It's over. Those two words echoed in Sesshoumaru's mind as he turned and left to two girls sitting in the clearing.

They could never be together now-when Rin looked at him, there was so much hurt, confusion, and something else. Something that both unsettled and intrigued him. Her eyes were no longer innocent-they seemed to see right through him. Her eyes no longer feared him.

And he had been the one to hurt her-all those times, pushing her away, because he couldn't stand the thought of her being his, yet, at the same time, it was the only thing he wanted.

When she'd left before, he'd felt only relief- she was over and done with, and never would her presence torment him again.

But now, it felt like he'd left something very important behind, like Toukajin. The second that thought materialized in his head, he remembered Rin screaming "I don't belong to either of you! You don't care about anything besides your stupid pride!"

Alright, then, Rin was more than just a possession. Much more. There was no way of caging her soul down-he could see that now. Even if she wanted to come with again, which she wouldn't, it wouldn't be like before. How would he treat her then, as a mate? As an adult?

Letting out a little growl, he mentally spat on the thought. Weakling, he chided himself. You're letting this weakness get in the way. It felt like at this very instant he'd reached a double-sided path. He could simply allow himself to forget everything of Rin and live his life exactly as before her. But for some reason going back to that did not seem possible.

So there was the other option, going back, talking to her, and trying to convince her that he wasn't as terrible as she thought. Even though he was. But this-this seemed threatening. Facing Rin would be tougher than the fiercest opponent.

But Sesshoumaru was not the type to take the initiative. He didn't care about anything, for the most part. He tried hard to tell himself he did not care about this, either.

"Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru!" Rin wished at that moment to have an acute sense of smell like he did. And if she did…well, then she would be a youkai, too.

Every tree she passed seemed to mock her with its silence. The trees knew where he had gone, yet she struggled to follow his path.

Rin was absolutely terrified. Visibly shaking, in fact. Once she found him, that would be The End. The last time she would ever, ever talk to him. And she would be the one to end it all.

Abruptly she saw him. His back was facing towards her, and he was standing at the edge of the forest, staring out into space. Alone.

"Sesshoumaru."

He had known she was coming-these dog youkai senses weren't just good for fighting. Slowly, he turned and faced her.

She was tiny, he realized for the first time. Her head only came up to his chest, so she was standing only feet away from him, head craned upwards.

Looking at Sesshoumaru, Rin saw something that amazed her. His metallically gleaming eyes were now softened, and the ever-present fierce expression was gone. This new revelation threw her courage off balance, and for the first time, she faltered under his expectant stare.

"Sess….Sesshoumaru…" Anger rushed in at the weak sound of her voice. Clearing her throat, she started over. "There's something I'd like to tell you before I leave for good, Sesshoumaru. I know probably regret ever bringing me back to life, but…I'm grateful."

No response. He simply continued to stare at her, his eyes seemingly piercing through her. She didn't know if he understood what she was saying or not; had Sesshoumaru ever felt alone, grateful, or afraid? But she still pushed ahead anyways, telling herself that she wouldn't back away.

"Thank you for raising me and always protecting me. I'm grown up now, so I suppose I don't really need it anymore." Even as the words came out, she realized she did still need it- not physical protection, maybe, but her spirit was still tender from this fresh wound, and she was sure it would leave a scar forever.

But she did not, would not, cry. There was no way she would ever let Sesshoumaru see just how much he'd hurt her.

"Good bye," Rin said softly, and stole one long, painful glance at him. When she turned around, her new life would begin. When she turned around, she would erase every memory of Sesshoumaru from her brain and block out the pain. A new page would turn, a sequel would begin. And maybe, just maybe, it would end happily ever after.

Sesshoumaru stood and watched her walk away. It was incredibly ironic-the girl seemed to want to walk more slowly just so she could torment him, maybe draw out some guilt. He could easily catch up to her, and even as her figure became a speck in the distance, she was still within reach.

But he simply stood there, listening to the silence of his heart. All throughout Rin's little speech, that small, annoying feeling that he'd managed to eradicate up till now had returned. The desire to just silence her trembling mouth with a kiss was almost uncontrollable. But he'd clenched his body up and forced it to appear relaxed.

Now she was gone.

It is for the best, he told himself, nodding. We each go our different ways and never have to worry about integrating our ways. Human and youkai were never meant to be together, and that was just the way it was. The painful struggle to uphold their ideals and at the same time keep their love for one another was over.

Love.

There was no other explanation for it. Sesshoumaru had quickly come to think of it as "that annoying feeling," but he supposed that was what humans referred to as "love."

So yes, he finally admitted it, though to no one other than himself.

