Disclaimer: Takahashi Rumiko wa InuYasha ga arimasu. Twiknham wa souzouryoku ga arimasu.

"Kagome, if you will allow me, I would also share a memory. Then maybe you will allow me to talk with you about where we go from this point." Kagome shrugged her shoulders, and Sesshomaru took that to mean she wasn't out-right refusing to listen.

"I have only loved one human. You met her on several occasions." Kagome's eyes widened as she realized the picture in the bedroom was of Rin, and Sesshomaru chucked. "I'm not a letch. Girls do grow up, and sometimes childish feelings mature also." Kagome blushed, and waved a hand for him to continue.

"Do you know how I met Rin?" Kagome shook her head. "After InuYasha and I fought and he wounded me, I went back to the place where I always go to escape from everything. As I lay there, feeling that my father had rejected me for that half-breed, a little child peered at me around a tree. I saw her, but didn't acknowledge her presence."

"She came back several days, bringing me little treats, but I scorned them all." He smiled gently at the generous innocence of a certain child. "She never spoke a word. She had been bringing me fish, and I told her to quit wasting her time. The next time I saw her; the poor child's face had been battered. I felt indifferent to her injuries, never having been beaten up without first provoking." Kagome smiled a little at that thought.

"The following day, as I was leaving, I started to pass a mangled body on the path when Tenseiga started pulsing. When I stooped down to look at the body, I realized it was the child who had tried to care for me. She had been attacked by Koga's wolves, before he put a stop to that practice. She was dead." Kagome looked like she might cry, so Sesshomaru quickly continued. "I used Tenseiga and brought her back. She followed me everywhere after that day."

He stood up and paced for a minute, agitation apparent in his movements. "I won't say that life with the child Rin was easy. She had a tendency to sing silly songs, she loved to make Jaken play childish games, and occasionally I would have to rescue her from her overly caring heart, or Naraku." Sesshomaru thought back to the time he caught her falling body just feet from rocks that would have crushed her beyond repair; and the time Kohaku was a breath away from killing her for Naraku. He breathed deeply, then sat back down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped.

"Just before Naraku was defeated, you'll remember the youkai that kidnapped all the children, and the monk who tried to take Rin from me?" Kagome nodded. "I told Rin to go whichever direction she chose, so that both she and the Monk would know I held no power over her will." He looked straight at Kagome. "You have to believe that I never made her follow me, I never once manipulated her decisions." Kagome nodded. "She followed me of her own free will."

"When we arrived back at the place Jaken was, there were some tombstones." He sighed. "I don't know what Jaken said to her, he isn't always tactful. She touched one of the stones and looked at me and asked me if I would remember her once she died." He swirled his cognac and took a sip. "How such innocence can understand the complexities of the soul, I'll never understand." He looked at Kagome again. "I guess it was the same as your understanding of Kikyo's hold on InuYasha's heart." She looked away.

"After the Shikon no Tama ceased to exist, you left that world to return to this time, and Time passed. Before I had realized, Rin was no longer a child; and her feelings towards me were those of a woman." He chuckled, but it was with amusement. "I was shocked the first time she kissed me. I've been alive a very long time Kagome. I don't pay attention to the passing of the years. I recognized that Rin was becoming more mature, more intelligent, and more interesting. I was not prepared to have her turn that childish adoration into adult love." He grimaced.

"I woke up one night to a warm female body pressed against my side and warm, gentle lips touching the corner of mine. When she realized I was glancing at her, she blushed; but didn't pull away." He grew silent as his thoughts moved inward.

"What are you doing Rin?" His arm had curved around her in his sleep, but he tightened it imperceptibly.

"Rin is kissing Sesshomaru-sama." She leaned over and kissed him again. "Are you not pleased with Rin's actions Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Why?" He didn't move, he was even afraid to breath.

"Because Rin's feelings require that I kiss you." She rested a hand over his heart, it thumped heavily. She smiled.

"You are aware of what kissing between a male and female means, Rin?"

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. Rin has not been a child for several years now." She ran her hand up his armless shoulder and rubbed it. "I have been aware of you this way for many months. Rin has given up on you noticing, so Rin decided to inform you instead."

"What are you asking of this Sesshomaru, Rin?" He waited, with held breath.

"Only you. For what time we have." She kissed him full on the mouth this time, and he didn't resist.

Sesshomaru came out of his memories and looked at Kagome with an ironic smile. "We were together as a couple from that night until she died."