Okay, I cave. I really got anxious to post more, so here's chapter thirteen. This one really moves forward with the story. I hope you like it! Please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Only the love in my heart (sigh).

Chapter Thirteen

Come Back For Me

Rin awoke the next morning to find that Lord Sesshomaru had moved her back to her hut soon after she had fallen asleep in his arms. It all seemed like a cruel dream, all of it. Had they really made love? Had he really held her tenderly as slumber had overtaken her body?

She was now his mate. If she had looked in a mirror, she would have seen the magenta slash on the place where his teeth had been, the wound replaced with the mark of the Lord of the Western Lands.

Her heart broke slowly. This only made it worse. He was going to leave her, to cast off with Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kagome, and she knew not when he was to return. He could be gone for weeks or months. Years. She hated being away from him. Hated not knowing if he was alive, if he was dead.

She sat up slowly and surveyed the room. Jaken sat against the wall, his small arms crossed around his staff.

"Master Jaken?" she said, watching as he opened his eyes and focused on her.

"So, you're awake," he said, standing up. "Once again, you have succeeded in ruining my life!" he squawked dramatically, waving the staff at her. "Lord Sesshomaru has ordered me to stay here and make sure nothing happens to you. Stupid girl, why can't you take care of yourself?"

"Has he left yet?" she yelled, grabbing him by his tiny shoulders. "Have they left?"

"No," he said. "However, they are probably setting out already; after all, it is late in the day, and . . . . Ahhh," he finished lamely as she jumped up and left him by himself.

Rin ran outside, her loose kimono flying around her, her bare feet scraping against the ground. Her hair was unruly, and had the effect of hands that had run through it.

She glanced around desperately, trying to see a hint of Lord Sesshomaru's white hoari, or the red of Inuyasha's kimono, or the blue of Kagome's jeans. Rin saw them finally, in the path of the forest away from the village.

She ran; the only thing keeping her going was pure adrenaline.

Ah-Un knew she was coming, could smell her, and he stopped and gazed back. Sesshomaru, who held the two-headed dragon's reigns, pulled angrily at them, however the dragon was not going to leave without seeing his mistress once more, not when she was so close.

"Wait!" Rin screamed. He legs almost buckled. It was so far. So very far to reach him. She could not let him leave her. Not yet, not when there was so much for her to say, so much for her to do. She wanted to scream at him, in anger—in love. Whichever fashion seemed to befall her when she reached him. She wanted to look up at his face, to see his hard countenance once more before he was gone.

Sesshomaru stopped, yet did not turn, his stance clearly tense. The others turned to watch as she ran as fast as she could. The sun peaking through the trees blinded her, and she squinted as tears streamed down her face. "Wait!" she screamed again.

Finally, Sesshomaru turned to her, and his face held the evidence of the demon in him. His eyes were crimson, claws were jagged. His hair flew around him. He was obviously trying to scare her away, yet that didn't matter. All that mattered was him, getting to him.

As she closed the distance, she jumped, and he caught her effortlessly as her arms went around him. She kissed him, pulling him as close as she could.

Sesshomaru responded, and he found himself holding her close as passion took over. Her hands fisted in his hair as his hand clutched at the back of her kimono. He bit at her mouth, knowing that he would not be able to hold her at night, or train with her in the day. He would not be able to look over and see her at every turn.

When they finally parted, she looked right up into his eyes.

"Come back to me," she said, her hands sliding from his hair to his face. "Don't forget to come back for me." As she whispered the words, she was reminded of when she was younger, when her faith in him was so strong, but she had wanted to make sure that he kept his promise.

He nodded once, and then turned back. Rin walked to Ah-Un and whispered her farewell to him before Sesshomaru took up his reign's and walked on, leaving Rin behind.

Inuyasha and Miroku found themselves with their jaws hanging open, mouths agape at the scene that had just transpired. As much as they were overcome with confusion, Kagome was jumping up and down in joy, lightly clapping her hands together.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it," she whispered when Inuyasha turned to her.

"Feh," he only grunted as they turned and continued their journey.

Kagome finally called time to rest after walking all day. She knew that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru could have walked all through the night without any second thoughts, but she and Miroku were exhausted.

