Author's Note: I never meant for this story to end so soon but it's made for a fun ride. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I loved writing it, and keep an eye out for it's sequel with the Inu Crew. J Thank you all, once again.

Chapter Six: Pyhrric Victories

Four days had passed since Tama and Sesshoumaru's confrontation and since he had seen Rin. He had smelled of her course, sometimes wandering along the palace's walkways, to come just within hearing range of the small girl but never endeavoring to approach her. She would come to him, he reasoned, when she was prepared. He just never imagined it would have taken this long. Sesshoumaru normally could have cared less for the time's passage, he was accustomed to solitude, but this was different. Now, time seemed to crave its way slowly through stone, making his bones hurt and making him crave anything from Rin's nervous inhales, to those ridiculous songs she always hummed. But he would not ask for them.

He had lost much; he would not forfeit his pride.

Sesshoumaru rubbed his stomach gingerly. There was still tenderness, but nothing else. No scar would mark where Tama had used his own sword against him; no murals would be painted of that battle and its victorious conclusion. There would be nothing outside of memory to prove it even existed at all. For a moment he, Sesshoumaru Lord of the Western Lands, was tempted to believe it only a nightmare. He entertained a vain dream for a second, letting it play in his head like a child's, he would wake to find Tama by his side and not against him. He would awake to find both arms in tact, without any thought to a small girl child with sad eyes that seemed to capture the world.

And just as quickly as he thought of this, he dismissed it. Too much had passed now to be forgotten, too much to reject and throw away. This was not a sad thought, Sesshoumaru was above such emotions, but it did stay with him, long after he had dismissed the dreams and walked into the grounds.

Ah-Un was waiting for him, Jaken holding onto the reigns. The bags were heavy laden with clothes, and gear with his swords tucked into the saddle. The demons had come to bid him farewell. Rin was no where in sight.

"I have left this palace in the care of Benjiro." Jaken said, as he bowed deeply.

Benjiro was the Smithy that had kept Rin from running. Sesshoumaru turned his eyes towards the fire demon with a cool, even gaze. The demon seemed to be surprised to be acknowledged and stumbled backwards. "Fealty is sworn to you, my Lord."

"This place is yours, Jaken. Do as you wish with it."

Benjiro stared at Sesshoumaru and Jaken, confused as who he should coddle. He decided both would be acceptable. "Jaken Lord has given us…relative freedom. The human slaves have been released to return to the villages of their birth."

Sesshoumaru bowed his head to retrieve his swords from saddle and loop them into his sash. He wondered idly which of those villages had been the one he and Tama had attacked. He still couldn't remember how many he had killed.

He wondered which Rin had gone too.

"Our doors will be forever open to you and yours, milord."

"I doubt we shall ever return," Jaken gave words to what Sesshoumaru was thinking. "But live and die as you see fit." Jaken was watching his Lord, and then turned away, searching the Compound for something. He paused for a few beats, as if bidding silent farewells and hoping…

"We're leaving." Sesshoumaru said suddenly, gripping the reigns in his one had and beginning to mount.

He stopped as the wind blew past him, tickling the scars of his arm and making it ache and bringing on the air a familiar scent. He dropped the reigns and doubled back, a show of eagerness and joy.

Rin was standing on the porch, head bowed, with one arm clutching to Zen's. Zen was waiting for another of his kind to finish packing the knapsack that rested on his hip. The girl looked over at Sesshoumaru, giving him a dark look, before sliding a perfectly formed mirror into the leather pouch. The mirror caught the sun at just the right angle, blinding Sesshoumaru and causing him to look away.

Zen was escorting Rin to him by the time he looked back. Rin was still studying the dirt, her hand gripping Zen's so tight it made her knuckles white. Zen paused a few steps shy of him.

"She has no family here." Zen began, respectfully but firmly. Sesshoumaru could smell the fear on him, coupled with the resolution to remain Rin's newfound guardian.

He stifled a sneer. Rin had a guardian.

"You are all she knows." Zen continued, "And until we can find somewhere safe, we have no where else to go."

Sesshoumaru looked at Rin. He wanted her to speak to him, to look at him. Something. She had never been afraid of him before…Not even he had been nothing more then a Youkai hiding the woods near her village. Not even when he had treated her with disgust and apathy. She had always come. She had always followed.

Something had happened. Something had fractured in the small girl's mind; breaking the image of her Sesshoumaru. Something he didn't know yet and something he feared he would never know if she didn't tell him.

Looking down at her now, he wanted to see her face, hear her voice and see those eyes that haunted him. He never thought he could feel so far from someone only inches from him.

"Please…" Zen repeated. "Let us travel with you until we can find a home."

She had already one; Sesshoumaru felt like saying but remained silent. Quietly, he kneeled, offering his arm to Rin.

Rin flinched but approached, clasping her arms around his neck. He kept himself from squeezing her as he lifted her unto Ah-Un. He lingered for a moment, with his arm around her, to catch and memorize her scent before releasing unto the dragon's back. Rin inhaled, wiped tears from her eyes, and leaned against the dragon.

Sesshoumaru repeated the same with Zen, lifting the boy unto the dragon, and pulling away quickly, refusing to acknowledge Rin's smile as Zen wrapped his arms around her waist.

Jaken was muttering something about becoming babysitters, though there was relief in his voice now that he saw Rin again. He didn't seem to grasp what had passed, or, refused to accept it. Both were likely.

Sesshoumaru turned his head away from the wind. It played at his scar tissue, making his arm ache but he ignored the pain. It was minor in comparisons to other wounds he felt at the moment. Inhaling, and gripping the Tensaiga for comfort, the Lord of the Western Lands turned and continued on his trek.