He was in love with Rin.

That wildly irritating feeling of something that was out of his control failed to anger him now. Instead, he just felt dead.

Sesshoumaru didn't know how long he stood there, just staring at the spot where Rin had disappeared over the horizon. Finally, as the sky began to show signs of dawn, he turned and began to walk away.

Though slowly, ever so slowly.

These old ways, the ones he'd kept alive for hundreds of years, suddenly seemed so bleak and pointless. There would be battles, and there would be Jaken following him around. But never Rin.

Instead, she would leave him behind the legacy her memory.

Sesshoumaru barely ever slept, but at times life became tiresome and he laid down to take a nap. On those rare occasions, he'd dreamt about Rin. Sometimes, she was wrapping her tiny human arms around his chest and hugging him. But other times, she just stood there, looking at him, with tiny fangs, golden eyes, and youkai markings on her face.

It was something that would never happen. Rin's human form would stay forever, and she would die before he knew it. In his mind, Sesshoumaru could keep her alive always.

His mind still fought wildly against his common sense. Maybe, it protested, there's a way for Rin to become a youkai. But that was stupid, too, because it could never happen.

Sesshoumaru stopped walking. Move, damn it! His mind screamed at him, but his legs remained rooted to the ground. He couldn't go any farther. Walking away would mean giving it all up. And at that moment, Sesshoumaru realized-he'd rather hold her for a short lifetime rather then spend an eternity wondering what it would have ever been like without her. Was he a coward, then? One who would walk away from something that he feared?

"I do not fear Rin," he out loud. But yet, something held him back with invisible arms. He was afraid, though, but afraid of what she could do to him, how she could weaken him. It's too late, he thought, she's already done her damage.

Fighting fearsome youkai was not courage. It was simply habit. This-something new, something different, and it would take courage, if he could find it. Cowardice angered him, always had, always would. Rin was not a coward-she was a strong woman, an adult, one who was worthy of his love. And now, love was not their weakness, but their strength.

And with that thought, Sesshoumaru began to run.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, hearing the forest throw her voice back at her. Gods, where in the world was he? Sesshoumaru had been with him just a moment ago, but now where was he?  He could be miles away by now.

Kagome's legs were still a little shaky-after all, she hadn't walked on them in months. The thought that she'd been dead still brought a little shiver up her spine, but she tried not to think about it.

Find Inuyasha, she thought, find him.

"Kagome!!"

She stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around. There he was, long silver hair, hidden partially by underbrush.

"Inuyasha!" She screamed joyously, spotting him, and began to shove aside bushes and plants hurriedly.

When she finally reached him, she stopped walking. So did he.

For a moment they just stared at one another, and then suddenly Inuyasha rushed foreword and seized her into his arms.

Kagome could barely breathe from joy and the fact that his arms were so tight around her. But it didn't matter-she'd gladly give up breathing for this.

Inuyasha released her, then, and his face split into a very un-Inuyasha-like grin. "Come on lady, must you cause so much trouble?"

"Me?? Cause trouble? You were the one who was following Rin around like a sick puppy dog because you thought she was me."

"N…nani?"

"you don't remember?" Inuyasha only shook his head.

 "I was battling Sesshoumaru…that's the last thing I remember."

"I was killed," she said softly, "I guess you must have laid me down to rest in this forest, because I was still there when Rin and Sesshoumaru found me."

Inuyasha just stared at her, his eyes wide and disbelieving at her story. Then suddenly images filtered in slowly to go along with her narration, blurry at first and then sharpening a bit.

 "I laid you there to rest, yes," he said, nodding, remembering, "In a peaceful place. I was going to bury you the next day, but I couldn't bring myself to do it right then…"

"Then why was I not…um…decayed?" Kagome asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. 

"The Shikon no Tama. Kik…." He stopped, but her eyes urged him to keep talking, "Kikyou told me once that it keeps its bearer's body alive for a long time."

Kagome smiled and gave him another quick hug. "I'm glad you think I'm so beautiful," she said teasingly.

When she pulled away, Inuyasha was blushing, which Kagome found adorable. But she didn't comment on it, because she wanted to hear the rest of what had happened.

"And then…?"

Inuyasha frowned, managing to push aside his joy at seeing Kagome to remember. "I remember it like a dream…you know, how you remember a few things, and some parts are really clear, right? And you know certain things happen, but you're not sure what exactly."

"I didn't know you had dreams," Kagome interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, I do. But anyways. I remember like you came…and you brought me a cup full of water. And then I made a wish. That's the one part I remember really well."