Inuyasha made the fire, and then Kagome made dinner, which consisted of ramen and other junk foods. Miroku gathered more firewood, and Sesshomaru cleaned and sharpened both he and Inuyasha's weapons.

When the others were sleeping, Inuyasha went over to Sesshomaru, who had perched himself against a tree. He watched his older brother warily. They had never been on good terms, though their rivalry seemed trivial for the most part. Inuyasha sighed. All he knew was that Sesshomaru despised him for being the half-demon bastard son of his father, and that he had been given Tetsusaiga as his birth-right. And there was not much he could do to change that.

Sitting down next to him, Inuyasha drew up his knees and rested his arms there.

"Thinking about her, huh?" he asked, glancing over at Sesshomaru.

"It is none of your concern," the older demon responded, gritting his teeth at his brothers presumptuousness. He turned away, facing the full moon.

"Yeah, but I know more about it than you think." Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, who was sleeping comfortably by the fire. "I hate having to leave her. The thought of it turns my stomach to rot. And in the end, no matter how much I want to protect her, my need to have her close overwhelms everything else."

Sesshomaru nodded, knowing that unless he showed some acknowledgement of his brother's statements he would continue to talk despite everything. The fire crackled and popped, and the amber glow that surrounded them only added to the mystery of the night. Crickets sounded in the forest, yet only he and Inuyasha were awake to hear it.

"Sesshomaru, we should go back and collect your mate," Inuyasha said, standing to take his place beside Kagome. "As much as I hate to admit it, we're going to need your strength for this fight, and you are no good to us if all you can think about is getting back to her."

"We will keep going."

"Haven't you figured it out yet? You are no good without her. You have no one to protect, and your abilities are based on that. You've only been stronger since you've had Rin with you."

"She is safer at the village."

"Yeah, with only Sango, Kaede, and Jaken to protect her. Come on. You and I both know that she's safer with the two of us than with those three."

"Damn you," Sesshomaru said, standing. "This is none of your concern. I will not endanger her. I will not place her on the battle field."

"Why?" Inuyasha asked. "It's not like she's never seen one. And," he added. "You trained her. She can fight as well as any of us."

Yet Sesshomaru did not answer. He only took his place against the tree, again, and ignored his brother, who soon fell asleep.

Time Break (Two Weeks)

It had been two weeks since he had left her. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty six hours, countless minutes, and seemingly endless seconds. Rin waited for her mate to come back for her, to take her in his arms and tell her that he would never leave her again.

Her depression grew with each passing day. She helped Kaede gather herbs, and helped the village woman gather water and prepare food, and she trained in the evenings. Each time she walked to the place where she and Lord Sesshomaru had fought, her heart broke a little, yet each time she would draw her sword and battle her loneliness.

Jaken, of course, spent his days moping. He would pick at her, trying to start fights to overcome his boredom, yet she was not willing to oblige him. Her only comfort was the mark on her neck, the beautiful blemish on her skin that signaled her as his mate. It was a promise, his promise that he would come back to her.

So as this day passed, she watched the edge of the forest where he had left, sighing gently to herself. The wind carried away her breath, the soft murmur lost on its current. Rin reached back so that she could braid her hair, her capable fingers weaving the tresses into a more manageable fashion so that the wind could not toss it into her eyes. When she was done, she tied it back with a ribbon, and then she turned her gaze back to the trees.

Larks sang in the distance, and the Bone Eaters Well was nearby. She briefly thought of going to the hot springs, yet it was so early in the day that anyone could walk upon her there.

"Come back to me, Lord Sesshomaru," she whispered, and a single tear slipped from her eye. Her heart broke in her chest. She could not bear to be away from him.

She was human, and as Jaken had once told her, time was everything to a human. She might live longer, now that she was his mate, but she would not live as long as he. Nor could she ever. The time that she wanted from him would be precious, treasured like the Shikon Jewel that everyone craved.

Shivers ran down her body. A demon was close by, and she could sense it. Drawing her sword, Rin surveyed the surrounding forest, waiting for any sign that the demon intended to hurt her. Although, she thought to herself, she feared humans more than demons. Demons, upon attacking, have reasons, motives. Even Naraku had his reasons, however petty. Humans killed for sport, or worse, for money.

