, you are a shinigami," Arata repeated. He lashed his tails excitedly from side to side, eyes unnervingly wide as he stared at her.

"In a way it makes sense," he mused. "Three times you have died, and three times been returned. I have never heard of a shinigami being made, but what other explanation could there possibly be?"

"Any other explanation?" begged Rin with a feeble smile. "I can't be a death god."

Arata merely looked at her, and after a moment Rin gave up trying to stay standing, sinking wearily to her knees. She leaned back against a ghostly tree and ran a hand over her face, exhausted. Rin glanced over towards Sesshoumaru, remembered panic punching through her stomach and making her nauseous for a moment, but she forced herself to watch him breathe, to acknowledge that he was alright and simply in a deep sleep. Because of her.

"What do death gods do exactly?" she asked finally. Arata tilted his head as he looked at her almost pityingly, and his shadow pulsing against her a small comfort.

"I'm not sure mistress," he said softly. "I have heard that shinigami collect the spirits of those who have passed on. Then again, I have also heard that shinigami cull those whose time has come to die."

"Absolutely not," said Rin vehemently. "I'm not going to go around killing people for no reason."

Arata just flicked his ear dismissively.

"You're a death god," he said, curling his tails around his feet, though the tips continued to flick back and forth. "Who is really going to try to make you do anything if you don't want to?"

Rin continued to watch Sesshoumaru, unable to look away from the precious mate she had almost lost even as she tried to come to terms with what she was.

"Are shinigami really so powerful?" she asked. Arata blinked at her.

"Mistress, you ripped the soul out of that youkai," he reminded her gently, and she winced. He continued, refusing to temper his words.

"It never even had a chance to retaliate, it was dead as soon as you decided it should be," said Arata. He followed Rin's gaze to where Sesshoumaru lay so very still.

"Even a daiyokai would not survive," Arata continued relentlessly. "No matter how powerful he is, no matter how fast or strong, unless he killed you before you had a chance to use your power, he would die as quickly as that oni. How does someone without spiritual power fight to keep his soul?"

Rin's expression hardened.

"He has someone protect it for him," she replied, and forced herself to her feet. Staggering, she moved toward her corporeal body where it had fallen, sprawling, near her husband.

As she leaned over her body, Arata's shadow peeled slowly away from her. Immediately she felt the draw of the world around her, pulling her in all directions. The strongest pull, however, was the one back towards her body. She thrust her hand through her own back, and though her spiritual arm tingled violently, nothing else happened. She looked at the bakeneko who had trailed along behind her.

"How do I get back in?" she asked, trying not to panic.

"The same way you came out," he replied quietly. "Stop trying not to."

Gritting her teeth, Rin closed her eyes. She forced her spiritual body to relax and simply let go, not resisting the tug of the world around her. She let herself fall forward and felt herself pass through her own flesh, getting pulled into her body where she belonged.

When she opened her eyes, it was her physical eyes that opened, and Rin immediately regretted the decision. Her head was splitting and she could feel the deep bruises forming from where her limp body had been dropped by the oni. Pushing herself up on one hip, she rubbed at her temple to ease the pain to a dull throb, then forced herself to her knees, then her feet. Stumbling over to her husband, she looked at him, feeling the same switch in her vision that she had felt in the spirit realm. She looked deeper until she could see the beast sleeping deep inside him, and reached her hand out.

Though her physical hand stopped at his flesh, splayed on Sesshoumaru's chest, Rin felt as if the limb continued through him, once again shocking her as she laid her hand on the beasts great head. Gently she urged it awake and watched as it swam groggily out of the darkness. She knew the instant the beast became aware because suddenly she was on the ground with Sesshoumaru crouched over her, his poison whip already receding from where it had decapitated the body of the oni. He had moved faster than she could follow to deal with the perceived threat, his eyes blood red and his markings jagged. Confused he blinked and looked down at her, his eyes fading back to gold. He tilted his head at her, a silent inquiry.

"The children are alive and have escaped," she blurted out. He took her by the shoulders and helped her to sit up, his hands trembling the slightest bit.

"How can you be sure?" he demanded urgently. To his consternation, she burst into tears once more and threw her arms around him.

He listened in stunned disbelief as Rin recounted everything, from the strange feeling of her powers awakening, to the encounter with the tiny spirit, to his brush with death. His hands trembling at the thought that he had not been able to protect her, Sesshoumaru gently brushed the tears away from his mates face. His first reaction to her meddling with his beast had been fury, but oddly enough the beast had not been the least perturbed. It knew it had been weary, and now it was less so. Its mate was safe, and he was there to protect her, so why be angry?

