AN: Thank you for your patience as I took care of a few things the last couple of weeks. Also…would you be surprised anymore if I say this isn't the end? 😆

Side Story 1: Haunted Honeymoon, Part 4

Sesshoumaru set his phone on the coffee table as Rin stirred on the bed. He watched from his spot on the sofa as she pried open her eyes. They shut again like a spring-loaded trap, and she rubbed them and her temples with a groan.

He almost felt pity for her…but after the torment she had put him through last night, he was feeling a little petty this morning.

She lifted her arms to stretch, and then her eyes shot open wide in something like a sense of wonder. She took a moment to stare up at her fingers, flexing them above her head. A small, satisfied smile slipped onto her lips.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru said, pulling her attention to him. Her grin widened further.

"Good morning, Sesshoumaru," she purred in a deep voice mired by sleep as she sat up. She was still dressed in her negligee from last night, though her naked bottom was hidden beneath the covers. She glanced down at her body, running a hand over her nylon-covered breasts and belly before looking at the other side of the bed; it didn't even have an imprint of his body upon it. She shivered and pulled the blankets over her shoulders, sending him a coquettish look. "It's cold this morning. Why don't you come over here and warm me up?"

"We need to talk."

Just like that, all pretense of flirtatiousness was gone. She turned away. "Perhaps we can talk later. My head is about to burst."

Sesshoumaru nodded towards her nightstand. "Take the water and pills there."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she did just that. "My, how thoughtful."

"Now we can talk."

The little minx rolled her eyes as she finished off the rest of the water. "Very well. About what?"

"About your little 'game' last night."

Rin frowned, sucking on her lip. "What game?"

Sesshoumaru's brows furrowed. "Do you not recall?" With how much that alcohol had affected her, it was likely, he supposed.

"Remind me."

He pulled her panties out of his pocket and held them up hooked over a finger. "You left me with these last night…and then proceeded to leave the safety of the sanctuary."

Rin smirked. "Oh, did I?"

"You promised me a chase…yet, you ran straight to Aengus."

Now his wife was biting back laughter. "Sesshoumaru…are you jealous?"

Sesshoumaru's jaw tensed. "Do you know what he made me go through last night to get you back?"

Rin took a deep breath and flopped back against the pillows. "Did I dream of a giant dog demon last night, or was that you?"

"Rin, I told you that these sídhe play dangerous games. Not only did he take you out of the sanctuary last night, but he brought you through the Otherworld. One wrong step, and you could have ended up in the land of the dead."

Rin rolled out of bed, dragging the comforter behind her like a cloak. She walked over and reached out as if to brush some hair back behind his ear. Her hand hesitated only a second before she did so, her fingers grazing his ear. Sesshoumaru repressed a shiver.

"It seems I worried you unduly. Perhaps I need to remind you that I am alive and well."

Sesshoumaru stared in confusion as she dropped the comforter, finally giving him a view of her sex through the folds of her lingerie. His eyes zeroed in on his elusive target now that it was finally within his grasp…and yet something nagged in the back of his mind.

Rin sounded…off.

She slid her hand down to his chest, letting her fingers snag on the buttons of his shirt. She plucked one open and then another. "You have too many clothes on," she whispered.

She leaned in and kissed him, but her lips were soft and tentative against his, as if unsure of how he would respond. When he did, she grew bolder, situating herself upon his legs so that her naked cunt lay against his excited cock.

Something still felt wrong, though he couldn't put a finger on it. To give himself a moment to think, he grabbed her hands and pulled away. "Wait."

"Why?" she asked. "Don't you want me?" She stuck out her chest a little.

"Of course. But we should call Kagome, before we get distracted and it becomes too late."

Rin frowned. "Why?"

Now that uneasy sense turned into an alarm bell. He reached for his phone and flicked it onto what he had been looking at before she woke up. He turned the screen around so she could see the photo there. "My father sent me these yesterday. Apparently, he took so many photos of the girls, it took ages for him to choose his favorites to send. That's why we didn't get them until late last night, well after our…adventure."

Sesshoumaru hadn't thought he would ever care for those puppy suits Izayoi made, and yet the second he opened the photo, he felt like he'd been shot in the heart with an arrow.

The girls were getting in some "tummy time," as Rin termed it. Setsuna lay on her belly with a toy in her mouth, peeking up at the camera. Towa was sprawled across her sister's back, hoisting herself up on her little arms, staring at the camera with her tiny mouth open in a surprised "o." The fluffy dog ears on their hoods stuck out from both girls' heads, and with Towa's little butt perked up in the air, she gave the appearance of wagging the fluffy tail on the suit.

