Rin heard his footsteps behind her and she spun around from her position of watching Sesshomaru leave and looked now at Katuru leaving. " Where are you going?" She asked him curiously.
" Nowhere." He mumbled, then disappeared into the forest.
Rin moved to chase him, but then stopped and turned to the direction Sesshomaru had gone. She then moved to chase him, but then stopped and looked back over to Katuru's path. She looked back and forth a few more times, before finally giving up and falling to her knees with a sigh. ' What's wrong with me?' She began to think to herself. ' Why do I feel so…torn?' After a moment, she grew weary of the debate inside of her, and rested herself on the ground where she soon found sleep.
Jaken too had fallen asleep, only to wake when a strange feeling of fear swept over him. When he opened his eyes he jumped back against a tree, then sighed in relief. " Milord. Please don't scare me like that." His voice was still shaky with fear.
Sesshomaru moved away from Jaken and surveyed the camp. He saw Rin on the other side of the fire, asleep on the grass, but that was it. He paid the area no more attention, and sat in his favorite position against a tree.
Jaken, now unable to fall back asleep, gathered a few twigs on the ground and tossed them into the fire before sitting in front of it for warmth. " Milord." Jaken started. " Do you think that demon Rin spoke of, was looking for the same jewel as that demon Naraku was?" Sesshomaru remained silent. Jaken understood he had already considered that. Jaken then looked through the fire and at the sleeping Rin. " Do you suppose that the story is true Rin told? That she has actually been a slave for several years now? Why would that demon do so?"
" If he could speed up the time in the location they were at, he would be able to return here where he would be able to use it, and only mere weeks would have passed." He replied coldly.
" Poor Rin." Jaken let the words out before he could stop himself. He looked nervously over at Sesshomaru. " Not that I, uh, care or anything. She's only a human. But at least when she was a child she was always quietly smiling, and now all she does is cry! In fact, she's even more annoying now than before! What I really meant was poor me!" When Sesshomaru stood Jaken thought he may have said something wrong, and he shivered with fear when he saw Sesshomaru walking towards him. He closed his eyes and covered his head as he heard the footsteps getting closer and then stopping in front of him. " Forgive me milord! Whatever I said, I did not mean it!" He begged. Sesshomaru just walked away from him.
Sometime later Jaken had fallen asleep. Sesshomaru glanced at his snoring form, then rose and walked over to Rin and stood beside her. " Rin."
Rin stirred in her sleep, shifted on her side, then slowly blinked her eyes open. " Yes milord?" She spoke with sleepy words as her mind was still groggy.
" Follow me." He spoke, then turned and walked into the forest. Rin blinked again in confusion, then quickly rose and chased him when it sunk in that he had given her a command.
She walked a few feet behind him as they continued through the forest. She looked around trying to figure out where they were and where he was leading her to, but she did not know. " My lord? Where are you taking me?" He only kept walking.
After a moment, they walked out into a clearing. Sesshomaru stopped walking without explanation and stood silently in the field. Rin found out that this was where he was leading her too. She observed the clearing, it seemed no different from any other. She looked around it once again, but still noticed nothing important. She then looked at Sesshomaru with his back to her. " Umm…" She began to ask him why they were here, but she didn't want to appear dumb in asking him the question. So she stood silently behind him.
Out of boredom she looked up into the sky to look at the many stars and the glowing moon, and was disappointed when she could see neither. The clouds shielded them from view, making the sky appear as a vast and dark emptiness. She cringed at the thought. When something fell into her eye, she shut them instinctively and looked down. When the same happened to her face and skin, she realized it was raining. First it came as a gentle mist, but it was slowly increasing. She looked over to her lord. " Um, Lord Sesshomaru?" He remained still. Rin tried to cover herself with her arms, but it did little good as the rain continued to fall. " My Lord! Please!" She shouted out through the loud raindrops and thundering skies. She grew weak as he legs gave way and she fell to the ground, immediately assuming a crouching position.
" Do not worry." He called back to her, but she couldn't hear him. All the water surrounding her and the winds blowing past her brought back fearful memories. She started screaming, and she felt as if she were crying, but her face was too soaked to feel any tears.
" Rin." Sesshomaru called to her, finally silencing her screams. She had not even noticed that the rain had passed. She looked up to him, then covered her face with her hands in a failed attempt to hide her tears. " Why did you stay?" He asked without turning to her.
Rin sniffled and shivered from the cool air that attacked her wet body. Wiping away her tears, her hands then rubbed her arms as she tried to warm herself. " What do you mean milord?" Her voice was shaky from the cold.
" You feared the storm, yet you did not run from it. Why?" He asked again, his tone the same.
Rin stopped her movements. Her eyes raised and focused on his back, and at the long, silken hair that flowed down it. She slowly rose and lightly walked over to him. She then stood behind him and wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his back. She briefly noticed with a bit of confusion that her body suddenly became very warm.
" Because my lord." She spoke quietly into his back, but he heard her clearly. " No matter the problem, nor how great the fear, I will never leave you. I will stay with you forever." She knew he was about to tell her to move away, but she didn't want to.
" Rin." She gripped him harder when she heard him call her. " This is not the reason I brought you here." She released him then, only to walk in front of him so she could find out the reason he brought her here. His eyes did not acknowledge her presence. They focused straight ahead in front of them. Rin eyes followed the path of his own so she could find out what he was looking at.
The field was just started to gain some light. She looked up to the sky and saw the clouds begin to fade away and the moon started to peak from behind them. She then looked back to the field that Sesshomaru was still staring at. As the light seeped through, it slowly began to spread across the field. It started in a distance, and Rin swore she saw something moving. As the light got closer to them she gasped when she realized what it was.
At the same moment the light hit the ground, blossoms would pop up and bloom into a large, lavender flower, with a center the same color as the golden sun, the same flower that had enticed her so many years ago. They appeared rapidly under the moonlight, nearly covering the entire field. Her eyes widened in amazement as she took in the glorious sight. She smiled brighter than the moon and let out a childish giggle. She rose and ran around in the opening, her feet disappearing beneath the wild growth. She laughed in joy and began to dance under the moon. When she spun in a circle a little too fast, she lost her balance and fell to the ground. However, that only made her laugh even harder.
She looked up at the sky as her laughter slowly died down only because she was too tired to do so anymore. She sat up, the smile still wide on her face, and looked over to Sesshomaru. He was watching her. She smiled back at him. She looked to the ground, then plucked two of the flowers, placing one over her ear. She then rose and ran playfully over to Sesshomaru. She halted in front of him. " May I?" She asked bashfully.
Sesshomaru knew her request and nodded once.
She smiled brightly then raised her arm and tucked the flower over his ear. She giggled at the sight. Sesshomaru turned then walked back to the forest. Rin kept smiling as she followed him as they walked back towards the camp. As they walked Rin began to hum a tune, one she had not sung since she was a child by Sesshomaru's side. He did not turn to her, but his eyes went to the side to focus on her when he heard her humming. He then looked back in front of him and closed his eyes for a moment as they walked on.