Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jakken, or anyone else.
OOOOO
"Sesshoumaru!" Rin held out a large bouquet of flowers she'd gathered and waited for the demon lord to except them before scampering off to collect more. Sesshoumaru watched her go, a blank expression on his face.
He allowed the merest flicker of a smile to cross his face as he watched Jakken scramble to keep up with her. His retainer was already covered in flowery garlands, tokens of Rin's appreciation. He stared down at the delicate blossoms in his own hands, wondering vaguely what to do with them.
He should just throw them aside, they were of no use to him. But, to do so would make Rin unhappy. He scoffed at his own foolish thoughts. When had he ever cared about another person's feelings? Much less a human's? Decision reached, he tossed the blooms onto the ground and rose from his seated position in one smooth motion.
"Jakken!"
His retainer immediately abandoned his pursuit of the girl and turned to his master, barely concealed relief written on his face.
"Yes my Lord?"
"We're leaving."
"Of course my Lord."
Jakken scrambled to catch Rin, finally reduced to tripping her with the Staff of Heads in order to stop her enthusiastic skipping. She tumbled into the soft grass of the meadow- unharmed, but stopped. What he got for his trouble was a bump on the head.
With one hand, Sesshoumaru picked Rin up off the ground, setting her upright. Instead of relinquishing her grip on his hand, she gripped it tighter and stretched her arms up to him, her eyes pleading with him to pick her up.
In a moment of rare compassion, the demon lord scooped the ecstatic child off her feet and into his arms. She giggled happily, securing her arms about his neck as they set off.
Mumbling in an almost incoherent voice, Jakken scrambled after them, massaging the growing bump on his head.
For the first few miles, Rin toyed with Sesshoumaru's hair, telling him she was 'fixing it', when in actuality it became steadily messier as she played.
She continued to babble nonsense in his ear as they walked, talking about birds she had seen, and the flowers she had picked. Despite her incessant noise, Sesshoumaru found he rather enjoyed carrying the child in his arms.
The things she talked about had little meaning or importance to him, but the steady rise and fall of her voice was soothing rather than annoying.
In fact, he almost felt as though he had awoken from a kind of trance once he realized her chattering had stopped. Glancing over at the girl, he realized she had fallen asleep without his knowledge.
Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks and she murmured little dream induced things, too low for even his demon-enhanced ears to pick up. He stopped abruptly, not wanting to disturb her sleep.
So suddenly had he stopped that Jakken nearly plowed into his legs before realizing the abrupt halt.
"What is it my Lord?" He asked worriedly, glancing around in case he had missed some concealed threat.
"We're stopping for the night." Sesshoumaru responded shortly.
Jakken mentally bit back his response, they could still make a few hours of travel before nightfall. But if his Lord said it was time to stop, then it was.
Silently, Jakken made camp, watching with interest as Sesshoumaru continued to cradle the girl in his arms, even after her bed had been laid out.
Finally satisfied that everything had been laid out to his Lord's specifications, he slipped under his own blankets and drifted into a deep sleep.
Sesshoumaru finally relinquished his grip on the girl and laid her in her bed, intending to go and have some time alone. But her tiny mewl of fear had him turning back.
She was partially awake, her sleep-heavy eyes wild with fear. She scrambled up and clung to his leg before he could move away.
"Don't go! The bad demons will get me!" She let out a teeny sob and clung to him a little tighter as her lashes grew heavy with tears.
Coming to a demon to keep them away. Sesshoumaru noted the irony, even as he scooped the girl up and returned her to her bed.
"Stay until I fall asleep?"
Unable to refuse her pleading eyes, he nodded once. She moved to lay down, then seemed to reconsider and scooted closer to give him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you." She murmured, laying down and immediately drifting off into slumber.
Startled more than he cared to admit, Sesshoumaru rose and walked off into the forest surrounding them to think more about this fragile human he had decided to protect.
OOOOO
Author's Note: My first one-shot. I thought this up at 3:00 a.m. so don't blame me if it's crap. It just came to me. Didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it, but do they ever? Anyway, don't take the kiss the wrong way. I meant it as a kind of daughter-father thing. She is still a little girl in my fic.
MysteryMaiden7