Sesshoumaru expected Rin to snatch the phone right out of his hands and scream at the cuteness. He expected her to dial Kagome that moment and demand a live viewing of the girls so she could coo over them in real time.

He did not expect her to mutter, "How charming," as if she didn't mean it, and then pluck the phone out of his fingers and place it facedown on the table. "I've been waiting a long time for this, Sesshoumaru," Rin murmured, snaking her hand down to his waistband. She shyly brushed her fingers against his bulge, pulling back as if she had never manhandled him before. "They can wait just a little longer."

Now he knew something was wrong. Rin would never set aside a chance to talk to their girls—especially not in those outfits.

And then he realized what felt wrong: he couldn't feel her emotions.

He felt her—she was very much alive, as evidenced by her personage upon his lap—but the dull hum in their bond felt akin to when she was in a dreamless sleep. Recalling the past few moments, he realized he hadn't felt a single thing from her: pain from her hangover, lust from her horniness, joy from seeing her babies, or annoyance that he was keeping them from hitting the mattress.

He cupped Rin's head and stared at her. "What happened to you?"

She froze. "W-What do you mean?"

"You're not yourself."

"Who else would I be? Is it wrong of me to want my husband when it's finally just the two of us?"

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth. It wasn't—but he had never seen Rin so dead-set on having him before. Normally, he wouldn't complain, but considering where they were and the trickery that went on last night—

His eyes widened. Last night.

Of course. Aengus.

"Sesshoumaru, what is it?"

"He did bespell you."

Rin's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

Sesshoumaru grit his teeth. "Aengus. Whether he slipped a love potion in your drink or ensorcelled you while you were alone, I know he did something."

It took a few seconds before Rin laughed—low and throaty and not at all like her usual self. "Is that what you think? And why would he do that?"

"I intend to find out. Put on some clothes."

"Why does it matter if he put a love spell on me? Won't you benefit from it?" She pressed her hands to his chest as if to push him back against the couch, but for once, Sesshoumaru would not cede to her paltry, human strength.

"Because I suspect you will be receptive to anyone who has designs on you until it wears off or he gets rid of it," he replied.

Rin gasped, quiet delight dancing in her eyes. "You really are jealous! Oh, how interesting indeed."

The alarm bells had gone full klaxon in Sesshoumaru's head. This was not how Rin spoke. Would a love spell have tampered with her mind this much?

"May I shower first?" Rin asked. "Perhaps you can join me."

"Throw something on. I intend to get to the bottom of this immediately."

Rin sighed, getting off his lap and muttering, "A one-track mind, as usual," before heading to the dresser. She pulled off the lingerie top and dropped it, casting a look over her shoulder as he got a full view of her naked backside. Her breasts taunted him from their reflection in the mirror. "Are you sure? Last chance…." She ran a hand up her stomach, then tweaked a nipple.

Sesshoumaru stood, walked over to the closet, pulled out the first dress his hand touched (a high-necked, ruffled black affair), and then shoved them at her. She tsked, grabbed some underwear, and went to the bathroom. As soon as she was done, he grabbed her hand and led her out the door.

He was never one to sit around and wait. He could have called Aengus and demanded the sídhe come to the cottage, but Sesshoumaru was a predator, and it went against his nature to destroy the surprise of an attack.

Less chance his prey would flee before he could snag it in his jaws.

In the light of day, the forest seemed harmless. No sooner had he thought that than orbs of light—those pesky will o' the wisps—appeared. They blended in with the stray beams of sunlight shining through the trees, appearing like sparkling dewdrops in his vision, but he recognized them for what they were. Several of them approached, floating around his and Rin's heads.

He walked through them without care. Rin sneered and batted them away. Sesshoumaru frowned. His wife should have loved the sight of such ethereal creatures, annoying or not.

One will o' the wisp settled near his ear and whispered, "Go to the temple."

He glanced sidelong at it. "Is that where the master of this forest is?"

"Go to the mountain," another said.

"Go to the sea," a third intoned.

"Useless vermin," Sesshoumaru muttered. No doubt they were trying to trick him again, though their efforts were downright pathetic this time around.

