Disclaimer: Gave up trying to own InuYasha...but never giving up on Sesshomaru!

On the other side of Lord Sesshomaru's door stood Jaken, his eyes huge as the tip of Toukijin pierced through the wood and now was a hair away from his nose. Oh dear. This wasn't good. Rin had passed the vassil in such a hurry she hadn't said a word to him even as he scolded her for not telling him the Lords of the Lands had arrived. It would appear Rin had made their lord upset. As suddenly as the sword had pierced the door it was violently pulled back through. Jaken jumped back with a squawk. Usually the only human who could rile the great Lord Sesshomaru this badly was that disgusting Lord Bassarious. From within the room, Jaken could hear his lord's rumbling growl and he debated entering.

"JAKEN!"

It was too late to run now. His lord had called for him. Well, to be exact his lord had roared for him. Timidly, Jaken pushed open the door and peered inside. At least Lord Sesshomaru was still in human form. Breathing an extremely small sigh of relief Jaken dared to step into the room. Despite the brave front he was putting on, the vassil's knees were shaking. He so hated when these peace talks came. The number of lumps on his head seemed to double whenever Lord Bassarious was within the great hall.

"Y-yes, me lord?"

"Be prepared to leave within the hour. My business here in the Western Lands is completed for the time being and I shall not remain within these walls a moment longer than necessary." Sesshomaru said bitterly, sheating Toukijin.

"Aye, me lord. Shall I inform Rin to be ready as well?"

Sesshomaru turned away from his vassil, "The human girl is no longer any of our concern, Jaken."

Jaken seemed rooted to the spot. He hadn't heard Lord Sesshomaru refer to Rin as "the human girl" since he restored life to her with Tenseiga. If Rin was no longer their concern then whose was she? Only when his lord glowered darkly at him did Jaken scramble from his presence. Rin. He had to speak with Rin and make sense of it all.

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Bassarious stood outside of the great hall, his face tilted back to the warm rays of the noontime sun. What would it take to persuade Rin to leave her lord and come to the Northern Lands? He knew the lure of living amongst her own kind wouldn't be enough. Her devotion to Sesshomaru was apparent. Hell, the girl was so far gone in love with her lord it was obvious to any who looked upon her. In time she would forget him, move on, find a far more appropriate match if only she would open her eyes and realize the mortal loathing inuyoukai lord would never claim her.

Suddenly he felt as if someone were watching him. Slowly he lowered his head and looked over his shoulder. It was her! Rin stood at the shadow's edge of a nearby tree. The soft wind blew, causing a length of her hair to dance across her cheek. What a tragic figure she made. Those eyes that once shined with such life now seemed dull. Gone was the brave woman taking control of a situation spinning rapidly out of control and in her place was a listless young girl who seemed so lost and weary.

"If your offer still stands, Lord Bassarious, I am willing to accept it. I shall come with you to the Northern Lands and serve my people. I have been away from them for so long...I think I have forgotten who I am. What I am."

"You have made a very wise choice, my lady. You shall not regret it. Your lord is willing to let you go?" Bassarious asked, barely able to keep the triumph from his voice.

"The choice is my own to make. Not his. He...he has no claim on me." Rin replied, hating how those words left such a bitter taste on her tongue.

Bassarious nodded slowly. Kaito and Ishikawa had both blasted him for a fool for asking Lord Sesshomaru for the girl. They had told him over and over that the dog demon lord would never let her go. Clearly they have overestimated the attachment between Sesshomaru and his human counterpart. He would have to take Rin from here quickly before she could change her mind or the damn dog could change it for her. A figure hurrying towards her caught Bassarious' attention. Damn...the vassil, Jaken.

"Rin! Rin, what have you done to Lord Sesshomaru! His mood is fouler than usual!" Jaken snapped, barely glancing at the Northern Lord for fear his disgust would be too obvious, "And what is this bit of foolishness that you are no longer of his concern!"

The words hit Rin like a slap to the face. So she had been right in her thinking. He was glad to be rid of her.

'At least you have that one night with him. Its better than nothing.' she berated herself silently.

"I am going to the Northern Lands, Jaken. Lord Bassarious wishes me to be his mediator and I have accepted. I will be living with my own kind and no longer shaming Lord Sesshomaru with my presence. It would seem mutually beneficial, wouldn't you say?"

Her words carried such bitterness that even Bassarious raised an eyebrow. It wasn't living among her own kind that had driven her to this choice. There was no hiding the smirk this time. Rin had chosen him over Lord Sesshomaru out of anger. Even better. With her mind set against him it would be a simple matter to turn her heart against him as well. Ishikawa had said plainly how the girl was the inuyoukai lord's weakness. With the twist of the knife of hatred in her heart, Bassarious would severe the tie none thought could be broken.

"Come, my lady. We should be leaving. No need to overstay our welcome, is there?" he chuckled, coming to Rin and placing a hand on her back.

