%! FlashbacK !%

I took both swords and laid them before her on the table. Jaken just gawked at them wordlessly. Rin was almost fourteen now, and had mastered one weapon in particular: a sword. I was being asked to come to a nearby town in my lands because of a pesky youkai. I wanted to leave Rin with more protection than just Jaken.

"Rin, I am only going to be gone for a day at most, but Jaken hasn't been so reliable to leave you with since you were six. In any case, use these if you get into trouble. Not Tensaiga, that heals and resurrects, and it doesn't fight." I explained.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin said.

It was sheer luck that I managed to get that annoying talking habit out of her. She had learned to stop talking about herself in third person. Without warning, or before I even managed to see her (which was secretly a pride to see) she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. Jaken, sickened I would lower myself so, walked out of the room and I hugged her back. I would deal with Jaken later.

"Are you sure I can use those swords?" Rin asked into my shirt.

"Yes, Rin. Goodbye." I said, and let go.

"Bye, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She called to me as I walked out.

And that was the last time I'd ever heard Rin. The next day I was captured somehow miraculously, by that dead miko who has tried to kill Inuyasha on more than one occasion.

%! End of FlashbacK !%

~Inuyasha's POV~

And I felt it again. It was softer, her presence calling out to me. And I felt another one. Two. Kagome! I felt their presence. Suddenly, I caught the glimpse of more soul-catchers.

"Sesshoumaru!" I yelled from behind Rin on Kirara. It was a disgrace to me that I should ride her, but unfortunately, Sesshoumaru wanted to get to Kaede's faster.

"What?" He asked.

"Kikyou's soul-catchers! And Kagome is here!" I called.

He flew closer to Kirara. "Who is Kagome?"

"The girl who used to travel with me. The one who wore the funny looking kimonos." I said.

Sesshoumaru flew a little farther and faster than before. I suppose that's his way of letting me know he knows.

"Feh." I said.

Rin looked behind her, "What is it, Inuyasha?"

"Him." I said and jerked my head in Sesshoumaru's direction.

Rin looked. "What about?"

"He's just a bonehead, ok?" I nearly yelled. I'm sure he heard me, but he didn't do anything. Good thing too, I didn't have Tetsusaiga to use.

However Rin DID do something. She knocked me off Kirara, smacking me upside the head.

"Ouch, BITCH!" I yelled. She was like Kagome.

"Rin." Sesshoumaru said warningly.

"Gomen, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin said, "Let's get Inuyasha, Kirara."

~Sesshoumaru's POV~

It had been so long, and yet, she still obeyed me without thought. What did I do that made her adore me so? Saving her life was nothing. That was also just a mere test. I would admit to no one that Rin was the closest thing I'd probably ever come to have a daughter. Unless, of course, I was forced. Then I thought of my land. Who had control of it now? I flew closer to Rin after she got back into the air with a disgruntled Inuyasha.

"Rin," I said.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" She replied.

"Do you know who has control of my lands?" I asked.

"Hai. Shippou the kit- I mean, the youkai." She said.

"A kitsune has my land?" I asked. I looked toward Inuyasha.

It would, after all, have fallen to Inuyasha to control the lands of our father, and if he'd taken off to search for Kikyou, then he must have given the land to this Shippou.

"Inuyasha. Who is this Shippou?" I inquired.

"The kitsune who helped Rin break the Shikon no Tama. I suppose he'd be a youkai now." Inuyasha replied.

I suppose it's a good thing that Inuyasha put up less fight that before. That and that he didn't have Tetsusaiga. I was not ready for a fight just yet.

"We need to hurry to the village, Kikyou's plans must be in effect now." I said.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin said. What did I do to earn her affection like this?!

~Shippou's POV~

Rin was gone. I had chased off Rin. How horrible could I be? Gods, I'm turning into Sesshoumaru! I walked back to the hut, the wound in my heart more pronounced than ever. I walked in, and sat down in Inuyasha's spot.

"Where is Rin?" Miroku asked.

"She left." I said blandly.

"Left? Why?" Miroku was inquiring me because we needed her. It was my fault now.

It was my fault Kagome is gone, that I didn't know where Inuyasha was; it's my fault that we're one shard down that we were before. Kagome might as well have been saying it was my fault instead of Inuyasha's.

"Because. I yelled at her for not helping me get Kagome. All I managed to get from Kagome was her shard." I said holding up the big shard that was Kagome's.

"Then I take it Kikyou still has Kagome." Miroku said calmly.

He was being such an ass. There was no way anyone could mistake it otherwise.

"Of course she still has Kagome! Haven't you been listening to me at all Miroku?!" I yelled.

