Chapter 21:
She remembered. Everything. She remembered.
Tears pricked her eyes and each one that fell was a memory that had come back to her.
One: The first time she saw him in her apartment hallway. Two: Math class. Three: He fed her. Four: he got his student id back. Five: the night at the club when he told her she was his mate. Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten: her courting gifts. Eleven: the night they made love for the first time.
As the tears began to fall, she started walking towards him. "Sesshomaru," she whispered again. She began to run. "Sesshomaru," she said a little bit louder. She began to sprint. "SESSHOMARU!" she cried as she dove into his open arms and sobbed, basking in his warmth and the flood of memories of their love.
He held her so tightly. He dare not breathe for this might not be real. He'd waited so long for her, so long. He shook, overwhelmed by the emotions that swept through him. Tears began to fall from his eyes like they never had before.
"Maru. I'm so sorry. How stupid must I be to ever forget you. Forget our love. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." Rin sobbed loudly into his shirt. He only tightened his embrace. Finally, allowing himself the believe it was real he let out the breath he was holding and inhaled her magnificent scent deeply, like it was his last breath.
"Hush now my Rin. We're together and that's all that matters. But you must never leave this Sesshomaru again. I couldn't bare it." He released her and leaned back slightly to look into her eyes. They were as beautiful as he remembered, even if they were clouded with tears.
His golden gaze was even more beautiful than in her dreams; it was real. She leaned up as he leaned down and their lips met in blissful harmony. Her lips were even softer than he'd remembered. Rin drank in this feeling that's absence left her incomplete. He ran his tongue along her lower lip and she opened her mouth to grant it access. He claimed her mouth sweetly and softly as she let out a small moan from her chest and leaned further into him. This moment, this kiss… was five years over due. They were lost in each other, this feeling of overwhelming and undeniably unconditional love swept through them like an ocean wave during a hurricane. How could she have forgotten something this monumental, this powerful? Sesshomaru pulled back in fear that if he continued he would take her right here and now. She slowly opened her eyes to meet his.
"I love you, Rin."
"And I love you Sesshomaru." She smiled up at him in awe that she had found her mate, her one true love. Suddenly, it hit her. "Sesshomaru, come." She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her apartment.
"Where are you taking me, my love?"
She smiled over her shoulder at him as she replied, "To meet your children of course."
Sesshomaru had met them once so he shouldn't have been surprised but for some reason he couldn't take the look of shock off his face. Finally, gathering himself, he replaced it with a smile.
She drug him up a flight of stairs and unlocked the door to her apartment. He inhaled the wonderful scents that engulfed her home: hers, his son's, and his daughter's. They stepped through the door to be met by Kagome and Sango. Sesshomaru glared at them. Kagome threw her hands up in defense. "We just found out like two hours ago. Don't kill us, please." Rin giggled. Hosenki rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks as Sesshomaru let out a loud growl of disapproval.
"Sesshomaru, don't be rude. I owe this man my life, so technically you owe him half of yours." His growl ceased immediately as he gazed lovingly at his mate before looking back at Hosenki to give him an approving nod.
"Mom!"
"Mommy! Where'd you go?" The children came running around the corner only to come to a screeching halt when they saw Sesshomaru.
"Raiden. Rain. I want you to meet your father. Sesshomaru." She smiled at them and back at her mate. He stepped forward gingerly. The children were frozen with shock. Raiden stepped forward and looked up at Sesshomaru as he knelt down to be eyelevel with his son. Suddenly, Raiden threw his arms around Sesshomaru and started to cry tears of joy. Sesshomaru held him tightly as a tear of his own escaped. His son. He had a son.
Rain stood very still, not saying a word, but one look out the window and you could see how she felt. Dark clouds began to roll in to cover the sky. Raiden released his father and looked back at his sister. "Be careful, Daddy. She's the tough one." Raiden knew he was stronger, but his sister was ice. He knew she wouldn't take the news well.
"Where have you been?" she asked sternly. This threw Sesshomaru off a bit; she was a little too much like him to have been separated since her birth. Lightening struck the ground and thunder boomed outside the window.
"Looking for you," he replied calmly.
"Why did it take you so long?" Tears were beginning to fill her eyes but had yet to spill over.
"Sometimes you have to wait for the ones you love the most in life." He opened his arms carefully. Her tears poured down her face and rain drenched the window outside.
"Oh Daddy!" She cried as she leapt into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Shh. Don't cry, my daughter. I'll never let you go again. I promise. We'll always be together." She just sobbed harder and tightened her hold on him.
Rin stood back as her own tears of joy ran down her face as she watched the touching moment unfold. She had her family back. She had her memory back. She had her life back. Now, her future could finally begin.
…
Sesshomaru made some calls so the house would be clean once they arrived. They would decorate the kids' rooms once they had a chance to look everything over. You'd think he was a school boy again watching how excited he was as they stood in front of their home before going in. He leaned down and kissed the top of Rin's head before whispering into it, "It's just as you left it my love, only cleaner." She felt him smile against her and looked up to place a chaste kiss on his warm lips.