"You did that the moment you stepped foot within Lord Sesshomaru's hall." Jaken sniffed before giving Rin a look of betrayl and turning from her. She chose to go to a race that had despised her, turning her back on the race that had accepted her. He no longer knew this girl before him. Without giving her a second glance, Jaken sought out his lord.

Within the hour the great hall was empty of its lord and his vassil. Ah-Un seemed reluctant to leave without Rin, torn between its loyalty to her and to Lord Sesshomaru. With a final snort the two headed dragon lumbered along behind the Lord of the Western Lands. Time and again the beast would look around, having forgotten that Rin no longer travelled with them. The suffocating silence was broken only by the sound of Ah-Un's breathing and the soft dull thud of Jaken's staff as they walked. It was as it had been before a tiny human girl had come into their lives with her bright smile and endless happy chatter. A sullen lord, a quiet vassil and a two headed dragon who did nothing more than keep watch over them both.

Rin sat in the horse's saddle, looking back one last time at the great hall and willing herself not to cry. Already she missed Jaken's scolding her and telling her to hurry or she would be left behind. The horse moved so differently from Ah-Un and would take some getting used to. Her gaze went to her new travelling companion who rode before her. It wasn't the familiar silver white hair that moved with the horse's walk and the wind. Her own words came back to haunt her. Change brought confusion and fear. But in time these changes would become familiar. And this sense of dread would leave her. Taking a deep breath, Rin straightened her shoulder and gripped the reigns firmly. She had made this choice and she would see it through.

Miles away, deep within the thickness of the woods an ogre foolishly crossed paths with inuyoukai lord. Thinking it had nothing to fear, the beast continued to walk directly towards him. Its confidence was its downfall. With no reason not to strike any longer, Sesshomaru lashed out with his poisoned claws, never missing a step as he walked. Jaken and Ah-Un froze. The ogre had made no threatening gesture and yet their lord had cut it down irregardless. Jaken swallowed hard. Without Rin around, the old Lord Sesshomaru was swiftly returning. Already Jaken could feel his head pounding with the lumps he was sure to receive.

"You are dwelling on the human girl, Jaken. Do not waste your time thinking of mortals. You are a demon and therefore above such foolish attachments," Sesshomaru remarked coldly, "They deserve one another."

"I would not be so sure of that if I were you, Sesshomaru," a calm voice spoke from the darkness of the woods, "How better to defeat your seemingly unbeatable enemy than to find his weakness and use it against him?"

Ishikawa stepped from the shadows, nodding respectfully to Sesshomaru.

"Use that human girl against me? Don't be foolish, Ishikawa. She is no longer a weakness, an ally, anything to this Sesshomaru. She---"

"She is going to be poisoned against you, you fool!" Ishikawa snapped, "Spare me the towering inuyoukai pride, young pup! You don't really believe Bassarious wants peace do you? He took the girl from you because he knew he could! Anyone could sense the discord between you and the girl. All that foolish boy had to do was feed on that tension and he snatched her from you with so little effort. Use your head. With her head and heart in turmoil the girl, Rin, is torn. Your hatred of her people is renowned! The first human to be slain in the Northern Lands will be blamed on your people and that halfwit, Bassarious, will be whispering in the girl's ear that it was your hand that struck the blow."

Jaken wasted no time in hiding behind Ah-Un. Surely the dragon demon had a deathwish to be speaking to Lord Sesshomaru thusly.

"My fight is not with the humans--"

"To the depths of hell its not! I was like you once, Sesshomaru. I shunned the humans and felt them to be so far beneath me that I wouldn't scrape one from my boot heel should I happen to step on one! Humans are not as vile as most demons believe them to be. Aye, some are coniving little bastards like Bassarious but then there are those like Rin whose hearts actually bleed for the likes of us. Look at you! Already not even a day without her and you killed without provacation. Bassarious will take that girl, turn her completely against you, against all of us demons and start an uprising that will bring his much wanted war. The peace between the lands will be destroyed. All we have worked towards will fall apart. I don't know about you, Sesshomaru, but I am getting too damned old to fight these battles. I grow weary of it."

"She made the choice, Ishikawa. She chose the humans. I did not force her from my service." Sesshomaru argued weakly.

"Your pride is what forced her from your service, Sesshomaru."

"You know nothing of which you speak, Ishikawa. This is not about my pride. If Bassarious could so easily turn the girl against me than it is clear she wasn't as loyal as so many believed. Now be gone before you join the ogre's fate."

"She loves you, you realize?" Ishikawa remarked as Sesshomaru moved to walk passed him, making the inuyoukai lord freeze, "Not because you are Lord of the Western Lands, not because you restored life to her body. You are a fool, Sesshomaru, if you let that girl go."

Sesshomaru kept his gaze locked on the path before him, hearing the dragon demon's words and scowling.

"I strayed from my path when I tested my Tenseiga on the girl." Again a weak arguement.

"You found your path when you used Tenseiga to bring back the only person who gave a damn about you."

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LOL Just to answer a commonly asked question of my reviewers? No, I don't have this pre-written. It is strictly off the top of my head. I have no idea what I will write til I start my typing.