He sniffed around, catching a fresher scent of Aengus and Caer on the path to the glen. When Sesshoumaru pulled Rin through the fairy ring and into the world of rainbows and mist, his back prickled once more with the sensation of being watched.

/Watch out./

Sesshoumaru froze, his head whipping around, looking for the voice. Once again, no one was there.

But that hadn't been Zero's voice, though it was a woman's. In fact, he didn't recognize the voice at all.

Then his foot connected with something heavy, kicking it over, and the tinkle of spilling coins pierced the air.

"Watch where you're going, you clodhoppin' fool!" a high-pitched voice squeaked. Something whacked his foot, and Sesshoumaru looked down with a growl.

A little, redheaded woman no taller than his ankle and carrying a hammer glared up at him. "I won't be bullied by the likes of you!" she cried out, gathering some coins that had fallen out of a small cauldron hidden under the bush. "You won't have me gold, ya hear?"

Sesshoumaru huffed. So this little vermin was what had been whispering warnings in his ear? His irritation took over, and he kicked the cauldron—and the rest of its contents—clear across the glen. It landed in the pool with a splash.

The leprechaun's scream of outrage joined the surprised shrieks of those in the pool.

"What in the blazes was that?" Aengus cried out.

Sesshoumaru ignored the leprechaun attacking his shoe with the hammer and strode through the mists towards the glassy pond. Just as they reached the shore, Aengus got out of the water, rivulets running down his pale, chiseled body.

"Oh my," Rin purred, staring at Aengus as if she were an art student examining the statue of David.

Sesshoumaru growled, slapping a hand over her eyes. "Aengus." His voice cut across the summery glen like a winter wind.

Aengus grinned. "Have you come to join us, friend? The more the merrier." He winked, and Caer, still in the water, splashed him from behind, although Sesshoumaru noticed she did not cover herself. The sídhe were not shy about their bodies.

"Friend? Do not use that word with me, Aengus. What have you done to Rin?" Sesshoumaru demanded as his wife brazenly parted his fingers to peer through them at their host.

Aengus frowned in confusion, and Caer rested her arms on the lip of the pool with a curious look on her face. "What are ya talkin' about, mate? I've not done a thing to her."

"She's not herself."

"How d'ya mean?"

Rin suddenly slipped out of Sesshoumaru's grasp and skipped over to Aengus, wrapping one arm around his neck and putting a hand on his pec. Sesshoumaru and Aengus froze in shock as she pulled the Irish god closer and batted her eyes at him. "You cut a very fine figure, sir." She walked her fingers down his chest until they dipped so close to his nether regions that Aengus finally stopped her hand in its tracks. Rin just chuckled. "Did you know I'm partial to redheads?" She reached up and fingered one of the man's thick curls. Aengus' eyes flicked from Rin to Sesshoumaru to his wife, as if trying to determine who was the most danger to him right then.

Sesshoumaru's heart felt as if a sword had gone through it. He knew this was only the work of the spell, and yet seeing Rin drape herself over another man like that cut him far deeper than he had believed it could.

Caer's mouth contorted, and Sesshoumaru wondered if she too was so shocked, she couldn't move to rip Rin off her husband.

Suddenly though, a laugh burst out of her. "You should see the looks on your faces," Caer giggled, pointing at Sesshoumaru and Aengus.

"Darling, I'm hurt," Aengus answered, looking sidelong at her. "Another woman is draped upon my naked person, and you're not jealous in the least?"

"Men are so oblivious," Caer sighed. "She's obviously acting."

Sesshoumaru and Aengus both looked back to Rin, who smirked. Rin lazily pulled on one of Aengus' curls, watching it spring back into place. "I wasn't lying though. I really do like red hair."

"Miss Rin, if this really is a joke, could you please let go of me before your husband decides it's no longer funny?" Aengus asked, reaching up to remove the arm from his neck.

Sesshoumaru had never thought it was funny. But Aengus was right about one thing: the longer Rin stayed wrapped around him, the more likely it was that Sesshoumaru would separate Aengus' head from his shoulders, so that Rin had nothing to wrap her arms around.

"Rin, that's enough," Sesshoumaru said. Perhaps she was acting now, but she hadn't been earlier. Something was still wrong with her. He knew it.

Rin moved aside, and Aengus breathed a sigh of relief. It was short-lived, however, because she then coiled her arms around his and laid her head on his shoulder. She cut her mate a sly look, reverting to Japanese. "How does it feel, Sesshoumaru, to watch what should be yours be with someone else?"

