At A Beginning...

I Do Not Own Inuyasha

Purpose: Reason for Existence; the reason for which something exists or for which it has been done or made, the purpose of life…

Chapter 13

Inuyasha's Time in the Edo Village... (10 minutes after Rin's departure down the Bone Eater's Well)

"Where's Rin?" Sesshomaru breathed. As he opened his eyes to Kagome's face. Not the face he wanted to see and if he were honest she was not even a creature he wanted to see at this moment. Kagome looked nervous as he watched her, she was nervously chewing her bottom lip. Where was Rin? He growled then as he awaited to know just where Rin had gone.

"Well, she's…uh…Inuyasha! Sesshomaru's awake!" Kagome shouted, he just winced internally as he tried to keep his eyes open then. He wanted to know where his mate was, he wanted to know, he wanted all of these memories to stop! He wanted them gone, he did not want to remember the nymph, the girl, the creature of which he had craved and missed for two hundred sixty years. But eight years ago he felt the connection he had missed so intensely, the companionship he had so desperately missed, and the recently the woman he had craved for so long had begun standing before him. Rin, the girl he had named his human after had been named Rin.

The human pup he had been drawn to, the human he had marked, the creature he had named Rin because he had missed the human girl from his youth before she had disappeared. The orphan girl's blood had stirred the memories and brought back his long lost memories of that Rin, the girl who had carried the white fang with her everywhere and had first called him her lord, other's had followed Rin's example. But that Rin had been the first to call him a lord, to even make him think of himself as more as an heir of Inu no Taisho or InuKimi.

"Rin?" he asked coldly when his brother came blundering in then. Inuyasha just blinked at him then at Kagome. Pain coursed through him again and oblivion over took him.

'My lord,' she had whispered as she stood on the opposite bank in the moonlight. She looked at him without fear or horror as he stood there in his true form away from her.

Her name was Rin. She was his. But why couldn't he remember her? The creature of which he had searched for, craved, missed, and hunted for so long and he could barely remember what her face looked like. Why could he not remember Rin clearly anymore? He could barely remember the human child he had taken in now. Why could he not remember them?

273 Years Into the Past...

Rin woke in the morning to look out at a light rain when Lady Izayoi came charging into her room with a bright smile. Automatically Rin sat up to stare at her new master who had charged into her small-ish quarters.

"Why do you sleep on the floor? Come on Rin, let's go! I have to go to the river to collect herbs and you are to be my escort so I do not have idiot guards trampling on the herbs I need for a change."

"Yes my lady," Rin said as she quickly got to her feet, tugged on a clean kimono and followed Izayoi. Only after she slipped Bakusaiga on her hip.

"What about your footwear?" Izayoi asked.

"I do not ever wear footwear, it cuts off one's connection to the earth and life," Rin replied honestly. She had never liked shoes, not even before the massacre, and after her lord had taken her in he had never ordered her to wear footwear unless there was snow on the ground or it was too cold for her small human body to handle. Her lord always prided himself on taking very good care of her, she could sense it even if he did not express it. Sesshomaru prided himself on protecting and caring for what was his to the best of his ability. And Rin was his.

"That's…interesting," Izayoi admitted.

"It's alright if you tell me it's odd, I already know it's odd," Rin mused and then Izayoi laughed.

"Rin, you are a refreshing breath of fresh air. I have long since thought people were odd for wearing footwear but I must admit I could never live without it, I could not walk around outside barefoot without fearing stepping on a snake or rock."

"The hazard of remaining barefoot but a risk I shall take for my comfort," Rin informed Izayoi truthfully as they walked out of the fort without an escort. Rin did not like the confines of the fortress but she'd enjoy her moments of freedom before returning as they walked into the forest.

"I like you Rin, for so long I have felt lonely but around you I feel happy. I must admit that this is a nice change," Izayoi informed her as they walked to the river.

"Why? I am not special," Rin said coldly. It was true to because she could never be special; she was a human after all and that was her greatest flaw. A flaw of which she'd never be able to overcome nor did she care to overcome it. It was a part of her and though she was not pleased about being human it was bit about her she had come to accept. Rin knew she'd never be perfect like her lord.

"But you are Rin, you are free, and that makes you special. Don't think differently." Izayoi said firmly, Rin just shrugged indifferently as she walked with her lady again. All Rin wanted to do was save her lord, but if to save her lord meant serving Lady Izayoi then so be it, Rin would serve Izayoi to the best of her abilities. "I wish I could be more like you."

"No, never wish that my lady," Rin said firmly. Being her was not something she'd ever wish upon another being. Being her was painful and tough, the only good part about being her was her lord. And even he was threatened at the moment by Magatsuhi. Rin would never wish her fate upon another woman, no matter how strong that woman may be.

"Why not?"

"Because being me is painful," Rin replied matter-of-factly because she could not think of a reason Lady Izayoi would truly understand. Being her, being Rin, it was painful, it was dangerous, and it was often times lonely because she was always alone. There was no reason to think she'd ever belong with human or others because she was a loner creature by nature. The fact she had taken so quickly to Sesshomaru had truly baffled her, but then loneliness could be lonely and Sesshomaru was the first creature who had made her feel cherished and cared for. Because of that she'd love him for as long as she lived.

"It cannot be that bad, you have your lord don't you?"

"Yes I do, but he will never love me the way I love him," Rin murmured into the wind as she stared out at the river. Lady Izayoi would never understand the pain of loving someone who'd never love you back. She'd have InuTaisho and from her understand his love for her was…pure and unwavering. Sesshomaru would never return her love, she had a feeling he couldn't love because he had already lost the love of his life.

The mark on her neck tingled, she lifted her gaze to the trees as she stood guard of Lady Izayoi.

Amber was watching her plainly, she smiled involuntarily at him as the wind tugged her heavy black hair.

"My lord," she whispered to him, his gaze never left hers' for what felt like an eternity.

"Rin, what are you looking at?" Izayoi's voice jarred her.

"Nothing," Rin replied looking back at Lady Izayoi.

Rin, the name had his lips curling into a smile before he left the watch to his father and found a perch farther away. The girl drew him to her, he couldn't leave her.