Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not my property. I only write for entertainment purposes.

Rin Through the Ages

Italics- means thought or flashbacks

Chapter Six

Age 60

The years had been all right to the once young woman. Now she was an old woman that had gray hair and wrinkly skin. For an older woman she still looked pretty young. Her master had asked her if she wanted to stay young forever and she had told him that she was fine the way she was. He looked on the once young girl and his eyes seemed to soften slightly and they turned serious again.

Rin wasn't really up for adventuring with her master anymore. Ever since she turned sixty years old her body didn't seem to be as reliable anymore. Although the years had been all right to Rin her body was subjected to regular aging. On the outside she looked healthy.

She remembered her lord telling her that a demon doesn't age. It was true he had not changed at all in all the years that she was with him. He still was as beautiful as the day that she first saw him as a little girl. Rin remembered all those times that she was able to be by his side and just smiled.

Currently she was lying under a tree with Ah-Uh by her side. The dragon demon didn't seem to age at all. No one seemed to look any different since the day she first met them. She wasn't bitter about aging or anything. She accepted it as a natural part of life. Rin was tired and closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the day. Someday her eyes would not open. To be honest she knew something was wrong with her when she started coughing blood about a year ago.

Sesshoumaru didn't seem to notice but Rin knew better than that. She could never hide anything from him and she knew that he was probably within earshot of her. He never left her side whenever she was in need. Rin sat up immediately and started to cough seriously. What would she do?

The great dog demon had once asked her if anything was wrong after she had one of her coughing fits. She just smiled at him and said, "No, everything is fine Sesshoumaru-sama." Then she just walked on as if nothing happened. She had discarded that bloodied cloth as best she could. But he could smell the blood all along.

"I don't think everything will be fine right?" She was talking to him. There were times when she would start talking to herself but she knew that he could hear her. He always heard her. "These years being with you have been really good." Rin laid against the tree trunk and asked him something. "Can you come out and see me?"

She waited. And waited for him. Nothing. But she was so sure that he was there. Maybe all these years he hadn't heard her. Maybe all those times that she was talking to herself she actually was talking to herself. "Sesshoumaru-sama? Will you come out and see me?"

A bright white light appeared before her and her master materialized in front of her. "What is it Rin?" He said in his usual callous sounding voice. But to her ears she could hear nothing but kindness and strength.

"I think I'm dying."

All he could do was look at her with his face completely unmoved. But she saw the pain in his eyes. "Ah, I know." He kneeled by the old woman.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be with you longer." She coughed slightly. For some strange reason she knew that her time was up. All these years she had always known her own body.

"You've been with me a long time." He said gentler than usual. In truth, she hadn't been with him that long; they were together for a little over fifty years. Fifty years for a demon was merely a blink of an eye.

"…" The old woman was silent for a long moment.

"Do you regret staying with this Sesshoumaru?" He knew that it was out of character to ask such a question but he needed to know.

"I've never regretted anything in my life Sesshoumaru-sama." She smiled weakly at him. She thought about her great lost love. "I've never regretted not staying with him. I don't regret anything." Her fingers slowly came to hold onto his sleeve like she did whenever she was truly scared. "Don't hit Jaken too hard when I'm gone. Oh and feed Ah-Uh the best greenest grass you can find. If you ever see your brother you should be kinder to him." She coughed slightly.

"Rin you shouldn't talk so much." He had been taking care of her all her life. This moment would be no different. Although there were times when he left her to do battle with other demons it was because it was for her safety.

"Sesshoumaru-sama don't save me when I die."

Sesshoumaru was surprised at those words. It was true that the thought had crossed his mind. In his heart he knew that he might have saved her.

"Don't save me this time." She smiled slightly.

"I will do as you ask Rin." He felt something blur his vision. Something might have gotten into his eyes. It was spring and all sorts of pollens were flying around.

"Can you bring me to that place again?"

It was that place where she had sealed her humanity to be with him. She had given up the love of her life and any promise of a normal woman's happiness of a home and children. She had given it all up when she had ran to the cliff of the ocean to yell for her master. Yelling and yelling he finally had come to her and told her to do what she liked. That was the place that she wanted to go to.

He instantly knew what place it was. There was no other place like it in all of the feudal states.

Rin was riding on Ah-Uh one last time. Somehow she knew that everything was going to end today. When they finally arrived at the destination she couldn't help but smile happily. Her white hair blew in her face and she brushed it aside. When her hair first started turning white she was happy that she could be more like Sesshoumaru-sama but she almost felt dread at the bottom of her stomach.

As she stood there on the cliff barefoot, she knew that her life was complete. She wasn't going to live much longer.

The day had turned into night. She watched the stars with her master by her side. It was unusual for him to stay by her this long. They were silent the whole time.

There were so many things that Sesshoumaru wanted to say to her but he didn't know what to say. 'Thank you' or 'I'll miss you' didn't seem to suffice. It seemed that he was at a loss for proper words. The silence was probably enough. She always seemed to know what was in his heart. It reminded him of that time when she told him she would love him forever. The different types of loves she had meant he never did seem to understand.

A shooting star passed over head. She put her hands to her heart and made a silent wish. He saw it all from the side of his eye.

"What did you wish for?' It was unlike him to be asking questions.

"What I always wish for, to stay with Sesshoumaru-sama forever." She felt warm tears spill over her cheeks. Sesshoumaru could not bear to look at her face because it would have made him sad, so he looked forward.

"Do you want this Sesshoumaru to save you?" He asked as gently as he could.

"That's not necessary. I've already decided." She smiled but wiped the tears away from her face. "I've already decided." She said again.

"I'll always love you remember that." A hand grasped the air. He moved closer to her. She gently grabbed his elegant white kimono.

She asked him once again, "Sesshoumaru-sama you won't forget me when I die right?" She closed her eyes.

Warm tears were streaming down his face and all he could say again was, "That's stupid."

FIN

By Meryl Lee

AN: Please leave a review if you feel the need to, anything is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Please feel free to add me on MSN (look at my profile to find my email address).