"What?" Sesshoumaru asked.

/Imposter,/ a male voice whispered in his ear, and he stiffened.

"M-My dear, it's getting a little cozy here. Perhaps we could discuss this with a little breathing room?" Aengus asked, trying to push away. Sesshoumaru watched in confusion as Aengus, using all his sídhe strength, could not budge from the steel cage of Rin's arms.

Rin looked up at Aengus and let his arm go. "Very well. Let's talk."

But instead of stepping away, she grabbed Aengus' head pulled their lips together. This time, even Caer screeched in indignation, and Sesshoumaru felt his heart stop.

/That's not Rin!/ two childish voices shouted at him as if he were dense.

Which he was. Because now he understood. But the realization did nothing to restart his heart.

"Zero."

Rin pulled away from Aengus with a dark smile. "It took you long enough, Sesshoumaru."

"What have you done to Rin?"

"I'm trying out her body for a little while." She twirled around as if she were trying on a dress. "But this feeling of humanity is positively revolting."

"Get. Out," Sesshoumaru growled, baring his claws.

"W-What's happening?" Caer demanded, not understanding their exchange. She got out of the water all the same. Aengus looked back and forth at the two in anxious interest.

"Careful, Sesshoumaru. You wouldn't want to damage your precious little mate, would you?" Zero asked. She stepped towards him, and his body froze, unsure of what to do. Half of him wanted to pull away, knowing an enemy stood before him. The other half saw Rin approaching and wanted to move closer to her.

As he deliberated, Zero grabbed his hand, running her thumb along his nails. "Such fragile beings, these humans." She sliced the pad of her thumb across his claw, and the tang of Rin's blood filled the air. Sesshoumaru growled and tried to pull his hand away, but Zero held it fast. She lifted up the bleeding appendage for him to see. "What do you think, Sesshoumaru? Shall I take a page from Naraku's book and make you kill your own wife?"

She jerked his claws towards her throat, and it took all of Sesshoumaru's strength to wrench his arm away and backpedal from her.

"I will never hurt her," Sesshoumaru said.

Zero raised her brows. "Then I will." And before he could stop her, she jumped up and flew into the canopy, disappearing from view.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in alarm, and he leapt forward to go after her. If she could fly, then was that just a side-effect of possession, or were some of Zero's old powers available to her in Rin's body? Either way, Rin was in mortal danger.

But as soon as he broke through the canopy, the autumn wind rolled over him uninhibited, and he lost Rin's scent. He spun in a circle, looking for any hint of her on the horizon or some disruption in the canopy of trees. Nothing.

"Sesshoumaru, what's going on?" Aengus called out from below. He ignored the sídhe.

He needed to find Rin. Every moment counted. How had Zero possessed her? When? Did it matter? She needed to be stopped.

The trees rustled as Aengus—now fully clothed but still dripping wet, his clothes sticking to him in damp spots—leapt up to the canopy and perched on the tips of the branches, defying physics. Caer followed him. "Has your wife always been able to fly, friend?"

"Of course not!" Sesshoumaru snarled, his eyes flashing red. "She's been possessed by a jealous wraith."

Caer sucked in a breath. Aengus rubbed his lips and said, "Ach, well, that explains it. She didn't seem like the kinda girl to go around kissin' blokes for the fun o' it."

Sesshoumaru was in front of him in a second, glaring at the man as he towered over him. "Wipe. It. From. Your. Mind," he bit out.

"Boys, stop it!" Caer huffed, pushing the two apart."We need to concentrate on helping Rin. But first, we have to find her."

"I've lost her scent," Sesshoumaru admitted.

"Why do men have such short memories?" Caer grumbled. "She's been possessed by a ghost who can freely move between worlds this day. You'll never find her by normal means. You'll have to—"

"Pass through the Otherworld," Sesshoumaru finished. Now he reached out his demonic senses to feel for any tears in the barrier between this world and the next. Likely, that entrance would be where Zero had gone as well.

He took off without another word when his awareness brushed against it. The weft of the portal shimmered only when he was practically upon it, and it pushed against him as he tried to enter it. Behind him, wings flapped.

Suddenly, he broke through into darkness.

At least this time he knew what to expect. It wasn't hard to focus all his thoughts on Rin—her safety was all he could think about at the moment. A pathway opened up before him, but as he passed through the exit, he felt as if he were digging through mud. The barrier was growing less permeable as the day dragged on; at any other time, that would reassure him, but right now, he needed unimpeded passage.

