Eh...sorry I'm so late with this.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year!

Chapter VIII

Promises

She sat hugging her legs as she finished the story. Her eyes closed tightly. Tears fell gently down her face in a stream only to land on the red silk sheets like slow rain. In doubt, she was afraid. Afraid of what he would say. What he would think. Would he throw her away?

She should run. Run and never look back.

But where would she go?

He had become my home.

Rin felt his arms wrap around her petit form. Her eyes opened as she leaned in, feeling him rock her back and forth. More tears fell and she let herself go.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

These words made her head lean up to see his sorrow-filled eyes. Who knew that demons could feel this much? Who knew they could feel so human?

"You went through this and I had no idea. Nobody does." She felt him touch her cheek. "If only I had been there, you're family…"

"Don't. There was no way for you to know. Don't feel guilty for my sake. It happened to me. There is no forgetting it."

"I will protect you. I will let something happen to you. You are mine. Forever and always."

"Forever and always," I smiled.

And he leaned down, kissing her softly on her snake-like scar starting from her right shoulder blade. He had made his way down slowly, pushing her body back onto the bed. The rain started to patter against the window. Morning light let through. The grey clouds shielding the sun from the evergreen and living below. But that didn't change Rin's spirit. Rain or shine, it no longer mattered; for today, she welcomed it with a smile, because she knew, she would be with him.

The way he kissed her scar made it feel like he was erasing the wounds it held. He filled it with love; with his soft lips on her skin. He cured her. But it still didn't erase the memories the scar hid. She would always be haunted by that night. For now, he was only medicine for her wounds. But perhaps one day, he would cure her of her illness.

Rin started to hum with the rain, closing her eyes and savouring Sesshomaru's kisses on her long scar on her back. Her face leaned from the pillow, facing the morning day in the large window. Her life had changed so much during the last few days.

She felt his soft breath on her ear. "You interest me, Rin Mori."

He kissed her behind the ear, his hands moving down her waistline. Rin gasped out feeling his lips move down her body again in a hush whisper. Her hands clenched the silk fabric as he moved over a sensitive spot on her scar only to place a gentle kiss. He flipped her over, and Rin gazed into the golden sea of his eyes. She smiled, reaching up to place her small hand on his cheek, rubbing the demonic markings of his power with her thumb. His eyes softened for her. The look of the infamous harden gaze he often portrayed has been replaced by a look only for her eyes.

He always knew how to make me smile with a simple action.

And she knew, as she let out a smile, she would be the only one who would experience this kind of love.

xXx

Rin had woken up later that afternoon to find Sesshomaru gone. She clenched the sheet to her chest as she got up, looking for a robe of some kind to protect her skin from the air. Her hands moved across the swirling patterns of smooth wooden dresser, pulling one of the drawers open to a white kimono adorned with a red cherry blossom pattern. Rin traced the fabric, taking it out of the drawer and sliding her arms through the holes, wrapping the fabric around her naked body. She took in the sense of Sesshomaru and smiled blissfully.

I was in a true fairy-tale.

But it was real, and she was finally happy for the first time in years.

She walked out of the room, hoping to hunt down Sesshomaru and see him again. She couldn't stay away from him. Not for a moment anymore.

It was love.

She raced down the stairs to the empty foyer, not knowing where to go. The mansion was a labyrinth of twists and turns that Rin wasn't used to. Her small apartment was only two rooms and a bathroom. Although- at times- her place would feel like a labyrinth, with the many power outages, and dangerous monsters that lurked in the shadows. Here though, she wouldn't have to worry about any more monsters. At least none that were visible.

She called out his name. Once. Twice. No reply. Rin was thinking about giving up and heading back to his room when she ran into something unfamiliar to her - a woman, tall, with flowing white hair in twin-tails. Her eyes were golden in colour, and she had the same stone, cold expression as Sesshomaru. She wore white fur around her body with a long purple kimono underneath. But it was her necklace that caught Rin's eyes. The rose coloured pearls circled her neck, hanging a large blackened gem on her chest. Rin got the chills looking at it.

"A human?" she spoke, her voice sophisticated-like, proper. "Must be a maid. But why are you wearing my son's kimono?"

Rin backed up, feeling the visible monsters returning, with one standing in front of her. Her brain screamed at her to run, but her legs wouldn't move.

"Answer me, girl! Why are you wearing my son's kimono!? And why do you smell like him?"

Rin froze as the woman leaned her head down close to her neck and sniffed.

"Very much like him…who are you?"

Rin's mouth opened but no words came out.

"Mother." Sesshomaru's voice echoed through the hallways. "Rin, why are you down here?"

Rin looked up to Sesshomaru's form beside her. He wore his masking stone expression and narrowed his eyes to the woman in front of her.

"I…I was looking for you," Rin said quietly.

"Sesshomaru, is this the girl you were telling me about? I never did get to meet her last night. She's so…tiny," the woman spoke with a small smile. But the smile made Rin's skin crawl. "So…fragile looking."

"Rin, why don't you go back upstairs? I'll meet you up there soon."

She nodded and started her way back up the stairs. Sesshomaru's mother had given off bad vibes. Rin suddenly felt her world starting to close in around her.

"Fragile looking."

Rin raced upstairs into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She took off Sesshomaru's kimono, placing it gently onto the counter and looking herself into the full-length mirror. His mother was right, she was fragile looking. Her pale skin hung off her body. The red scar vibrantly moved across her backside like a tattoo. She was thin. Too thin; looking like a skeleton. But those words meant more than physical appearances. Like his mother could read Rin's thoughts, she had inch her way into her mind and seen the monsters. She had hung on tightly through the rough years, but deep down beneath her skin and bones, Rin was broken. Albeit, Sesshomaru had started to mend the piece back together during the past month; but it was barely enough medicine for her. If it hadn't been for him, she would've probably been dead.

"You interest me, Rin Mori."

His words of reason echoed into her thoughts.

They always echoed into my thoughts.

Her arms wrapped around her body, eyes shut tight, as she sunk to the white tiled floor. She thought still of why she interested him. She thought still of why he touched her even though she was nothing but a glass, china doll, already broken. She thought still of his promises to her of forever.

She wondered if she had become a burden to him so suddenly.

And she wondered if this was truly, really love; or nothing but empty words of promises.

xXx

Rin had no idea how long she had been there when she heard the knock on the door. Her eyes opened and she stood up, putting Sesshomaru's kimono back on and opening the door. Her eyes locked with his, silently wondering where he'd been. But something was different about them now. They were no longer soft, but had returned to the harden stare. Still, there was a hint of something.

Worry.

Rin didn't question it. She only followed him back to the dresser where he handed her some clothes. She put them on without a word, taking the kimono off and watching him as he glanced at her thin, fragile body for a moment before looking away. Rin's heart sank, questioning what his mother had told him.

The clothes hung from her body, hiding the cracks of broken glass. Sesshomaru turned back around and kissed her forehead. Although just earlier this action would've made Rin smile, something in the soft kiss didn't feel right.

So Rin didn't smile.

Instead, she felt his warm breath on her ear and quietly say in gentle words, "I want you know my feels are true. They always have been and always will. No matter what happens, I will always been there for you. I will love you forever."

Rin's eyes widened at his spoken words.

"I promise."

Okay chapter...at least I'm back on track with this!

Btw, found a song that fits perfectly with this story. You have no idea! It's called Promises by Andain. Listen to it! It's beautiful.

Reviews are always loved ^^