A/N: The wedding chapter is very, VERY near completion… But I realized I hadn't shown any of Rin's abilities yet in flashback and beyond a brief mention of her being proficient in a few different weapons, we haven't seen her in action. This is going to be VERY important to upcoming chapters, so I had to demonstrate she CAN fight… Otherwise it would have come out of nowhere and as a huge shock when we get out of the village. There will be another one of these just after the wedding, and we'll see her spar with Sess and the inutachi before we leave the village too. Rin's a scrapper! (Still, only human… But a tough little girl none-the-less!)

Flashback chapter

~*~

"Get up." Sango hovered over the nine year old girl.

"Stop it! Please Sango-sama!" Rin was close to tears. She hated this. She didn't mind her lessons in healing, in herbs, in writing hiragana, or any of the other things… but she hated her time spent with Sango-sama. Still, she got up.

"Draw." Rin glanced to the wooden sword at her hip and the intense look in Sango-sama's eyes… she didn't want to draw that sword, because as soon as she did, Sango-sama would come at her again and she'd panic and be on her butt.

"I… I don't want to." She confessed.

"Are you afraid of defeat?" Sango condescended. She was getting tired of this. It was common knowledge that Rin would most likely end up going back to Sesshomaru and if she couldn't defend herself when he was gone the girl was as good as dead. Who knew how much time she had to train her? Who knew when the next visit would come and Sesshomaru would give Rin the chance she so obviously wanted, to return to his side.

"No… I just…" Rin didn't know why it was that she hated this so much. It wasn't as if pain was a foreign concept to her and she'd long ago learned to take a beating… She didn't want to hurt anyone else though… besides… she shouldn't have to wield a sword…

Sesshomaru-sama would do that for her. What if she became strong, and he thought she didn't need him anymore?

Was that what this was? Trying to make her not need her Sesshomaru-sama anymore? Is that why they made her train like this?

"You wish to remain weak?" There was something like derision in Sango's tone. This was getting ridiculous, she didn't understand the girl's reasoning, "Why?"

"Rin needs Sesshomaru-sama." The girl whispered… Something she often said when a task was 'too hard' and she wanted to give up… but for the first time the light clicked on in Sango's head…

Rin… Needs… Sesshomaru-sama.

She wasn't saying she needed him to do it for her… She was saying she didn't want to NOT need him anymore.

"Do you think Sesshomaru-sama will suffer a WEAK human girl at his side? Do you not think you will burden him if you do not learn to do for yourself? Do you not think that's why he left you in the care of our group?"

A…Burden???

Rin had never thought about it. When she called, he came. That was that. But… was it… going out of his way to come and save her?

Was she… a burden?

Rin got to her feet and drew her sword, suddenly ready for another round.

"Rin will not be a burden to Sesshomaru-sama." Her eyes had a new determination in them.

~*~

5 years (and lots of training with Sango and Kagome) later.

~*~

"Here. Sango said you needed a proper weapon… and since I was going to Totosai's anyway to pick up the sword for my kid…"

A bone bow made from Inuyasha's fangs was pushed into her hand.

"Inu…ya…sha…sama…" Rin didn't know what to say to her adopted older brother. His fangs were a VERY personal thing and…

She threw herself into his arms and he wrinkled his nose as her shoulder was pushed under the sensitive appendage. The shoulder of her Taijiya training outfit held scent pellets, and they burned his nose terribly.

"Yeah, yeah… Get off me brat!" He shoved her away, but she still just gave him a smile… He was always like that, and it didn't mean he cared about her any less.

"Tell my wife she don't gotta worry about you breakin no more o' her bows, okay?" Rin was known for snapping not only bow strings, but actual bows with the strength behind her shots. This bow was strung with his own youkai hair, and shouldn't break no matter how hard she pulled on it.

Kagome could breathe easy and stop complaining now… And if she was happy, then he was happy.

~*~

"You smell of horses."

Rin blushed, she'd never been entirely comfortable around him, once she'd realized how much his nose could tell him.

"Rin was training."

"Training?" He raised a brow at her statement. Was she learning to be a healer to animals as well?

"Rin was practicing shooting an arrow from her new bow while riding on a horse." There was no pride in her statement, in fact, she seemed embaressed more than anything.

"You are proficient with a bow?" Now he was curious… And slightly amused, "You will demonstrate your ability for this Sesshomaru." He decided, before Rin could answer him.

"Uhhh…" Rin really did not want to do this… He was… Sesshomaru-sama and any skill she had would likely be nothing to him. She'd probably embaress herself.

"Rin." He said sternly, and she instantly obeyed the unspoken command. Rin shot off to retrieve her bow and arrows.

~*~

"You will aim here." He indicated the area where his heart would be.

"But!" Rin was not going to aim for him… He wasn't even wearing armor! She could kill him!

"I do not repeat myself, Rin."

"No!" For the first time in her life, Rin defied her Lord's command openly.

In an instant, before she could even blink he was standing before her growling. She gasped and shot her head upwards, trying to figure out what was going on. "You doubt me? You believe that you, a foolish mortal little girl have the ability to harm this Sesshomaru? You are so arrogant?"

She'd insulted him. Rin's large brown eyes started to water, and she only dropped her head and shook it in the negative.

"Then you will aim your arrow where I indicate and you will attempt to hit the target. You will fail, but you will make the attempt, regardless. Do you understand?"

Suddenly… Rin smiled… But it was not a nice smile.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama." She chirped, overly bright.

He turned around, giving her his back, and walked slowly back to his place across the field from her.

Arrogant? I'll show him who's arrogant!

While he was turned Rin laid a single arrow along the inside of her sleeve, running parallel to her forearm. It was almost too long to fit, but she made it work.

When he turned back around, Rin grabbed a different arrow from her quill and notched it.

"Now." He commanded.

Rin let the arrow fly and watched as he effortlessly captured it between his fingertips, turning it to ash.

He glanced down to asses her aim, ready to make a comment praising her accuracy as his hand carelessly (and foolishly) dropped from the front of his body.

He heard a 'snap' from a distance and his head shot up.

By the time he lifted his head to look at what she could have possibly been doing it was too late. He caught the arrow just as the tip pierced his skin by millimeters… Drawing blood.

Sneaky bitch…

He yanked the tip of the arrow from his flesh and watched as red blood seeped from the small wound around the torn edges of the hole in his kimono.

He smiled.

A genuine smile.

He glanced up at the playfully smug brown eyes across the field from him and she gave him a sheepish grin in return.

Good girl, Rin.

Now… He'd just have to ask his brother why it was that the girl was wielding his fangs…