Title: Smiles for Lord Sesshomaru

Rating: K+

Genre: General

Summary: Sesshomaru reflects on how his life has changed ever since Rin began to travel with him. Short One-shot

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Notes/Warnings: Can be taken as Sesshomaru/Rin

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Smiles for Lord Sesshomaru

He must have been out of his mind on that day when he brought Rin back to life with his Tenseiga. He had just recovered from the fatal attack that his hanyou brother, Inuyasha, had inflicted upon him and most likely, he must have not been thinking clearly. But she had also tried to save me, Sesshomaru reflected. Certainly, the human food didn't do much for me, but it helped at any rate. Sesshomaru had been unmoving and the orphan had come upon him when she was wandering around in the woods. He had startled her by snarling at her, but she had still approached him. Day after day, she brought him food and water. What was I thinking, though, when I brought her alive after she was killed by wolves?

Those wolves...Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at the waters below he had been staring at. Those wolves disgusted him. They were lucky they had ran with their tails between their legs. If they had been there a moment longer, Sesshomaru would have obliterated them. It wasn't so much that he had pitied the girl – at least, he didn't think that was the case – but he wanted to test his Tenseiga – right? That's what he told himself, in any case.

It took awhile for her to ease up to him and Jaken. For a long time, she merely followed Sesshomaru, silent as ever. She never said anything at first and she was careful not to get too close to Sesshomaru or Jaken. She always stayed behind a few feet from Jaken, who was always behind Sesshomaru. Eventually, he decided that she would remain under his protection, just as Jaken was (somewhat.) He ordered her on Ah-Un and she had hesitantly climbed onto the saddle that was on Ah-Un. She hadn't been accustomed to demons or any thing relating to demons. She still didn't speak, not even to Sesshomaru, who had saved her life. However, when they paused at a stream, she spotted some flowers and her face lit up. She hopped off Ah-Un and snatched them up, before jogging back to Sesshomaru. She tugged on his kimono and he turned his attention to her. She had beamed at him and showed the flowers to him, saying, "These flowers are for you, my lord!" She knew well enough that he wanted to be spoken to respectfully and Sesshomaru was thankful that he didn't have to reprimand the young girl. He took the flowers and she left over to the stream and laid on her stomach, watched the fish go by. He kept a few blossoms, pocketing them, tossing the other flowers over his shoulder.

From then on, she continued to speak to both Sesshomaru and Jaken, however frequent or infrequent. It was good to hear her finally speaking. He was even more pleased that she became more loyal and dependent on them as they traveled. She didn't question his actions or flinch when he killed any demons that were insignificant to him that had been impertinent to him. There was one time that she had looked to a squirrel that had stolen one of the nuts she had found and said, "Bad, impertinent squirrel!" Jaken had chuckled at her angered face and she ended up chasing the animal until she got the nut back – though other squirrels had gotten her other ones.

However, despite this all, Sesshomaru doubted that Rin was entirely pleased with her life. He still did doubt that she content with how things went. She had been kidnapped maybe more than twice and continued to be threatened by demons. He had considered many times to find a safe place for her to settle at, but almost every time he disregarded the thought. Even though Rin might be threatened every day, she was rather attached to the youkai that she was traveling with.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru snapped out his thoughts and glanced at Rin through the corner of his eye. She sat next to him and offered a large grin. Her hair was damp as well as her clothes. "The water is warm in the stream," she told him with the same smile he was so familiar with. "Jaken has caught many, many fish! But I only caught two." She held up three fingers. In response, he took one of her fingers and curled it so she had two fingers up. She blinked. "Right, two," she repeated, accepting her mistake with a smile.

"Rin," Sesshomaru addressed her, "are you content with traveling with this Sesshomaru?" He asked her. Her eyes slowly moved from his face to the water, as though considering the question carefully.

"I am happy," she told him, smiling. "I love Lord Sesshomaru, so I am happy traveling with him."

"You love...Sesshomaru," he repeated. She nodded and stood up.

"Does Lord Sesshomaru love me?" She asked hopefully. He turned his attention back to the water, briefly allowing his mind to wander, before he turned back to her.

"Sesshomaru is...pleased with you in my company," he said slowly and carefully. She beamed at him, taking the words to heart and she hurried back to Jaken, who was beginning to cook the carp. Sesshomaru heard her ask Jaken questions. He glanced behind him and saw her gesture animatedly. He almost smiled at Jaken's puzzled look. She was talking so fast he wasn't able to answer any of her questions or even make out half of what she was saying.

It is a surprise, he thought to himself, turning back to the waters, what joy can do to someone. He almost frowned, wondering whether loving humans ran in the family. First my father, then that hanyou, and possibly me.

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DIS: It actually wasn't that good, but I had to get it out of my system. Like I said, it can be taken as Sesshomaru/Rin. Please review, ciao!