She fell back just as the blast came upon her. Ducking to the side, she watched as Kagura's Dance of Blades came down.

"Clever girl. You picked up on my presence quickly, for a human," she said, and then she paused. "What is that?" she asked, glancing at Rin's neck.

Rin only watched as her face turned from being merely amused to being terrified.

"Naraku, I won't do it," Kagura said, running back into the forest. "She bares his mark."

"That will make my victory all the sweeter. I will kill his mate, and with that, I will crush him." Naraku's voice filled her head, and she flinched at the hatred that she heard.

"You do that, Naraku, but my name stays out of this. With my new-found freedom, the last thing I need is for Sesshomaru to hunt me down and try to kill me."

"Just do as I command, Kagura. My will is infallible." He never raised his voice, never let a hint of irritation enter his voice, but she heard it none-the-less. Kagura ran to the designated spot, and although the thought of running from an enemy tasted bitter, she did as she was commanded. For her freedom.

Rin angled her body so her speed would increase. She refused to let the other woman escape her, because if Kagura was here, Naraku would most likely be close by.

Because this was a trap. She knew it. And she went anyway.

She held her Ni-Kiba before her, neatly slicing away a branch that blocked her way, because it would be more trouble to duck and lose her speed.

The other woman was scared, and she knew it. Rin smirked, and she would remember to thank her Lord for making her his mate, because she knew that that was why the demon was so scared of her.

The clearing was close, so close, and Rin ran faster, her legs pumped harder, and her blood hummed in anticipation of the coming battle. The wind was cold, and the bite of it stung her cheeks and lips. The overcast sky held the world in shadows, and she thanked whichever god was listening for it. If the sun had been shining, she would have been at a disadvantage with her weak human eyes.

The forest was silent, the unrelenting aura of the coming battle hanging heavy in the air. Rin's lungs burned, her body tense.

In the thicket ahead Rin clearly saw the seemingly thin, purple glow of Naraku's barrier, and she paused, catching her breath as she gazed at the blockade. Her enemy was just beyond this barrier, and she wanted through.

She reached out a hand, and felt at the layer of it. It held firm under her touch, but then it gave way, and she rushed through, afraid that it would close behind her.

Once inside, the barrier could not be seen. However, she knew it was still there. It was not a large barrier, standing at about as tall as the trees and the length of the clearing. As though to hold her in a confined place, to make sure that she felt the limitations, to make sure that she knew who was in charge of this.

She turned slowly, sensing that the enemy was close. Then the pain came.

The demon swiped her with its claws, the massive hand swallowing her body and shoving her to the ground. Blood stained her left arm, which had taken the brunt of the attack, and she cradled it to her body as she looked up.

It was the same demon as before, the same demon that had possessed her body and ordered her to kill those people. The memories flooded her, and for a moment she was panicked by the thought of being possessed again, of having her free will taken away by a monster.

"Foolish girl," the monster said, though it was in a voice that she did not recognize. "You fell into the trap, just like the stupid human you are. And now I will have your head."

Rin glanced up, and she clenched her teeth at the white baboon pelt that she saw clearly on the shoulder of the beast. "Naraku!" she screamed, her sword aimed at him. "Face me like a real man, not some coward who has to send his minions to defeat his enemies."

"Big talk for such a little girl. And you still are, the same little girl who followed around that dog, that same little girl who I tried to kill time and again, and he would always come to your rescue. Not anymore," Naraku said.

"Never again," she whispered, and lunged up, bringing down her sword in a large arc, and the demon reached out to grab her. She kicked out, her foot finding the side of his fingers and trusting herself up again, this time aiming for Naraku as one of the beast's fingers fell to the earth.

It screamed, and propelled both Naraku and Rin off of its body.

Rin landed painfully on her back, and she gasped for breath as her human body become cumbersome in her battle. Naraku landed effortlessly on the ground a few feet from her.

"Weak," he said with a laugh. "Weak human."

"Human, yes. Weak . . . never," she said, and she buried the tip of Ni-Kiba into the soft earth as she hoisted herself up. "Never."

Okay, this is leading up to the big fight scene. I find myself having a hard time writing fight scenes, but hopefully it is conveyed the way I wanted it to. As always, please review!!!