This fic, I should mention, does make some references to the other fic I wrote (Last Battle) about InuYasha. It's not crucial that you read it to understand this one but I'm just warning you now where the weird stuff that pops up comes from.

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Sesshomaru watched from his window as the coach along the side of the building was prepared and loaded. A few moments were all it took before Rin was, bundled and wrapped, ushered from the side entrance and into the bed set up inside. The coach was quite similar to the one he'd fooled his brother with with the only real difference being that Ah-nun would be pulling it.

He wasn't so foolish as to think this departure would go unnoticed. He was aware of multiple presences in the shadows that were eyeing and analyzing this event. That is what the smarter demons did of course, analyzed every situation and weighed what the benefits that they could reap from each possible course of action. There were several rumors going around that Jakken had informed him of and he hadn't bothered to disperse. The first being that Rin no longer interested him in her injured state and instead of simply killing her he was showing that weak willed compassion and sending her away. Others suggested, rightly, that he was sending her to be healed while countless more were formed from variants of those.

He refused to move from his window. Let them see him, it would decrease the likelihood that they'd try to take advantage of the almost unguarded human girl. Either his presence had been noted or they were far more cautious then he gave them credit for for as the carriage rose into the air and away under the pale light cast by the moon nothing attacked. He continued to look up at the moon long after the carriage had gone out of sight.

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Rin arrived in a small clearing and peaked through the curtains. The small versions of Jakken, hand picked by him, set about opening up the curtains, un-harnessing Ah-nun and lifting her into a seated position. She'd rather have just been left with her and Ah-nun but taking care of him was impossible in her current state. She'd discovered that her bones might have healed but her insides still felt oddly liquidy and she ran out of energy often. Jakken had informed her that the grizzled demon who'd healed her hadn't expended any of his own vast amounts of energy, he'd simply drawn her own to heal the bones. Energy she hadn't had to spare and was now trying to earn back as well as finish healing. Sesshomaru had apparently, this part was explained with great vigor, neatly decapitated him for being so foolish.

She couldn't really focus on that though, most of her energy was spent trying to think of a way to apologize properly to Jakken. He'd stormed into her rooms in a huff and woke her up with a number of almost but not quite slamming of the trey on the table. He'd glared at her when she'd asked why he'd been so covered in bruises. Finally he'd turned on her.

" You! You fell asleep next to the table. Sesshomaru-sama came into the room when I told him you'd awakened and he found you in a pile on the floor. The floor! You were put right back in bed might I add, but falling asleep on the floor? What were you thinking?" His tone was grouchy all the way through until the very end when it turned almost pleading.

" I'm so sorry," she'd managed to whisper. Well that was an improvement, she could whisper now instead of rasp. He'd flomped off and informed her he wasn't ready to forgive her.

Rin was pulled out of her musings by Ah-nun's growl. She peered out in time to see a silver haired figure step from forest and head straight for them. InuYasha stopped a short distance away from them and holding an odd metal configuration.

" You going to let me come get you or do I have to beat up your pet?" He had a hand on his hip and the other suggestively placed on the hilt of his sword.

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He sat on his patio overlooking the courtyard. Another attack on his palace, this time by a handful of monks. He'd known that they would rally when such a 'pit of demons' showed up but he was getting quite out of patience with the repeated assaults on his home. It had been years and they'd yet to give up and he was quite tired of splashing that smelly human blood around.

She'd never shown a problem with him killing other humans. True it'd always been in self defense but he had been slightly surprised that she'd been so calm about it when he'd come back smelling of blood to high heavens.

His eyes narrowed as did his mouth as he contemplated the tea in the cup before him.

" My lord?" The lovely courtesan with the cat eyes and full lips smiled up while holding up a tea pot questioningly. Jakken had told him of this one, one of the more stubborn spreader of rumors and someone who'd often tried to slip into Sesshomaru's rooms to wait for him there.

" No," he turned his head away from her. " You're not needed here any longer." Why tolerate someone who would not follow his laws? Why deal with a jealous female at all?

" My lord," she bowed low before straightening up again. " Will you require me...in any form this evening?" She licked her lips suggestively.

" I will not require you ever again. Leave." He turned his cold yellow eyes on her in time to see hers narrow with anger.

