I'm all alone, and this is how I feel..

Sesshomaru looked out over the vast dark horizon at the million bright stars in the sky. Below him, no girl child played, and no Imp yelled for her to slow down and behave. It had been a long time since he had been alone, and at first, the quiet was welcomed, but as night drew and the stars came out, the quiet turned to loneliness, dare he even say?

"Sesshomaru,"

He sighed inside; he knew she was there. "It is for the best," He said without even waiting for the question.

"I was a bit shocked at first, but then Inuyasha told me what Kaede had said,"

The old woman had been right, and at first, it was no bother to him to leave her after all; he had left her in the care of others many times. But many times was temporary, and in the end, he was her protector; this, this would be long term. But she was in between a woman and a child, and her place, at least for now, was not with him.

"She must become a woman and reside with her own kind,"

Normally to Kagome, those words would sound harsh coming from him, but this time they weren't harsh.

"I leave her to you," These words were a bit darker in tone, and Kagome knew the meaning behind it. If anything happened to Rin, he would surely kill them. But the fact that

he trusts her, them, to care for her spoke volumes.

"Will you visit,"

"I must remain away,"

"By why? You are all Rin knows?"

He turned to her finally. "How can she choose her path if I am in her way?"

Kagome tilted her head,

He looked away; the truth was he needed to set down a path as well. "My path is covered in blood, and she is still a mere child,"

"You have changed,"

"And yet something will not change, I am still my father's son, I still carry blood on my sword, and my enemies will seek to use her,"

Was he called Rin his weakness? Perhaps but not out loud.

"Will you come back?"

"Perhaps if that is what she chooses,"

"She won't forget you,"

Hell, who could?

"Perhaps not forget," But maybe move past? Choose another life, another path, humans her own kind, not him. Perhaps she would feel he abandon her and want nothing to do with him. Either way, this was the right call. He closed his eyes and hoped the Miko would leave him be. Lucky for him, she had always been good a reading him. She sighed. "Well, they always said absence makes the heart grow fonder," With that, she disappeared, and he was once again standing alone under the stars who seem to mock him, tease him.

The days would be easy, but the darkness in which he use to thrive would be a reminder; the stars which lived in her eyes would be a reminder, a lesson of differences between being alone and being lonely. You never quite realize how much you care for something until it is gone, and this new loneliness was different from the time he almost lost her. Death would have been easier; there would be no fight, no choices, no questions; she would have just been gone. A memory he would never forget. But right now, she was alive, and she could choose her life, to love freely without bond, to live and die, to stay with the humans.

She could choose something other than him, and she was a child, and he saw how humans were, how they changed, became greedy and gross and lost. He shook her head, no Kagome would be Rins mother, and so he had faith.

This was the right choice. She was the innocent, and he was known as death. They did not belong together, an innocent girl and a deadly demon, one who many times mocked those who chose to care for such a creature. No, this had to be done, he saved her life, but now it was time for her to live it.

And so he was alone again, but still, this is how he felt. Suddenly for the first time in his life, lonely.