I dedicate this fic to my best friend Kaitlyn (a.k.a hypergirl15) cuz it's (almost) her birthday and she complains that there aren't enough Sesshy-Rin fics. So here goes nothing…
Prologue: The Return
By: Torina Archelda
"Sesshy-sama, Sesshy-sama!" the young girl called, racing across the plains to meet the stoic Lord of the Western Lands. "You're back! You're home!"
The inu youkai allowed himself the indulgence of a small smile as Rin jumped into his open arms.
"Hello, Rin. Did you miss me?"
The eight-year-old nodded emphatically, hugging him tightly. "Jaken said you wouldn't be back in time because you were too busy to bother with tr- tri- triv-"
"Trivial?" he offered.
Rin smiled her gratitude. "Yeah! Trivial human rituals, but I knew you'd return!"
"Well of course I came back. How could I miss my favorite little girl's birthday?"
Rin grinned. "I'm gonna be this many!" she cried, holding up ten fingers.
Sesshomaru smiled once more. He seemed to be doing that more and more when he was around her lately… "Try this many," he corrected, gently pushing down her right pinky finger.
The girl frowned in concentration, slowly counting her upheld fingers under her breath. "One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… Nine! Oh! I get it!" She looked up into his eyes, again gracing him with one of her dazzling smiles. "Thank you, Sesshy-sama! Will you play with me?" He gently brushed a strand of raven hair from her eyes and replied, "Not now. I have business to attend to. But I'll play with you all day tomorrow, okay?" he amended as her face fell.
Her eyes immediately lit up. "Okay!" she replied, clearly delighted. Play dates with the Lord were rare.
He set her down and she picked a flower extending it to him happily as a token of gratitude. He accepted it with a gracious, "Thank you," inwardly marveling at how such simple things pleased her as she smiled once more.
"Bye, Sesshy-sama!" she called, running off and waving. "I'll go tell Jaken you're back! See you tonight!"
Sesshomaru walked off towards his castle, his head held erect and his expression bearing no sign of what he had just done. He sat through his meeting with his royal advisers, not even bothering to pretend to pay attention. After all, how could one concentrate on the issues of their kingdom when they were anticipating their next meeting with the girl they loved?
Well, what do you think? That was just a short intro- there WILL be action and a plot, but I start almost every story I write with fluff (and there will be more of that, too! ^_^!) so I decided not to change the pattern. Review, ok? And tell me if you liked it. I thought it was ok… I've done better. Also, in your review tell me if you think I should do her birthday party in the next chappie and then make each chapter a year (resulting in a short and almost plotless fic) or if I should do a chappie that takes place like every month or so (resulting in a very long fic (like thirty or forty chappies) that actually has a plot). BTW, should I include the defeat of Naraku? This is a primarily Sesshy-Rin fic (for you, KK), but if I put in the Naraku battle I could add in a little Inu-Kag and Mir-San fluff, too. So R&R, you guys!
~Torina~