"Peace, Shippou. I must confirm everything I hear." Miroku said.

"How could you be so calm? You said that Kikyou was likely to kill Kagome after taking her shard! Kagome doesn't have a shard now to take! I have it! And now Kikyou's going to kill her!" I yelled, springing up.

"Shippou now is not the time to blame, or suspect. I made a theory, and that is all it was. If Kikyou wanted to kill Kagome, I'm sure she wouldn't have been modest and done it away from you!" Miroku said, his calm ebbing away in spite of himself, "She would have done it right in front of you. But she didn't, did she? So she needs Kagome for something."

I calmed myself and sat back down. But before I could actually calm down, someone said, "Hey, you're in my spot."

I jumped to my feet; hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga, all prepared for a fight at the familiar voice. And then I froze. It was Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" I exclaimed.

I heard from behind me Miroku get up, and Sango, despite the fact she had tried to make us believe she was asleep. Inuyasha looked the same as he always had. Two others came in behind him. Inuyasha's brother Sesshoumaru, and. Rin!

"Rin!" I said.

"Shippou." She said calmly. Her eyes were cold. I didn't understand.

"Where are the others?" Inuyasha asked, "Or do I have to drag Kagome into our time kicking and screaming?"

I would have laughed, but instead I said calmly, "Kagome has been kidnapped by Kikyou. I tried to reach her, but all I could get was her shard."

I stole a glance at Rin, who by my statement, was staring at Sesshoumaru. I felt a bitter jealousy coming from nowhere. And Sesshoumaru. what was his story?

"I think we should stop going over pettiness, and piece together information on the dead miko's plan." Sesshoumaru spoke.

"Yes, we need to do that." I complied and sat down where Kagome used to sit. It was a little crowded, but we managed.

Sesshoumaru stood against the door, and Rin sat down somewhat beside him. I felt a growl crescendo in my stomach, but then realized I had no right, and listened as Sesshoumaru explained what he needed to.

"I was captured somehow by Kikyou, just after I left Rin. It was by all means, an accident. She was foolish and cocky enough to explain to me her plan after paralyzing me in the tomb." Sesshoumaru said in his usual monotone, "Kikyou claimed that she would capture all of us and take our shards. She didn't take mine, but said that she would come back for it, and my death."

"Then why did she wait so long to capture me?" Sango interjected.

Sesshoumaru looked like he wanted to punch her for interrupting, but said, "Kikyou believed that if she captured you all too soon, then there wouldn't be time enough in between Naraku's damnation and her gathering the Shikon, so that you would all leave and split up. She waited deliberately until all of us were fair enough apart. But she did notice I had no intention of leaving Rin, or giving Rin her Shikon shard."

"So you did mean to come back." Rin said so quietly that I'm sure you needed youkai hearing to hear her. But I'm sure Inuyasha heard it too.

"However if Rin had died because you didn't give her her shard, then what would we have done?" Miroku interrupted the silence.

"There is no time, monk, to branch out the "what-if" scenarios of this ordeal. The point is I gave it to her. Kikyou hadn't counted on it, because she wanted to take the extra shard and come back to kill me and not have to deal with Rin."

"Then she captured me first because I was injured in a battle the day before." Sango said quietly.

"That was her aim." Sesshoumaru said.

"I don't think that Kikyou counted on Shippou and Rin getting alerted by anything." Inuyasha said in his spot.

"Actually, she did." I said, "She summoned Rin and me to her village to slay a Bird of Paradise. I didn't even remember Rin until after she was knocked unconscious by the youkai."

I noticed Sesshoumaru tense again, but then he relaxed. Rin said nothing beside him.

~Miroku's POV~

It was all coming together. But Kagome was gone, so we could not account for how and why she came here.

"Why didn't she take your shards when she summoned you?" Inuyasha asked Shippou.

"Because now I'm powerful enough to take her on, as well as Rin. She didn't count on anything like that. And when we were there, I noticed Sango's scent, but it had been so long I couldn't be sure." Shippou replied.

Silence filled the hut as we absorbed everything we'd learned. Then I spoke.

"It's clear what her plans are. And how she attempted to complete them. There's just. something."

"Miroku, what are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked.

"We feel like something's missing. Something important to account for." Sango spoke up.

"You mean apart from Kagome's part of the story? As to why she didn't come back, even for a visit all these years?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha, use your common sense. It's only been what? Ten, eleven years?" Sesshoumaru said.

"That doesn't mean she had to stay away the entire time!" Inuyasha barked at him, "She could have at least pretended to care about what happened to us!"

