A/N: chapter bomb part 1 of ?

Warning: feels and implied 'woohoo'... so yeah.

Rin wandered for several days through the countryside, stopping at every village and manor she found on her way back to Sesshomaru. She was chased out of some villages and welcomed in others- those that knew InuYasha were usually kinder to her than those that didn't. she was able to get food, but never shelter, not that she would have trusted them enough anyway. She camped up trees in the forests, finding it the safest place, and her wakizashi was always at her hip. She was dismayed as she travelled to find that the Oni she'd fought wasn't the only one intent on the fancy short sword she had. She ran when she could and fought when she couldn't, but never killed any of her attackers, just as she'd promised herself.

As she headed for yet another gated manor near sundown on the third day she'd been out, she started to feel as if something was wrong with her. She hadn't gotten dinner, so she supposed that was to blame for her sudden weakness. She'd begun to rely on her sense of smell as an early-warning system, but it seemed to not be working now, and her hearing and sight were dulling as the sun went down. When it vanished behind the horizon completely, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit Rin and she fell to her hands and knees, trembling, suddenly feeling almost blind and deaf in the forest's twilight.

Sesshomaru at first thought he was imagining things as the scent drifted through his open window after the sun went down. He took another cautious sniff, then a very deep breath, getting to his feet and stepping to the window. It can't be… without another thought he leapt directly from his open window and out over the manor's garden wall, rushing into the forest after the scent he'd so longed for these past days- Rin's human scent.

Rin gasped in shocked fright at a flash of white through the deep gloom of the forest, barely lit by the starry sky and three-day waxing crescent moon. She got quickly back to her feet and drew her blade once more. "don't come near me! I warn you, I'm armed!" she said in a slightly shaky voice, trembling. She gasped again as she realized the beautiful wakizashi she'd become used to looked like nothing but an ordinary steel blade- it was showing none of its awesome power for her now. She gripped it tighter and looked at the trees nervously where the flash of white had disappeared.

Sesshomaru stared at the young woman before him, who was staring nervously in his general direction and brandishing his old wakizashi, Chiidokuga- the only sword totosai had ever made for him, at his father's request. Since it had been made from one of his milk fangs that he'd lost as he grew up, he thought it would be weak, and had never used it. He hadn't even noticed it was missing from the armory, in fact. He felt a twinge of pride seeing the girl standing in perfect form, awaiting an attack so she could defend, just as he'd taught her to do. Then he finally took in the rest of her. Black hair, and cinnamon eyes, and normal, human ears…and her scent…

She…she's normal…

Rin looked up sharply as the bushes in front of her rustled, but was shocked by who emerged. "Rin," intoned the white-haired Daiyoukai she'd already begun to despair ever seeing again. It was only her months of training that allowed her to sheathe her blade and not merely drop it from her badly shaking hands as her eyes began to water in relief. She could barely make out that he wasn't wearing his armor nor carrying his swords, meaning the nearby manor must finally be home! She sniffled and took a step toward him, then another, and ran the rest of the way into his arms, crying and trying not to sob in joy that she was finally back where she belonged.

Sesshomaru wrapped his long arms around Rin's slight frame gently, holding her close to him to comfort her as much as himself. She was solid. She was real. He bent his head slightly to nuzzle her neck, taking in as much of her soothing scent as he could, breathing her name once more in confirmation, trembling slightly himself. He hadn't realized just how awfully he'd missed her in just the space of a few days!

Rin looked up as he straightened, looking down at her with a gentle smile, and returned the smile with one of her own. Suddenly deciding to act on a whim, she reached up to kiss his chin, the highest point she could reach without getting on tiptoe- but her eyes went wide as she felt gentle lips under her own, rather than skin. It lasted only a moment, but when he reopened his eyes Rin saw Sesshomaru looked just as confused at his actions as she did- but not the least bit repentant. She was even more surprised to realize that, despite what they'd done in the past, that was the first time they'd properly kissed. She smiled a little wider, but another rustle in the undergrowth- probably just a bird or mouse- startled Rin and made her jump slightly. Sesshomaru's arms tightened for a moment, then shifted, and she felt her legs knocked out from under her at the knees so he could pick her up and carry her back to the manor, where she belonged.