The barrier suddenly gave way, and he popped through the other side like a cork from a bottle of champagne. The heady scent of brine smacked him in the face, and a wave nearly knocked him out of the sky. He reacted so quickly, the water only licked the sole of his shoe as he flew up to survey the area.

An archway of rock curved overhead, the sea passing through the tunnel it created. He flew to the ceiling, sticking to the shadows in case there were humans in the area. It was still morning, after all. He peeked out from below the lip of the arch and looked up. Jagged cliffs rose above him, and a white lighthouse perched on top. Sesshoumaru flew closer, keeping against the rockface. No boats drifted for as far as he could see, and he could not scent anything but the ocean and the overwhelming stench of gulls and their droppings that littered the rocks. But in pushing out with his demonic senses, he detected only one human on the island.

Zero was here. He just hasn't found her yet.

Satisfied that there were no stray humans to see him, he soared above the lighthouse until he could look down upon the whole area. The archway was actually a towering island whose middle had been carved out by the tides. Water frothed in its dark maw as if it were the jaws of Hell. Aside from the modern lighthouse, an ancient ruin clung to the edges of the rocks, but it too was uninhabited.

Where was Zero?

He looked down at the water. The portal had opened over the waves, so could Zero have drowned Rin? Had that been her plan?

He nearly dove in to search for her when he stopped. Rin's quiet presence in their bond still reassured him that she lived. He had grown so used to it now that he sometimes forget it wasn't a natural part of himself.

Finally, he spotted his love perched on the edge of a cliff that dropped straight into the ocean. She faced the water, her black dress billowing in the breeze behind her. The sight of her like that brought to mind the image of some dark angel watching over humanity from on high.

If only her body did not house a demon.

Zero turned around, tucking back Rin's wild hair as it blew all across her face. "You finally showed up. You took so long, I was beginning to wonder if you really even loved her."

"Enough hiding, Zero. Leave her at once, or face the consequences."

Zero laughed. "And just what do you think you can do to me, Sesshoumaru? In case you've forgotten, I'm already dead." Her expression hardened, and it looked so wrong on Rin's sweet face that Sesshoumaru stiffened. "And this time…I will make sure to take your wife to the underworld with me."

"Nothing will happen to Rin as long as I am here."

"But what can you do? You don't even have Tenseiga. Not that it would work—you have already used it on her once before."

Tenseiga. He clenched his fists. The sword that could slay those of the netherworld would certainly be of use here, but what good was thinking about it when it was thousands of kilometers away?

Something pulsed within him—similar to how Bakusaiga had first called to him and yet…different. The feeling was not innate. Rather, it was like a prod at his soul.

Tenseiga?

An image of the sword vibrating as it hung on the dojo wall at Western Sanctuary popped into his head—the same image he had seen last night when traversing the path through the Otherworld.

Of course. There was a way to retrieve Tenseiga. But he would have to go back down to the portal in the archway below. Could he lead Zero that way? How? He needed to stall while he thought up a way.

"What is it that you want, Zero?"

Zero cocked Rin's head to the side. "Have I not made myself clear, Sesshoumaru? I want to see you suffer. I want your human bitch to die."

"But that's not all you wanted, was it?" Sesshoumaru asked, stepping closer. Luckily, he appeared to have caught Zero's attention, because she did not back Rin up any further towards the cliff's edge. "What was it you told me last night? 'One way or another, I will be your wife.'"

Zero laughed and gestured to herself. "And so I am!"

"Earlier, you were intent on seducing me. Had I not been preoccupied with Aengus, you might have succeeded." It galled him to admit it, but the fact that he would even say such words appeared to root her in place.

Even so, a slight grimace wrinkled Zero's lips. "Yes, well…I can't say I've had much practice acting as a human slut."

Sesshoumaru's fingers twitched with the urge to maul her for that insult, but of course, Zero wore Rin's face, and he could never hurt Rin. He pushed his anger down, knowing it would not get him the results he desired. But to get those results…he was going to have to act. And he was a terrible actor.

He finally stood right in front of her and reached out, pushing some of Rin's wispy hair behind her ear. Zero sucked in a breath. "Do you hate me or want me, Zero?"

Her expression wavered. Sesshoumaru repressed a smirk. Aengus and Caer were right—a ghost's primary motivation was its grudge. So to keep Zero from harming Rin, he had to focus her attention on another aspect of her grudge: him. "C-can't it be both?" Zero murmured.