"Yeah? What'd you wish for?" Kagome now leaned foreword, interested, her eyes wide and fascinated.

"I wished for you to stay with me forever," he mumbled, the blush returning.

Kagome was touched. "Awww, Inuyasha," she said, her cheeks turning slightly pink as well.

This was Inuyasha's cue now to hug or kiss her, but he didn't. Instead, he stood there like the lout that he was and said, "Shut up."

"So do you want me to use the O-word?"

"No, no, no! Not before I finish!" he said angrily. "So I wished for you, and I got you, and then…it was like…we went back to the house, or something, and then…we lived there for a while. Then I had to rescue you from something…and then I was fighting with Sesshoumaru over something."

"Over Rin," Kagome guessed.

"Nani?"

"Rin was the one who brought you the grail, Inuyasha. All that time that you can't remember you must have been under that spell. You must have thought she was me."

Inuyasha was aware then of feeling extremely stupid. "Well why now then? Why was the spell broken? Why am I still not with her?"

Kagome shrugged, but began talking. "This is only a guess, though…so I might be wrong…but maybe it was because I came back to life? Or maybe Rin confessed her love to Sesshoumaru? Or…just that she overcame it herself?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "All I remember was it was like waking up only standing up. I suddenly had no idea where the hell I was and why I was here."

"Wow, that must have felt strange," Kagome commented. They were walking now, on their way back to their house.

Inuyasha casually slipped his hand into hers, trying to seem cool and nonchalant but failing miserably.

"Kagome, I have something to ask you."

She stopped walking, causing him to stop. "what is it?" She asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

Inuyasha whipped out the box again and got down on one knee, and in that instant Kagome knew what he was going to say.

"Kagome, will you marry me? And this is the second damn time I've had to ask you so you'd better say yes!"

"Yes!" She screamed, ignoring the little box and flinging her arms around his neck.

Rin could not walk any more. As dawn broke over the horizon, she felt her legs giving out. She felt like a wet rag that had been squeezed dry. She found herself unable to cry, even unable to feel anything. It was as if all her emotions had been exhausted in one night.

So she collapsed down on the forest floor, not caring whether it was dirty or safe or cold or wet. She wouldn't feel it anyways.

But even though her eyes were shutting by themselves, all she could see were images from that morning playing over and over in her head like some twisted play.

Even saying Sesshoumaru's name brought this hot, searing pain to her chest. She couldn't. Would she ever be able to feel happiness again?

The sounds of the night faded away as the first birds started singing. They were morning doves, low and mournful, sounding like they were crying.

Abruptly they all stopped and she distinctly heard the fluttering of wings. Rin's eyes flew open and she scanned the dimly lit area for any signs of a predator…a wolf…or a bear, maybe?

Or…a dog?

Her mouth dropped open as a million emotions rushed in and mingled yet again. Sesshoumaru?

His hair looked messy and windblown, and there was a stain on one of the legs of his pants. This was the most disheveled Sesshoumaru ever allowed himself to look, but he did not care.  Rin felt worse, but to Sesshoumaru she looked more beautiful than ever.

Sensing the wild questioning in Rin's eyes, then, he strode up to her and stopped little more than a foot away. For a long time, neither of them said anything.

Rin was suddenly aware of everything around her-the morning doves had returned, cooing their sad song again. The sky was gray with dawn, and a light, misty rain had begun to fall. Everything except Sesshoumaru. She did not look at him, did not let their eyes meet. 

"I believe that we have both made a mistake, Rin," he said finally.

Her eyes, which she didn't think could get any wider, suddenly got wider. "What…what do you mean?"

"Tell me honestly. Do you really want to leave?"

This couldn't this can't be happening, she thought frantically. I just told him that I was going. What is he doing here?

But only one syllable slipped out. The one syllable that she tried so desperately to keep inside.

"No."

And then her eyes were burning again, filling when she thought they could no longer. Only one tear slipped out, slowly traveling down her cheek, seeming to leave a burning trail of misery in its wake.

She was supposed to be an adult now…she was her own…not his, never his again.

"No," she said again, shaking her head. "I can't. We can't. Sesshoumaru, we can't go back to the way it was before. I'm an adult, now, and human. I'm seeing the world with my adult eyes."

"I know that," he said slowly, almost sorrowfully, thought Rin.

"I do not…I do not want you to leave. I want you by my side. Not as a child. As a mate." he said, his voice rising in something that sounded like desperation.

Rin, through her tears, saw him looking at her with those soft eyes again. This youkai lord, he's asking for you, called out a voice inside dimly. He wants you, not as his minion, but as his partner, his equal. The thought sent a tentative shiver down her spine. She would not mind belonging to him again if he saw her like that.