Inuyasha got up without another word, and stormed outside. Sesshoumaru looked quite unaffected, and Rin was a little stunned.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said quietly.

Of course I could not deny myself that we all felt a pang of hurt that Kagome hadn't bothered to see if we were alright, and dropped in for a visit time to time, but none of us bothered to check on her either. I guess it was just fair that way. Inuyasha obviously felt it more than we did.

~Inuyasha's POV~

How dare he. He had no idea what it was like. He left Rin, not the other way around like Kagome. I didn't want to leave. Did she? Did she hate my intention of getting Kikyou to die so much that she would leave forever and leave us behind? No one deserved this. It was too much. And for Sesshoumaru to prance around saying things like that when he didn't even know anything about love or happiness. What an ass.

~No POV~

Kikyou sat calmly in a low tree, Kagome sprawled on the ground in front of it. "You don't have what I want, obviously, but you'll still have your uses. Your powers proved to peak Naraku's interest." She said.

Kagome didn't move.

"Maybe I should lift the spell and just leave you? No. Naraku has his reasons." Kikyou said, and laughed harshly, "But then again, I do hope he lets me kill you. You are nothing but a copy. a replica, if you will. If I don't get to kill you, I hope he does."

Kikyou seemed unresolved as she watched her reincarnation with a look that was undistinguishable.

~Rin's POV~

Everyone else was in his or her own little world, all pretending to be asleep. Except for Sesshoumaru. He had long since sat down beside me, letting me lean against him like I used to, but he didn't try to sleep. Inuyasha hadn't come back yet; I didn't think he would.
I walked outside, and I half expected Sesshoumaru to stop me, that look on his face like he used to when I was little. So much had changed. I'm not sure I even like what I've come to find after Naraku's demise. I shuddered angrily. This was his entire fault exactly like Kagome had said it was. I ran to the lake where I found I could be comfortable always.

~Shippou's POV~

Rin walked outside, oblivious it seemed, of anyone else. Then again, we were oblivious of her. I followed her. I thought someone might stop me, but no one did. I knew where she was going- the lake. Some reason or other she always went to the lake. Why did she find it so relaxing? Did I have place like that somewhere? Or was this that place?
I found the lake again, gods it's been so long, and saw her swimming in it. I had the grace to blush and turned away, but she noticed me.

"Shippou?!" She asked, a little alarmed I'd be that way.

"Rin, hi. I didn't mean to.uh. I mean, didn't mean to come. up on you like this.." I stuttered.

"Just go behind the tree and hide your eyes." She instructed. I did as told.

I heard her get up from the water, but didn't look around. When she called out it was all right, I came back around to find her fully dressed again and sitting on a rock by the bank.

"Sorry to interrupt your bath again." I said.

"Again?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Uh. That's not what I meant. Ugh!" I said frustrated. Why is she putting me through this?

"Relax, Shippou, I know what you meant." She laughed. Actually laughed.

For a moment I was in perfect harmony. Just that one moment she laughed everything aligned itself in endless bliss stretching eternity to infinity and over again. It was melodious, and beautiful, graceful, everything she was and more. When I came out of my fantasyland, she was waving a hand in front of my face.

"Shippou? Hello?" Rin said.

"Huh? Sorry." I said again, and she laughed again. Oops! Don't go there, nope no! Ugh. Fantasy. I managed to knock myself out of it.

"Rin are you happy now?" I asked quietly. She was surprised. I was too. I hadn't even been intending to ask her that.

"I guess. It's not like it used to be though." Rin said.

"Same with my group. That and Kagome's gone."

"Shippou, I'm really, really sorry about that. I honestly didn't -" I cut her off.

"It's alright Rin, I had no right to talk to you like that, to berate you for something so indifferent than everything else." I said.

"Your forgiveness," Rin sighed, "I do not deserve it. Stupidity on my part caused you to lose something dear to you. I would feel the same if I lost Sesshoumaru again somehow."

"You won't though. Not now Rin. We have more chance than we did before. Kagome as far as I know is still good with arrows, Inuyasha has his stuff, as does Sesshoumaru, Miroku will have the wind tunnel, and his own staff and magic, Sango has her boomerang, there's us, and Kirara." I said, "I think we're good."

She hung her head silently for a few moments. When she looked up at me again, her eyes were shining, "I just. I don't know what to expect. I've never fought Naraku and neither have you. I don't doubt we have strong chance to win, but Shippou, does chance have a place in the game of fate?"

She was very, very close to me now.my breath caught in my throat and I struggled to get my words out, "Yes. Yes it does."

I put a hands around her waist, and put her own around my neck, as I drew her in so painfully slow. encasing her, wishing for the inevitable.