"I'm glad I'm home my love."
"As am I, Rin. As am I."
They stepped through the front door and the kids made Ooo and Ahh sounds as they looked around at their lavish abode. They had lived very modestly their whole life, so this would take some getting used too. They turned to look at their parents who nodded in approval of their silent request to explore. They took off in opposite direction, most likely to cover more ground.
(Raiden's POV)
I ran to where the smell of food was coming from. I found the kitchen. It's really big in here; black and white tile on the floor and a lady at the stove. I run over to her and tug on her apron. She looks down at me and smiles.
"What can I get you, sugar?" She was nice.
"You got any Ramen?" I asked as nice as I could.
"Raiden, don't spoil your dinner!" I heard Mom call from the other room. She always knew when I was up to no good. The nice lady went back to cooking, so I took off to explore some more. I went through all the rooms down stairs. There was big living room with uncomfortable couches and no TV. Lame. I found another room with slightly more comfortable furniture and a big fireplace, but still no TV. I found the dinning room and there's no way we need that many chairs and that big of a table. There was a really pretty chandelier that hung above it thought. It looked expensive. I ran out of that room to find a huge ballroom. What did we need a ballroom for? There was a pretty black piano in the corner of the huge room. I would play on it later. I keep running down the hall, opening every door I see. I found a closet and a bathroom and another bathroom and another closet. Where do they keep the TV's around here? I opened another door and it had some stairs leading down into a dark place. A light suddenly came on and I jumped back only to run into Daddy's legs. I looked up at him.
"Yes, Raiden. You found the game room." He smiled at me. I know I only met him last week, but I love him a whole bunch. He's MY Daddy. I turn and run downstairs to see the biggest TV I've ever seen in my life. It's got everything hooked up to it. Playstation, Xbox, Wii, a computer… A COMPUTER? Weird. I look around some more and there's a pool table too but I'm not tall enough for that. There's a foosball table, but I'm not tall enough for that. There's a dart board, but I'm not tall enough for that.
"Raiden. Rain." Uh oh, my Mommy's calling me. I better go see what she wants.
(Rain's POV)
I run up the stairs to look around. This house sure is big. I see a spiral staircase I want to climb later. Right now I wonder what's down this hallway. I look up and there's a lot of pictures of Mommy and Daddy from before we were born. They look really happy. Wow, Mommy's so pretty in dresses. Is that a magazine cover? Are my parents famous? I brush off the thought and skip further down the hall to investigate what's behind all these doors. I open the first door and it's a bedroom. It's all white and only has a bed in it. Weird. I close the door and head to the next one. It's another all white bedroom with just a bed in it. Hmm, I wonder if they're all like that. The next room's a bathroom and man is it big. It's got a tub and a shower and there's steps by the sink that I can pull up to look in the mirror. I do so and make funny faces at myself in the mirror. I giggle at how silly I can make myself look. I hop down to look around some more. The next door I open has to be Mommy and Daddy's room. Their bed in two steps above the rest of the furniture and it's a big canopy bed covered in rose petals. How romantic. The room's so big; there're two walk in closets bigger than my old room and a big window to sit next too. There's a fireplace with a couch and two chairs in front of it. There's a really pretty vanity too. I sit on the stool and brush my hair with the silver brush resting on top of it. I feel as pretty as Mommy when I look in this mirror. I can't dwell in here. There's so much more to see. I almost make it out the room before I notice their huge bathroom they have all to themselves. Man was I jealous. It's so pretty. I zoom out of their room and head down the hallway some more. I try to open the next door but it's locked. What's in there I wonder. I'll figure it out eventually. I skip back to the spiral staircase I saw. There's a huge library surrounding it now that I'm actually looking around. Who likes reading this much? Weird. I almost made it to the top of the stairs before I hear Mommy sounding mad.
"Rain, no ma'am. I don't want you going up there without me or Daddy with you." She said. How did I not notice her standing there? Man she's good.
"Well come with me now." Duh Mommy.
"Not right now sweetheart, I've got to help Daddy get our stuff inside. Look around some more but don't be long. We have to show you your rooms and talk about how you want them decorated."
"Yes ma'am." I skipped off down the opposite hallway. More pretty pictures of Mommy and Daddy. I should ask them if we can all take a picture so I can put it up in my room. The next door I open is Daddy's study I guess. There's a big desk on one side and some couches on the other. There's a computer desk on the opposite side of the room. That's the closest thing to a TV I've seen in here. I close the door and continue down the hall to find three other bedroom that've been fully decorated already. They must be the guest bedrooms. There's another bathroom and a closet and a window at the end of the hall. Before and can look any further I hear Mommy call my name.
"Raiden. Rain." I love the sound of her voice. I skip towards where it came from, happy as can be that my family is all together.