"Do you still pine for my father?"

Zero tensed. "Touga made his feelings clear; I reconciled myself to them before I died. What I do regret….is not having what was mine."

"Me."

"Yes."

An opening.

Sesshoumaru cupped her head and kissed her. Zero froze—a horrible reminder that the soul in his wife's body was not her own—but he continued to kiss her, using the familiar feeling of her lips to keep up his act. Soon enough, Zero relaxed, and she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, pulling him in closer. She even kissed him back.

How far would he have to go to fulfill her grudge? It made him sick to think he might have to go all the way; he wasn't sure he could reconcile the fact that while Rin's body might be beneath his, her soul wasn't in it.

He pulled away to give Rin's body some air, but Zero just clutched tighter to him. "I know what you're doing," she hissed.

"Hm?"

"You think this will be enough to appease me?"

He was afraid of that. "What must I do to make you leave her alone?"

Zero looked up at him, her hand snaking up his back to grip some of his long hair like a leash. She smirked.

"You must die."

Then she jerked them both backwards off the cliff.

It was not a straight plunge into the water. The rigid edges of rock below rushed closer, and Sesshoumaru tried to use his powers of flight to shove them off course and reverse their descent, but something besides gravity was fighting him.

Zero. She's flying us headlong into the rocks. Even if he survived, Rin would surely die.

Suddenly, something slammed into him with a pained honk, and as he and Zero spun away, a flash of white tumbled out of his vision. A swan?

He released the thought and concentrated on trying to pull up. Even though they were heading for the waves now, from this height and in this position, Rin's whole body was liable to break upon impact with the waves. With seconds to spare, Sesshoumaru stopped fighting Zero and instead wrapped his arms and fur around Rin's head and body, twisting in the air to make sure he was beneath her and hit the water first.

The frigid sea slammed into him like a bed of concrete, and had Sesshoumaru not been a demon, his bones might have shattered. As it was, his body spasmed, stunned from the impact. The saltwater burned his eyes and blurred his vision.

It took a few precious seconds for him to realize that Zero was still clutching him. She hadn't let go. Rin was alive.

He tried to move his body and swim towards the surface, but it protested, still smarting. Meanwhile, Zero tugged at him, and as the pressure on his body increased, he realized she was trying to swim lower.

Move, he commanded himself. His legs finally started kicking, and their struggle in the water kept them suspended. Slowly though, they started rising—but Rin's grip was loosening.

No! She couldn't drown—not when he was right there to help her. He struggled to get a proper grip on her and pull her up. Feebly, she fought back. When he grabbed her arm, he found it covered in goosebumps.

If she doesn't drown, she'll freeze.

Suddenly, Rin's emotions came flooding through their link—surprise, fear, pain. They bombarded him, and he froze in shock.

/Rot in Hell, Sesshoumaru,/ Zero hissed.

She was escaping and he couldn't follow. But Rin was more important. He had to get her to the surface. He couldn't lose her.

A dark shape darted around the edge of his vision. What was it—a dolphin? A shark?

The dark mass swam right between the two of them, hooking itself through their arms like a collar and shooting to the surface. Soft fur rubbed against Sesshoumaru's hands. When his head broke through the waves, he sucked down a lungful of air and brushed the water from his eyes. Now he had a clear view of Rin. Without his grip on her, she started slipping off the creature—the seal's—back. Two swans dropped onto the waves, plunging their heads into the water and pulling at her clothes with their beaks to situate her back on the seal.

/Sesshoumaru!/

Sesshoumaru whipped around upon hearing the voices of the two children again. But he couldn't see anyone else on the rocks or waves.

/What is this?/ Zero cried. /Who are you? Let go of me!/

/Hurry!/ a male voice—different from the one who spoke to him in the glade—added. /We can't hold her for long!/

/Call the Tenseiga!/ a woman's voice—the one he had mistaken for the leprechaun—pleaded.

Who were these ghosts helping him? It didn't matter—he would take what help he could get. But Rin—

He met one of the swan's eyes—Aengus, he was sure—and the bird made a sound and flapped its wing in a direction as if telling him to go.

He would have to trust that these sídhe would save his mate. He flew out of the water, its weight slowing him as he soared towards the entrance to the portal that loomed over them. That familiar vibration in the air told him he had reached the entrance.

Sesshoumaru held out his hand. "Tenseiga, come to me!"