Jaken was sweeping the front porch with a tiny broom when Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in the garden in front of him, making him jump. As Jaken looked up, he realized his master wasn't alone! "RIN!" he jumped for joy and started crying, reaching up as if to hug the girl. Sesshomaru gently set the young woman back on her feet and she bent down to let the little imp hug her and blubber over her like a worried uncle. "I'm so glad you're back! I was so worried about you- it rained after you ran off and we couldn't figure out where you'd gone!" he kept carrying on for long enough that Rin got embarrassed by his commotion, then he finally let go and wiped his eyes. "I'll go make you some tea," he said, hurrying off suddenly.

Rin got back to her feet and turned slightly to find Sesshomaru standing behind her and staring at her with a seemingly proud gaze and a small, genuinely joyous smile on his features. The look changed his face completely, and Rin had to admit it was for the better. She took a step closer to him and was overjoyed as his gentle arms wrapped around her once more. "Rin…I have missed you," he admitted softly, moving one hand to caress her cheek. She leaned into the gentle touch and his smile widened a little.

"I've missed you as well. I'm very sorry for running away from you. I wasn't thinking." She looked up into his eyes, cinnamon meeting gold, seeing her honesty and even her love reflected back at her.

"I am also sorry for my rash actions. I should never have ordered you away when you needed me." His smile was gone, replaced with concern for her. "it pained me that I could not follow you because of my own foolishness." He rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb, then shifted and pulled her closer to him once more until her arms touched both their chests. She gently reached to trace the sharp pink stripes on his cheek with one hand. He let out a soft hum of contentment and she felt her face grow hot with a blush, but she didn't care. "we should go inside. It's getting late, and you need to rest."

She reluctantly stepped back and he let her go. She started to go to her room as usual, but realized she didn't want to be away from him for even a moment. She hesitated in the hall between the two doors.

"Rin?"

"ah…may I come in with you?" she asked timidly. She could see that his door had been replaced since she'd broken it a few days prior. He nodded mutely, secretly glad she'd asked, and she hurried in before he could change his mind. She settled onto the futon and smiled at the tea tray on the low table- it was very fresh, and must have been the one Jaken had gone after. She looked up in mild surprise when Sesshomaru settled himself right beside her and started to pour the tea for her and for himself. He offered her a cup and she took it, warming her hands.

"I realized something, while you were away, Rin," he said softly, staring into his cup of tea. She looked up at him, listening attentively. "I realized that it didn't matter that you weren't a youkai, or that you'd been turned into a hanyou. It didn't matter you were human or what you were." He looked over at her. "what mattered was that you were by my side where you belong." Rin turned red again at his words. "I want you to stay, Rin—stay no matter what. Consequences be damned, I want you by my side as long as you may live." Sesshomaru felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest as soon as the words left his lips. There was no taking those words back now, and even if there was a way he wouldn't take it.

Rin was silent in shock for several moments. She'd dreamed of hearing such a declaration, but she'd never hoped to hear it in real life. She drank her tea quickly for something to do, then set the cup down, resting her hands on the low table. One strong hand reached to take hers gently and she looked up into his golden eyes. They seemed deeper than ever, bottomless and held a need and yearning so deep she didn't know how to answer. She laid her head gently on his shoulder with a sigh and a small smile, and he took that for all the answer she could give for now. He squeezed her hand gently. "you should rest, Rin- you must be tired from your journey." And she was tired—in fact, she was totally exhausted—but she didn't want to let it show. She couldn't bear the thought of losing precious time with him.

"can…can I at least sleep in here? I could bring in my futon…" she suggested, though of course the futon they were sitting on the edge of was actually plenty big enough to fit an entire family- it was two meters square.

"no need," he said with a tiny smile. "just rest here." He reached to stroke her raven hair, releasing more of her soothing scent into the room around them, and tracing her jaw gently before letting go again. He felt her shiver slightly and lean a little into his touch as if by instinct. She opened her eyes again quickly, not wanting to fall asleep. He frowned a little in concern. "you must rest. You could get sick."