"I'm so sorry," she murmured miserably, her tears finally slowing. He leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead in a gentle kiss. She clung to his kimono, burying her face in his neck while he wrapped his arms around her.

"I almost lost you," she whispered brokenly.

"Do not dwell on what might have happened," he said quietly. "I am alive, you are alive, and our children are alive. That is what matters."

He stroked his clawed fingers through Rins long hair as he held her, vaguely noting Arata disappearing among the shadows of the trees. Looking at the dead oni with distast, he scooped his mate up and carried her a distance away, setting her down near a little stream and settling down next to her. He placed feather light kisses along Rin's temple and along the delicate shell of her ear as he wrestled with his emotions, joy that his children had escaped, pride that they had been able to do so, the ever present fear for their safety.

Rin, too, was fighting keep from being overwhelmed. All of the emotions she had felt over the past several days were crashing into her, and she found herself breathing in Sesshoumaru's scent, reveling in the heat of his body. She pressed her lips to Sesshoumaru's pulse, feeling the strong rhythmic beat, and felt the maelstrom in her heart coalesce into an incredible, burning need low in her stomach, the need to feel him, to touch him, to assure herself that they were alive.

Sesshoumaru sensed the change in his mate as her body turned liquid against him and she pressed herself closer. He felt an answering surge in his blood, and his grip on her tightened. He bent his head to the enticing column of her neck, taking in the heady scent of her arousal before gliding his tongue across her pulse, tasting her.

She shuddered against him at the contact, sliding her hands along the powerful muscles of his shoulders. As Sesshoumaru continued to torment her with his tongue, his claws buried in her hair, Rin deftly worked the fastenings on his armor loose, and with a growl he cast it aside. Almost frantically they tore at each other's clothing until at last they were skin to skin, with nothing separating them, and Sesshoumaru pressed her back until she was sprawled beneath him.

Now that they were skin-to-skin, some of the urgency abated and Sesshoumaru paused to look at his beautiful mate as she lay back, panting. Her eyes were cloudy with passion, her cheeks flushed as she reached for him and he allowed her to pull him closer, capturing her mouth at last with his own.

With the slightest pressure on her chin, he urged her mouth open, and when she complied he slipped his tongue in to mate with hers. He buried his claws in her hair, capturing her and holding her still as he ravished her, and she twined her arms around his neck, arching eagerly against him. Her silky thighs slid along his own as she urged him closer, begging him to come inside her, but instead he slipped away leaving her whimpering and trying to pull him back.

Sesshoumaru would not be persuaded, however, and kissed his way down her throat, following the trail of moonlight that bathed her creamy flesh. Rins hands pressed into the hard muscles of his shoulders as he brushed his lips lightly against the soft flesh of her breasts, and goosebumps raced across her skin as his breath ghosted across one straining nipple. She arched involuntarily when he laved his tongue across the sensitive peak, circling it wickedly before taking it into his mouth to suckle. Lightning shot through the core of her as Sesshoumaru worked his teeth gently against her, and Rin clamped her thighs together against the rush of dampness between her legs.

She shifted restlessly as Sesshoumaru moved lithely over to her other, neglected breast, offering up the same torturous treatment as she grew more and more desperate beneath him.

She pushed against his shoulders, but he refused to budge, seemingly amused by her efforts. Finally, she twined her legs with his and bucked her hips, and with a chuckle Sesshoumaru finally allowed himself to be pushed to his back, his mate rolling with him to lay on his chest.

The humor in his eyes died, replaced by utter focus as Rin began to kiss and stroke her way down his body, trailing her lips over his collarbone and down over the hard planes of his chest. Rin felt the tight muscles in his stomach hitch as she worked her way lower, and Sesshoumaru propped himself up on his elbows to watch her intently as she moved down.

Rin smiled inwardly as she felt her husband's gaze on her, knowing how much he liked to watch her while she enjoyed him. She took her time moving over his body, feeling the rippling muscles in his stomach tense as she continued, kissing and nipping him in a way she knew drove him wild. He held perfectly still, not even breathing she feathered kisses over the firm angle of his hip bone before at last turning her attention to where his member stood pulsing and hard between his legs. She trailed her fingers down the incredible length of him teasingly, and the tip of her tongue flicked against the sensitive underside, a brief and fleeting presence. He grew impossibly harder as she continued her feather light touches, and he growled low in his throat as she held the promise of bliss just out of his reach.

