A/N: Welcome to the ansty ending! Hope you like it! Thanks again to all my readers!
Reminder-... /-/-/-/memory;... +-+-+-+past, not a memory;... /-/-+memory and past;... #(anything after)special pov
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or songs. Don't sue me.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue-In The End (Linkin Park)
I kept everything inside, and even though I tried, it all fell apart-what it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard and got so far-but in the end, it doesn't even matter...
"Lord Sesshoumaru..." Rin whispered softly as she saw Ah-Un land quietly. She walked over to him uncertainly, sensing the heavy despair that nearly suffocated the area.
"What is it, Rin?" he asked her, trying valiantly to sound normal, to sound calm and unaffected.
"He...he didn't listen, did he?" she looked up at him sorrowfully, her eyes filling with tears.
"What are you talking about, Rin?" Sesshoumaru feigned ignorance, trying to ignore the ache in his heart, trying to imagine that it was all a dream, that he hated his brother just as he always said he did.
"You're sad, Lord Sesshoumaru," Rin said softly, blinking a few times as she looked at him. "Inuyasha didn't listen to you. He said he still hates you, didn't he?"
Sesshoumaru stood there for a minute, looking at her with a pained expression, his golden eyes burning with untainted guilt and agony. He closed his eyes briefly and let go of Ah-Un, sinking to the ground wearily and leaning back against a tree.
"Rin, stop speaking such nonsense," he forced himself to say. "I feel no such emotions. Sadness is not something I am familiar with."
"You're a bad liar," she said quietly, bravely venturing to call his bluff. He looked at her in mild surprise, blinking a few times before he sighed heavily.
"Explain this 'sadness' of yours to me," he said coolly, as if he were indulging a childish whim out of boredom.
"You feel empty and alone, and nothing seems to be right anymore. The world feels upside down, and your heart-your heart feels like it isn't there anymore, like something just took it away and left you there without it. It hurts, right here," she said as she placed her hand on her heart. "And it stays there for a long time. You feel like you want to just leave everything and never come back. You want to make things right again but it's all still wrong. You don't want to think about it, but you can't stop. You don't ever feel like eating, you're always tired and restless at the same time, and you keep wishing it would just go away," she said, looking at him sympathetically.
Sesshoumaru looked at her for a long minute, wondering how she had been able to pinpoint his feelings so precisely. He turned his head after a few more seconds, looking at the ground for a while before speaking quietly.
"Yes, Rin, he said he still hates me. He will probably never stop hating me, either."
"Will you be alright, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked worriedly, a tiny frown on her face.
"I..." Sesshoumaru stopped, thinking over that for a long while. He simply gazed back over at her slowly, locking his eyes with hers. He would not answer her question; he didn't need to. She already knew what he would say, and what he really felt.
"I can always stay with the villagers, Lord Sesshoumaru, if you want me to," Rin whispered quietly. "After all, I might not want to be around if a powerful demon attacks..."
"Not in your lifetime, Rin," Sesshoumaru shook his head softly. "Not ever in your years. I can wait for that."
Rin tilted her head sideways, looking at him for a long time. Then, suddenly, she threw herself at him, her small body collapsing onto his chest as she locked her fingers behind him and gave him an affectionate hug. Sesshoumaru was stunned into speechlessness for almost a full minute, but for some reason, the hug did not bother him. In fact, it was rather comforting, he realized, and he placed a hand on her small shoulders as a way of returning the gesture.
"I wish I could help you, Lord Sesshoumaru," she whispered into his ear.
"You already are, Rin," he whispered back, holding the small girl in his arms as she let go and looked up at him. He gave her a slight nod, and she curled up against his chest, leaning her head on him a bit tiredly.
"Maa maa, ko shounen, nakanaide kudasai..." she began softly, slowly lulling the distraught demon to sleep. He placed a hand on her head as he started to drift off; his small way of thanking her, she knew. She sighed and looked up at him after a few minutes, watching as he slept.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, everything you did to try and help him-it doesn't even matter anymore, does it? You tried so hard, and made it so far, but now...now what? You kept everything inside for so long-in the end, you were too late to save yourself..."
Jaken watched them for a few minutes, blinking mildly when Rin hugged Sesshoumaru, sighing heavily when the demon fell asleep and the girl whispered her melancholy words.
Somehow, he had the distinct feeling that he would outlive both of them, if only for a little while. After all, he really had gotten too attached to the ningen and youkai to consider living too long without them. Rin, of course, would die off with old age, or sickness maybe. Sesshoumaru...would follow soon after. With such heavy weight on his shoulders, there was no doubt that her death would break him. Inuyasha's continuing hatred almost had, and if not for Rin, it would be done already.
Jaken sighed and crossed his legs, wearily resting his chin in one hand. Death was making fools of all of them, laughing at thier eventual demise.
He wondered if demons truly were immortal, in the end...
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Well, I hope you liked it!
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