Hooray! I have returned from a writer's block and patheticness. Expect the next chapter soon, for I have been revived! I am sorry… really and truly. Hate me, but I have cookies!

Chapter 11: A Dark Tale

Sesshomaru had been away from the castle for a couple days, unaware Rin was waiting for him back at his castle.

Rin sat in her garden tree, unsure of where else to go. She had just done what she was forbidden to do. Did he even want her there anymore?

Her thoughts kept returning to the fight. To his words.

"I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THIS HUMAN!!"

He didn't care, did he?

She thought so many times about how she should have gone with Inuyasha and Kagome. Why did she say no? What did she hope to find any different?

Rin sighed, plucking a leaf off the branch above her and cradled it in her hand. Why did she come back?

Inside, she knew the answer.

Because she loved him.

---

Sesshomaru walked slowly towards his castle. He didn't want to go home. Everywhere he looked, his memories would haunt him. Just like his parents' memories.

He hated that castle. He hated himself. Because he was a monster, inside and out, he could be close to no one. Because of this, he could not have Rin.

Clouds darkened overhead, and sprinkles of rain began to darken his silvery fur. He in took the scent, and in it smelled the castle ahead of him. He could still smell Rin… he could smell her!

He started trotting faster, until it was a fast run. It was Rin! Not just her lingering scent… why?

The doors to his haunting castle flew open before him as he raced through. He flew past his dutiful dragon whom barely uttered a word before he was out of earshot and down into the next hallway. Her scent led him to the garden door. He slowed himself, letting an expressionless facemask his confused feelings.

The door opened slowly to reveal Rin sitting on her favorite branch of the massive tree. She reminded him of an angel in the rain.

Rin looked up, realizing it was him, "Lord Sesshomaru! You have returned."

Sesshomaru stepped closer, looking not at her but more at the wall, as if there was something far away in the distance that he only he could see. His head was visible through the tree, not even acknowledging she was there until, "RIN. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?"

Rin felt suddenly foolish and so climbed down her beloved tree, to look up at him from the plush ground, "I wanted to stay here, Lord Sesshomaru. Is… it alright if I stay?"

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment, as if this had somehow confused him.

"THEY OFFERED YOU FREEDOM, SAFETY, AND KINDNESS. WHY DID YOU DECLINE THIS?"

His head turned towards her, and though he seemed almost angry with her for not going, his eyes looked sad. As if now that he had made her realize this, she would leave.

"I love it, here. I would like to stay." She said again, dancing around her true reason.

This silence was even longer. He turned back to the door, unreadable once more.

"IF YOU WISH TO STAY HERE, YOU MAY."

Then he was gone, leaving the door open as if to tempt her to follow him.

She did want to. She still had questions. Where was she to stay? Would he kill her now if she even went near the wonderfully magnificent stairway? Did he care about her at all? …Did he love her as much as she loved him?

---

"You must tell her." Un said firmly.

Sesshomaru growled as if that would make the truth go away.

"Tell her! Tell her!" On excitedly joined in unbidden.

Un got into his master's face, "She has to tell the truth."

A massive paw swatted at him, as the rest of the giant dog turned away.

"Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" Went On, most as like a child would.

Sesshomaru ignored them still, staring at his markless bookcase. He hated the dark secrets it contained.

"You gotta! You gotta!" On chanted, zooming around the room, pulling Un in dizzy circles.

"I CAN'T!" Sesshomaru roared, stopping On in mid circle.

He took a deep breath, "I CAN'T TELL HER THAT I… HOW I FEEL. SHE'S HUMAN."

Un sighed, "Exactly why you should."

"She loves you too, remember!" On had a goofy face when he said this, but all of them knew how serious this was to him.

Without another word, he disappeared downstairs.

---

It was time, he knew, to tell the woman that he loved her. Yet it meant more than that. It was almost as if he was defeated. Defeated of his old self. That he had become something that had revolted him so in the past. But it would also mean that we wouldn't have to live in isolation anymore. That was, if she did love him.

Doubt crept into his being as he took his time on the stairway. Uncertainty was not even a word in his former self, yet even since Rin had come into his world, it haunted him more and more frequently.