"You followed me all this way after I left you just to tell me that?" She asked, his words repeating and he nodded his head in a faint, silent nod.

Sesshoumaru thought she might refuse, but Rin's silence was only due to her fleeting comprehension. She tried so hard to push it all aside, and here he was, ruining it all.

I should be angry, she thought, but instead regarded him with a steady gaze. Even after all this time, she loved him. She hated it that she did, but she loved him so much that it stabbed her heart.

"I want to be with you," she said finally, adding on the last word in a rush of childishness, "forever."

The tear that had found its way down her cheek had left a wet trail, and carefully Sesshoumaru wiped it away.

Their eyes locked together in a delicate, fragile bond, and both of them remained motionless for fear of breaking it.

"Why?" She whispered, keeping the sound of her voice within the bond, not too loud or high.

"Why what?" Sesshoumaru asked, feeling almost drunk silly on this so-called emotion called "love."

"I've been wanting to ask you this forever. Ever since before I left. Probably ever since I was little." She paused as she struggled to form the question in her head.

"Why…why did you stay with me? Why did you let me follow you, and why did you keep me with you for so long? Why did you save my life so many times? You...you hate humans. I know the answer should be obvious…but I want to hear it…"

Rin trailed off, blushing, waiting, her stomach fluttering happily.

"Because," Sesshoumaru said shortly.

"Because…?" Rin was hanging on the edge of a cliff, and he left her there, dangling, for what seemed like forever.

But he did not answer, and for a moment his mouth relaxed, the closest Rin had ever seen him come to smiling.

"You should be able to figure it out, Rin."

Rin smiled and drew herself into his chest. His armor pressed against her cheek, cold and metallic. "I love you, Sesshoumaru," she said finally.

Like his personality, most people would have said. The cold, distant Sesshoumaru sama of the Western Lands. But she'd managed to remove the armor, looking past it to see someone who was warm, someone no one but her saw. 

Rin felt Sesshoumaru's arms encircling her waist and then slowly moving upwards to stroke her face, as if they were trying to memorize every crevice and scar. Turning her head slightly, Rin caught one of his hands on her cheek and kissed it, slowly, tenderly.

His sleeve crawled back and two small stripes on his arm were revealed.  His markings of a full-blooded youkai.

Rin stopped kissing him and her eyes fell on his arm. When she met his eyes with her sad ones, he ran and hand gently down the side of her face.

"One day, I'll have to leave you," she said slowly, "I've thought of that many times."

"As have I," Sesshoumaru responded.

"It'll always be there…" Rin said, "That difference between us." Just when she thought she could finally find happiness, another little dagger stabbed into her heart.

"I do not mind," he said, the kiss he gave her then convincing Rin that he was telling the truth.

A surge of bittersweet emotion rushed through her veins as she clung to him, not wanting to let go of all that was precious to her.

They both knew that time would pass like seconds, and before they knew it, life would happen- Rin would have children, their children would have children, and Sesshoumaru would watch it all with immortal eyes. But Rin's childish "forever" still floated around them.

They would live in their own forever.

For now. 

END

Okay. I have a few things to say. First of all THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!! I love you all! *glomps reviewers till they can't breathe* I seriously couldn't have done it without you! You were my fuel, and I was so happy that everyone liked it! Halfway through the story I wanted to start doing reviewers' responses, but…I didn't, because I'm lazy. I'm so sad that this story's over, but I hope to be writing more Sesshoumauru and Rin stories in the future ^^ I love that pairing, whee. I think the story turned out exactly like I wanted it to by the end…which makes me really happy because I knew how it was gonna end when I started it back in….wow. Back in April O_O I can't believe it. But sometimes when I start stories, the plot does this huge twist and something totally unexpected happens…okay, well, done babbling! ^^

A couple more things…I drew a picture illustrating the kissy scene in chapter 6…if anyone wants to go see it the link is in my profile

Okay, last and final thing! I promise! I'm starting a site soon devoted to Rin and Sesshoumaru, because the more I wrote this story, the more I loved the pairing.  (of course ^_^) and I want it to be BIG!  I have a ton of ideas so far, but I wanted to hear other people's views on Rin and Sesshoumaru, too! so in your review for this chapter can you please tell me why you like this pairing so I can post it on the site? Also, if anyone has any fanart/fanfics they'd like to send in to me, please send them in! My e-mail is puffer_love@yahoo.com. Thanks!!!  When the site is online, I'll post the link in my profile as my homepage.  (The layout's done, now all I need is to start putting stuffs on there ^^)

x~Aurora chan~x