"I won't get sick, Sesshomaru-sama. I feel fine." She finally shifted a little so she was leaning back on the futon instead of sitting up, discarding her outer layers as she did so, until she had only her one outer layer and her sleeping clothing on. The night was a warm one, and she didn't normally wear very much to bed anyway because the quilt was so thick.

He watched her prepare half-heartedly for bed and knew she wasn't going to sleep unless he made her. When she was settled, leaning back, he laid beside her and forced her to lay completely down by pulling her loosely into his arms. "is this more satisfactory?"

He'd been hoping for a yawn or that funny tired blinking thing she'd always done. He hadn't expected her to snuggle in as close as she could manage, making both of them suddenly quite warm between his large moko and all the layers of clothing they were both still wearing. Without much hesitation, he sat up and set aside his pelt and his two top layers of clothing, leaving his pants on only. She took the opportunity to take off her outer clothing and have on only an underlayer when he turned back to her once more. It was a summer underlayer too, meaning it wasn't very thick, and the fabric clung to her a bit more than Sesshomaru thought it should. He laid down and let her snuggle in again, looking away from her and trying not to think about how attractive she was.

Unfortunately for him, that was the only thing on Rin's mind. She'd never seen him properly shirtless, and it was impressive to say the least. She couldn't stop herself in her uninhibited exhausted state from tracing his collarbones and feeling his shoulders and chest in a kind of awe. He wanted all of this to be hers? She could barely comprehend how a being this perfect—to her mind—could possibly want something so completely ordinary as her. She felt him shudder faintly under her hands and looked up to see his golden eyes boring into hers intensely. Uh-oh. She'd seen that look before, though it had been a lot more intense. She quickly curled her hands in, blushing brightly. She hadn't wanted to bother him. But she had to admit the thought of doing what his eyes promised was far more appealing than it ought to have been…

Sesshomaru saw the shift of intentions in her eyes as he looked down at her, and felt her hands spread once again on his chest invitingly. He made the decision—though perhaps it was a foolish one—to accept her invitation while he was still in his right mind and could control himself. There was nothing that could come of it, after all, except a stronger bond between them. He smirked a little and murmured, "Rin, you know what kind of game you're playing, right?"

She looked up at him guilelessly and nodded softly. "of course," she breathed, "you've already taught me the rules."

He shook his head gently. "not properly. But I can fix that, if you like."

She nodded again and he gently rolled her away from him before settling himself on top of her, starting to kiss her gently and keeping himself as aware as he could be of her reactions in case she changed her mind. He didn't want to scare her or hurt her. But Rin was clearly not worried about any of that- this time it seemed to him that she was the desperate, instinctive one of the two of them. He kept kissing, emboldened by her reactions and the kisses she returned to him, and even bit her neck a little too hard. He quickly licked the wound closed and was surprised she hadn't noticed any pain. He continued, removing the last of her clothing, but he paused uncertainly once more. Did she really want them to…go all the way? He could feel his instincts and his body both urging him on with need, but he met Rin's eyes, needing to know.

Rin was panting with pleasure at his attentions, but her eyes snapped open with surprise as he suddenly stilled, and she looked up at him. The need and desire was clear in his eyes, but so was his uncertainty. His hakama were still firmly tied at his navel. She reached to untie them and he jumped in surprise at her touch, blushing a delicate pale pink. "Don't stop now," she murmured softly, kissing his neck.

That was all he'd needed to hear, and the following time was a blur. He smiled gently at Rin as she passed out after mid-night, playing with her hair as she laid on his chest, snoozing softly. There were a few love marks on her neck and a pair of pinprick markings on the left side of her neck where he'd accidentally bitten her earlier. He took a deep breath and sighed softly, his hand stilling. "Rin…please stay like this…" he murmured softly, knowing she was deeply asleep and couldn't hear him. Something told him whatever had turned her into a hanyou wasn't finished with her yet…