" My...lord?" Her eyes were dangerously narrowed and it was far too easy to tell what she was thinking. It was too bad she hadn't just left when he'd told her to, now he knew she'd try to cause more distractions and trouble once she'd left the castle. He leaned foreword.

" I will no longer require your services," he said slowly and clearly before standing up and tossing the heart he'd ripped from her chest into the garden. He stood up and walked away as the body slid limply to the ground.

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Rin had hobbled outside to sit with Ah-nun that evening. The short walk still tired her greatly but she took heart in the fact that she could walk at all. She was enjoying her time with Sesshomaru's younger brother but being introverted seemed to run in his family and Kagome seemed to enjoy talking to Rin almost as much as Rin enjoyed talking to her. Rin stroked Ah-nun's side gently and closed her eyes, if she concentrated she could almost imagine she was having a quiet evening at home...

" Rin," Kagome's voice came out of the dusk behind her, " do you mind if I join you?"

" Please," Rin patted the ground next to her and Ah-nun made pleased growling sounds in it's throats as Kagome settled herself.

" Are you feeling better?" Kagome reached out with her left hand and scratched Ah-nun's flank.

" Yes, quite a bit actually. I still get tired though." Rin always looked at Kagome as a sort of opposite of Sesshomaru. She was human, she was open and free with her emotions and having her right arm partially gone seemed to cement that image for her. " I am getting hungry more often then I used to."

" That's a good sign." Kagome patted Rin's leg and then looked out at the purple and pink sky that was settled over the now dark woods. " Missing Sesshomaru?"

" Yes," Rin said after a moment, " I always miss him when he's gone, but this time seems harder."

" I can imagine." Kagome was quiet for a few more moments, letting the crickets chirp. " You're in love with him aren't you?"

This time it was Rin's turn to be quiet and she let it stretch out for more then a few moments before she flopped backwards onto the grass. " Yes."

" You're sure that's what you want?"

Rin smiled, turning her head to look at Kagome's silhouette. " Did you want to be in love with InuYasha?"

" Oh good god no," Kagome laughed and leaned back on her hand, looking up at the night sky. " I was absolutely horrified when I discovered I was." She sighed heavily. " Truth be told I was thrilled a little. I'd wanted to all along but I also thought I wanted to live an ordinary life more then anything."

Rin mulled over this before replying. " When I was younger I wanted, just a little, to live in a village with other people. I wanted it very much. My lord gave me many chances to leave, many chances to go and live with regular people. I think it was those chances that made me realize how much I didn't want to leave him." She sat up again, brushing off her back before continuing. " It was those times that helped me realize just how much I wanted to be with my lord."

" You've thought about this." Kagome stated it more as a fact then a question but Rin nodded into the dark anyway.

" There was always time to think about it. Sesshomaru-sama always made sure I was cared for. He'd tell me to go off and find my own food but he always had us near a place where it was easy to get it. If he couldn't do that then he'd have Jakken do it. Jakken hated having Sesshomaru say 'I do not want to be kept up all night by a growling stomach'." Rin laughed. " My lord was always very caring and he was always very patient."

" He doesn't come off that way," Kagome pointed out thoughtfully.

" No," Rin's voice took on an edge of sadness, " I suppose he doesn't. It's only because I've been with him so very long that I can even tell when he's happy or not and he's got to be that way because emotions in demons are considered a weakness."

" I can see why he always thought InuYasha was weak then," Kagome stated. " He's a giant seething pot of them at the best of times."

" Yes," Rin stated slowly, a little shyly, " but he doesn't think so anymore."

" That's good," Kagome said. " That could help keep some possible problems at bay. I imagine it's harder being in love with Sesshomaru then it would be to be in love with InuYasha though."

" I think you might be right," Rin positioned herself so that she could lean up against Ah-nun's side, yawning a bit before continuing. " InuYasha is everything I wish Sesshomaru would open himself up to being."

" I think he might disown you if he heard you say that," Kagome pointed out.

" Probably," Rin smiled sleepily at the thought.

" I think you should get inside before I have to have InuYasha carry you inside."

" You're right," Rin mumbled, pushing herself slowly to her feet with Ah-nun's help and shuffling slowly back towards her small hut. It had been such a nice surprise when InuYasha'd carried her out to see it.

" When you get better kid you can have a little more privacy."

She thought, a little sleepily, that he was probably half and half on getting some of his own back along with giving her some.