Rin looked up to meet his eyes as she swirled her tongue delicately along the head of him, capturing the bead of moisture that had appeared and savoring the taste of him. She was rewarded for her gentle torture with the sight of his eyes bleeding to red, and just before she knew his control would break she at last gripped him firmly in her fist and took the length of him deep into her the hot wetness of her mouth.

Sesshoumaru threw his head back and hissed at the sudden, intense feeling he had been aching for. He buried his claws in his mate's lustrous midnight hair as she worked him with both fists and her mouth, setting a pace that soon had him bucking beneath her.

Unable to bear the torture any longer, needing more from her, he sat up abruptly, lifting his mate with a sudden burst of movement to sit astride him. His hands smoothed up her back, pressing her against him as he captured her lips and kissed her deeply, craving the feel of her body against him. He thrilled at the feel of her breasts rubbing against his flesh, delighted in the feel of her arms as they slid around his neck, holding nothing back from the passionate kiss that they shared, his hard length cradled against her while she moved restlessly on top of him.

Rin broke the kiss, pulling back only enough to look deep into his eyes as she slowly raised herself to her knees, feeling him slide against the most sensitive part of her. She moved so that he was positioned against her slick entrance and watched as his blood red eyes darkened even further when she began to slide down inch by inch. She fought against the urge to close her eyes at the sheer pleasure of it as he slowly filled her, possessing her completely as she took his entire length deep inside.

His hands rose to once again grip her hair, holding her still while he savored the hot, wet heat of her. Capturing her lips in another passionate kiss, she opened her mouth eagerly to his and their tongues twined together sinuously, Rin rolling her hips against him. Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on her hair, his low snarl warning her to be still as the friction sent waves of desire through him, but his mate just smiled seductively and repeated the movement.

Releasing her hair he gripped her hips hard with his hands, claws pressing into her delicate flesh. With incredible strength, he lifted her slowly until she was nearly free of him before lowering her just as deliberately. Rin's head rolled back and she arched against him, anchoring herself on his broad shoulders. When she moved as if to speed up, he refused to let her, holding her captive and watching her shiver at the sensations he was sparking in her. The slick heat of her increased as he bent to her neck his deadly fangs extended to press delicately against the smooth column of her neck, his low snarl warning her not to defy him. She moaned low in her throat in response, and he felt himself swell even more against her tight sheath.

He increased his speed, forcing her to hold on to him tighter for balance, and she rocked her hips against him as she moved. He gritted his teeth and bit her gently on the shoulder and she nipped at his ear in retaliation.

His beast rumbled in delight and urged him on, and an instant later he had Rin on her back, pushing into her so forcefully that she cried out in pleasure, her cheeks flushed with desire. She slid her long leg up his body and he hooked it over his shoulder, opening her up even further to him and he moved powerfully above her.

Still restless, craving more, he moved her leg over his head and rolled her over onto her stomach without breaking his rhythm.

Sliding his hand beneath her stomach, he dragged her up with him as he rose to his knees, rising over her as she knelt on her hands and knees in front of him. He continued to thrust into her as his hand crept between her legs and began to toy with the tiny bud hidden between her legs. Between the powerful movement of his hips and the delicate magic being woven by his fingers, Rin was soon panting in short, wanton gasps, arching her back to take him deeper.

Sesshoumaru felt his mate begin to tighten around him and felt himself quicken in response, but he clamped down on the urge until he knew that she was right on the edge. Leaning down over her, he continued moving, his fingers and hips pinning her in place, and at the very last second latched gently onto her neck with his teeth, his tongue caressing her mating mark.

Rin couldn't contain her scream as fire swept through her and she shattered around him, and he didn't try to contain himself any longer. With one last powerful thrust, he emptied himself into his mates quivering body, waves of pleasure rolling through them both and leaving them gasping for breath.

Sesshoumaru slid to his side and drew his mate gently against him, placing gentle kisses against her eyes, her lips. Her fingers slid under his arm and she wrapped herself around him as close as she could, burying her face in his neck. He stroked her back gently, rumbling contentedly as they held each other tightly. They lay coiled around each other as the night passed them slowly by, and Sesshoumaru nuzzled Rin as he listened to her breathing become steadily deeper. At last, boneless in his embrace, Rin slept while Sesshoumaru held her, both he and his beast quietly alert to any danger that may come to threaten his precious mate.

A/N: Whew, it was about that time that happened! I've been wanting to write that one, but for realsies though, this was the first time that I felt like either of them were in a place where this would make sense. Anywho, R&R and please for the love of all things good and wonderful, comment! I go into withdrawal when I don't receive feedback and then I itch and eat too much ice cream. Save me!

Lovelovelovelovelovelovelove,

~ShadowS