He found her in the library. He hadn't thought she knew where it was, but then he realized she must have been there many times, for the books that hadn't been touched in centuries were scattered across the rich burgundy carpet that covered the floor. The shelves upon shelves looked as thought pieces were missing from it, like in a puzzle. Only the missing pieces were what kept the young woman there.

Rin was lying on the plush carpet, her legs moving up and down as she eagerly read her book by the majestic fireplace. The fireplace itself was very large, yet only a spark seemed to illuminate its entire being. It did not seem to be made of any material known to man, it was more like the stars and the sky had been captured into fireplace. It seemed to smile at him, as if to tell him now was the time. A fire inside his own heart began to burn with hope.

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru, and smiled fondly, "What is it?"

Sesshomaru tried very hard not to smile, although he did not know why. This might be difficult…

He settled down next to her, like a dog protecting his master, "ARE YOU, HAPPY HERE?

"Of course!" She said surprised, "That's why I stayed."

There was stiffness in his voice, "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO STAY HERE?"

She felt rather confused, "Well, as long as you'll let me."

"RIN," His voice sounded unfamiliar to him, "IT WOULD PLEASE ME IF YOU STAYED HERE."

Rin stared into his monstrous eyes.

"FOREVER."

---

Weather it was an eternity or one moment, Rin could not speak. She had no idea what to say. Relief flowed through so it made her giddy, she wanted to hug him and never let go, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted, to be his. But still she could not move from that entrancing stare.

"It would please me too." She heard a voice say, before realizing it was her own.

No! She couldn't let it end like this. She had to tell him about all this love she had piled up in her heart, just for him.

"Sesshomaru, I l-" She was interrupted by him, he looked very far away indeed, although her senses told her he was right in front of her.

"Rin, " He spoke in a soft voice, that shared finally the feelings he'd been hiding for centuries, "I killed your parents. I killed my own. I hated my father for his love of humans, so I killed him and his human wife. My own had left us long ago. He ruled the western lands, as this was his castle. After they were gone, these were mine as well. They did not die out in the deserts of my borders, though I wish this were so. Many years later an angry priestess who had known my evil deeds transformed me what I was. A dog. And a monstrous one at that. I destroyed so much, partly because I longed for my former self, and partly because I saw what I wanted taken from me. Humans especially seemed to have most everything I wanted, which only added to my hatred. But there is more of my father in Inuyasha and I than I realized. Inuyasha longs for that human, Kagome, and I… I long for you."

With these last few words his voice seemed to fail him, bringing it to a faint whisper.

Letting all this sink in, she turned to him, and waited until he looked her in the eye.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I don't care about your past. Because it doesn't change the fact that I, I-" She was once again interrupted by the dog, and subconsciously let out a flustered sigh, cursing her hesitation.

But then she caught his words, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK."

She drew a breath, "Who?"

"THAT HUMAN WHO WAS WITH YOU, ON THE HORSE." Sesshomaru growled. He could smell at least five thousand, maybe more.

"Naraku!" Her eyes lit up in recognition.

---

Naraku marched into the dense forest, half crazed with rows upon rows of men behind him. There seemed to be no end to them, or to Naraku's superior chants. Hacking sounds availed, as more and more trees fell down every second. He knew she was in here, and this time, he was going to take down anyone and everyone who was in his way. He was possessed by the power he held, which drove him now more than trying to find Rin. Finding her would be a trophy, to show the world just how powerful he was.

"Naraku!" A man rushed to him, "There's something up ahead!"

"Well, what is it you fool?!" Naraku snapped, his anticipation growing rapidly.

"A castle, sir." The man replied, his eyes betrayed him, telling his every fear.

"Of the demon that attacked us. He must have her." More crazed thoughts rushed through Naraku's head before commanding, "Surround the castle!"

"Yes sir!" The man saluted, and then repeated Naraku's words loud enough for everyone to hear. Including, ones in the castle.

"I'll have you yet my Rin." He muttered cunningly to himself.

If you have been reading this for the past 9 months, you deserve money. But since I don't have any, here's a cookie! Go buy yourself a trophy that says, "Most Patient Being on Earth and Probably on a Couple of Other Planets", if you can fit it all in. Cheers! Miaa