/Fool! You are not that sword's master. It will not heed you!/ Zero cried out.

A pulse resounded in Sesshoumaru's body, and he concentrated hard upon that connection, tugging it like a rope. Come. Come to your master.

It could have been a glint of the seas, but Sesshoumaru swore he saw a blue glow through the ocean mist. He reached through, his hand struggling against the barrier of the portal.

And then he grasped a hilt.

It took more strength than he expected to pull it through the gateway; the sword felt tethered to the other side, and his bruised body protested. But he didn't give up, and Tenseiga materialized centimeter by centimeter in his hand.

/Impossible!/ Zero shrieked.

Sesshoumaru smirked, feeling the cold, steel grip warm in his palm. The sword swung like a divining rod, and Sesshoumaru spun around until the blade was pointing straight at Zero. Finally, he could see her—as well as the spirits holding her back. Five of them—two men, a woman, and two boys, all human—gripped Zero's limbs and body with all their unearthly might.

/You will not harm her ever again!/ one of them men shouted at Zero. His '90's length hair stuck out from his head in familiar kinks, and Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in realization.

Rin's father.

Then the others….

A look at their struggling faces showed there was no time for that insight now. It appeared that even ghosts had hierarchies of power.

"Now you are truly finished, Zero," Sesshoumaru declared. He swung Tenseiga at Zero's exposed neck, making sure not to hit the other ghosts. She cried out—in horror or rapture, he couldn't quite tell—as her form dissolved into beads of light.

His five unexpected helpers straightened and turned to face him. The lone woman smiled, and the tilt of her brown eyes were Rin's.

/Thank you, son./

The other man gestured to the portal. There was a softness to his face that he recognized in Souta and Kagome. /Go on. They took her back to the sanctuary./

Sesshoumaru turned to go and then paused. He glanced back. "Thank you."

/You're welcome, bro!/ the twin boys called out, straightening with youthful pride and grinning with Rin's smile.

Sesshoumaru inclined his head to his deceased in-laws and then sped into the portal. His thoughts of Rin led him back to the sanctuary, and when he emerged in the forest, the wet, salty scent of her, Roan, Aengus, and Caer led him back to their cottage. Aengus stood sentry outside, drying off with one of their towels.

"Well, that'll be a Samhain to remember for sure," Aengus remarked when Sesshoumaru landed.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's awake, but the cold's made her sleepy. Caer and Roan are giving her a bath and making her some tea to keep her awake while she warms up. They'll make sure she's fine."

Aengus' words matched the feelings coming through Sesshoumaru's bond with Rin—those of tiredness, relief and just an undercurrent of worry.

Aengus then offered Sesshoumaru a dry towel hanging on the back of a patio chair. He took it in silence and paused, knowing he should thank their host for his help…but he was still irritated about the previous night.

Suddenly Aengus blurted out, "I'm sorry, mate."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For?"

Aengus scratched the back of his head, his sagging curls now a dark russet. "I may have been heeding your wife's plans last night, but I shoulda been smarter goin' about it. It's likely my fault your little lady was possessed. I brought her outside the barrier of the sanctuary, and I'm bettin' when she fell asleep—and after one too many drinks at that—her mental defenses were lowered enough to allow that lowlife of a ghost to possess her. …Did you take care of it?" Sesshoumaru nodded. Aengus exhaled a breath. "Good. That's somethin', at least. And as a token of my apology, allow me to refund half of your stay here." He held out his hand.

Sesshoumaru stared hard at the appendage for a moment before finally taking Aengus' hand and shaking it. "Do not think you can buy my forgiveness for last night." He let go and went to open the door but paused. His conscience nagged at him, so he bit out the words, "But I will not forget what you did for Rin tonight." Then he pushed his way into the cottage.

Aengus chuckled behind him as the door closed. "Words of gratitude from the great Sesshoumaru. What other wonders will this day bring?"

AN: I know I promised this would be the end; however, not only was proofreading taking longer than expected, but this felt like a good place to break off the original chapter between the climax and resolution. A classic five-act story! Anyway, never fear, because the end is already written (just not proofread), so…I'll finish this spooky story in the proper spirit and post the final update on Halloween. It's a promise! Until then!

PS: The island where Sesshoumaru and Zero have their final standoff is Bull Rock. I read somewhere that its opening is known as the Gates to the Underworld, so I couldn't resist using it as a portal for that reason. Look it up - it's pretty cool!