Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the gang

Freaky Krazer: After reviewing the movie 12 times ; ) I realized my error on that little detail. I blame it on a brain fart. LOL But thank you for refreshing my memory!

Rin raised an eyebrow and almost had to laugh, "You mean you are basing all this on some fairy tale you read from a scroll that might or might not be a fake?"

"Hey...name one fairy tale that hasn't ended with And They Lived Happily Ever After!"

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"I don't know, Kagome. It all sounds too vague and complicated to me," Rin shook her head doubtfully, "I think I'll keep my mortal life rather than risk it on the off chance that dagger thing would work. If I were meant to be immortal, I'd have been born that way."

"Then your time with Sesshomaru is limited, Rin."

Rin gave her friend a heartwarming tender smile, "Then I'll just have to make the most of it and treasure every day, won't I?"

"I cannot believe you are willing to pass up a chance like this!" Kagome exclaimed.

"That is just it, Kagome! Its a chance! I won't settle for anything less than absolute certainty. Right now? I have certainty. I am Sesshomaru's mate. He wants me with him, he will protect me, he will always come for me. I am just not willing to risk it. He told me the choice was mine to make."

"You will age and die! You will be vulnerable to sickness and disease. Sesshomaru cannot protect you from that!"

Rin shook her head. Her life was not worth losing over some fable on a piece of paper in Kagome's time. Until there was a safer way, a way with less chance for things to go wrong and not so constricting in its timeline...Rin was steadfast. She would remain a mortal. She would not tell her lord her decision. She wanted to keep the option open in the event another way presented itself. Kagome looked crestfallen.

"Listen, Kagome, I will help you find this bone dagger. If you wish to go through with the act of becoming immortal, I will be by your side. But this...this just isn't right for me. Not this way, not right now."

Kagome nodded woodenly. She was scared too. She couldn't lie. The idea of being stabbed in the heart and knowing she must, in a sense, die, caused her to shiver. However, she was willing to do whatever it took to remain by InuYasha's side. As Kikyo's reincarnation and being given a second chance with the hanyou, Kagome wasn't as uncertain. Even if Rin was reluctant to take the opportunity, at least she was willing to help Kagome get the dagger. Having her friend by her side would make the journey seem quicker and less forboding.

"Now...the hard part. Finding out where exactly the bone dagger is and then coming up with an outrageous tale to fool InuYasha and Sesshomaru long enough for us to retrieve it!" Kagome sighed heavily.

"Its too bad you don't have the ability to travel from these times to your era. You could have just used the excuse you were going home for a visit for your absence. Really the only choice we have now is to wait for that new moon time. That would possibly eliminate InuYasha from taking off after us."

"True but then how do we keep the elder bloodhound from following us?"

"That, I think, would be nearly impossible. You know Lord Sesshomaru. He comes and goes as he pleases." Rin shrugged.

"Yeah and he does neither one when you want him to!" Kagome grumbled.

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"Those two are up to something. I can tell. My ears are twitching." InuYasha remarked.

"Remarkable instincts, little brother. Now impress me and tell me just what it is they are up to."

"Hey, you have the same great hearing, jerk!"

"So in otherwords, you can't hear anything they are saying." Sesshomaru smirked.

"Shut up!"

Sesshomaru cocked his head and listened. The girls had either gone silent or moved out of his range of hearing. He could only assume they were discussing the possibility of becoming immortal. Rin was torn, that much was obvious. Sesshomaru would not accept any decision she gave him right now. There had to be no question in her heart or mind. Unknowingly echoing Rin's words in his head, he would settle for nothing less than absolute certainty.

"Well?" InuYasha snapped impatiently.

"They have gone silent."

"That does it! The only thing more dangerous than a silent woman is one who is talking constantly! Which way is Rin's room? Whatever the hell they are up to, I'm gonna put a stop to it!"

"Don't be a fool. You will not go in Rin's room. You are forbidden there!" Sesshomaru's eyes blazed for a split second before calm returned to him.

"Oh for cryin' out...I'm not gonna go in there to peek, Sesshomaru! I have a mate, thank you very much! I want to know what the girls are conspiring to do now! Rin and Kagome are just alike in that they get into trouble without meaning to! Only when its almost too late do you and I find out about it." InuYasha said pointedly.

"Very well, little brother. Go and eavesdrop. Your mate will give you that insipid little command and you will end up face down for your troubles."

With that Sesshomaru turned away from his brother. He would never admit it but the great inuyoukai lord was beginning to have his own doubts about turning Rin into an immortal. After all, it was the mortal Rin he had chosen, just as she was. He knew how living for centuries with no change to ones appearance could make that time seem to crawl by. It was the passage of time, the ebb and flow of life that made mortals so grounded in the here and now. They took nothing for granted. Each day, each hour, each minute held the promise of something new. This had always seemed to be Rin's philosophy. When one lived as long as Sesshomaru had, one sunset didn't differ from another. The beauty of the stars scattered across the darkness of the night sky had been lost on him...until Rin. With her boundless enthusiasm for everything in life, she had infused him with a renewed passion. She just had such a fresh look on the most mudane of things. Around Rin, Sesshomaru was seeing his world in new ways. And as much as he longed to keep that vision and light with him for as long as he lived, if Rin took his offer to become immortal, she would cease to savor the simple things. Her joyful spirit would wither and decay until she became the cold and emotionless thing he had once been.

"To ask her to live forever is to kill her." he mused softly with a wry smile.

"What was that?"

"You wouldn't understand, little brother. It is--"

"ME LORD!" Jaken's near hysterical squawk caused both InuYasha and Sesshomaru to flinch.

The vassil stood panting in the doorway of the chamber, his already large eyes seemingly bigger. Seeing Jaken in such a state of panic, InuYasha's hand went quickly to Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru calmly turned to face his trembling servant and his amber eyes narrowed. Something had Jaken shaking violently. Quickly Sesshomaru checked the air and detected no scent of blood or demon.

"Jaken, I pray for your sake, there is a good reason for this outburst?"

"M-me lord, tis the mortal girls! I overheard them talking---"

"You mean you were snooping!" InuYasha retorted.

"They mean to go after The Demon Blade!" Jaken blurted, seeming not to hear the hanyou's remark.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jaken was wishing he had kept his silence.