Summary- Years have passed since the incident with Khan. Now Rin is happy, living with her young child, InuTaisho. InuYasha has taken over in Sesshoumaru's absence, and no one knows what has happened to him. Rin still wonders upon the missing youkai, and if she shall truly ever see him again...

Eternity

Chapter One

"Rin...your marking has faded..."

InuYasha glanced at Rin as she once again walked out onto the balcony. He sighed and sat down on the bed. Rin always stood on the balcony for some reason...he always wondered why. Did Sesshoumaru used to do it? Or was it a habit that she always had?

"InuYasha..."

InuYasha's ears twitched as he heard his name whispered and looked up at Rin. A gentle breeze blew by, making Rin seem etheral. InuYasha smirked and stood up, walking over to her and grabbing her arm. It was no wonder that Sesshoumaru mated with Rin all those years ago. She truly was beautiful in her own right. He pulled her into the room and closed the balcony doors, locking them. She would catch a cold if she continued to stand out there in the small kimono that she wore now.

"InuYasha...do you think that Sesshoumaru will come back?"

InuYasha stopped in his tracks at the absurd question. What did she mean, 'come back'? Did Rin know something that no one else did? No...surely Rin would have told them of it, especially if it dealt with Sesshoumaru.

"I don't know Rin. That isn't for me to decide, whether or not the bastard comes back." InuYasha saidtruthfully. Rin sighed. What on Earth made her think that InuYasha would be sentimental about Sesshoumaru? InuYasha glanced at Rin as she sighed. He closed his eyes. Why was he so bad at this?

"But...I guess that he won't leave us alone. After all, he'd be damned to die before me, right?" InuYasha joked. Rin giggled at his statement. Well...that was quite true. From what InuYasha told her about Sesshoumaru's past, he hated hanyou's with a passion. Especially InuYasha.

-But what about InuTaisho? Would Sesshoumaru hate his own son for being a half-demon? I wish I knew...poor InuTaisho...-
Rin thought. The young pup never knew who his father was. And Rin didn't know if Sesshoumaru would accept InuTaisho as his son, seeing as he was a hanyou, something that Sesshoumaru despised.

"Hey Rin...there's something that I wanted to ask you about for a while now." InuYasha started as he just now remembered something from years ago. Rin looked up at him and the crawled into the bed, stretching. How she loved the feeling of a good stretch...

"Well, what was your life like before? You know, with Kagome and whatever village you came from?" InuYasha asked. Rin stopped and glanced up to him. She quickly looked away and felt tears sting her eyes. She had hoped that the subject was buried long ago, along with her village. She did not want to speak of that wretched man again...nor did she wish to see him.

In fact, she was glad that Sesshoumaru had him killed.

"My life before...let's just say it was a living Hell." Rin said, clearly through with the conversation. InuYasha blinked and nodded, not pushing her any further. He had experianced Rin's wrath before, if only once. It wasn't his fault either! InuTaisho was a slick little devil, and if he couldn't find him, then big deal! Rin didn't need to panic the way she did...

Rin and InuYasha looked up at a knock upon the door. InuYasha stood up and walked over to it, opening it.

"Mommy!" InuTaisho squealed as he leapt out of Shippo's arms and ran over to his mother. InuYasha had told them to go somewhere for a little while, but InuTaisho just wouldn't stand waiting any longer. Shippo grinned as InuYasha glared at him.

"Shippo...when I said to leave for a little while, I didn't mean five minutes." InuYasha said. Shippo shrugged, then pointed to InuTaisho.

"It isn't my fault the kid doesn't know how to stay away from his mother. InuYasha, what exactly were you trying to do?"

"Shippo, you know how Rin's been getting sadder every day now?"

"...yeah?"

"Well, I was hoping to get her to reveal why she's being that way."

Shippo stared at InuYasha with a puzzled expression. He then shook his head and glanced to Rin, thankful to see that she was distracted by InuTaisho.

"InuYasha, did you ever stop to think that she may be depressed about Sesshoumaru?" Shippo suggested. InuYasha blinked. Whoops...

Rin's eyes softened as she continued to play with InuTaisho. They thought she couldn't hear them...but she was hearing every word...

"InuYasha, Shippo, can you take care of InuTaisho for a few hours?" Rin asked. Both men turned towards her and then looked at each other. Hours? Where was she going to go?

"Umm...sure Rin. What's up?" InuYasha asked. Rin shrugged and set InuTaisho in Shippo's arms. She then walked to the door.

"Be back later..."

-1-1-1-

"Miro, why did you upset Rin like that? You know that she's my sister...I even asked you to be nice to her." Kagome whispered to Mirowashitawa. The horse nearly snuffed and shook his mane. He then looked to Kagome.

"I would have done so, but she proclaimed me to belong to someone. I never!" Miro growled to himself. Kagome shook her head, then thought of something that Miro had spoken of earlier.

"But...you do. You called Sesshoumaru your master, didn't you?" Kagome asked. Miro was silent as he heard that. Well...Kagome did have a point there. He did say that earlier. He glared at Kagome from the side and lowered his head in shame.

"I am a fool..." Miro whispered. He had harmed a human (and was harmed back) for completely no reason. She had been correct then in assuming that he belonged to someone. He belonged to Sesshoumaru, and had done so since the young Lord was a pup. They had met through Sesshoumaru's father, and each had rarely, if ever, left each other's company.

"Oh Miro. You just weren't thinking about what you said. That doesn't make you a fool, so don't say that." Kagome said as she smiled. Miro looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"Come."

Kagome grinned and leapt up upon his back. Miro neighed and then began to run off, Kagome holding on tightly to his mane as he galloped through the fields. Now Kagome knew how it felt for Rin all those years ago when she rode her mare.

"Come on Miro! Faster!" Kagome cheered. Miro responded to her, edging himself on, leaping into the air. Kagome laughed aloud as Miro faked a fall and she fell off, rolling through the grass. Miro whinnied and his ears twitched and he looked to the forest, his violet eyes lit up in excitement.

"Kagome, get back to the castle. Go and get the half-breed. Now." Miro said stifly, standing up immediately. Kagome stared at him in confusion. What was wrong? She trailed her eyes to the forest that he stared at and narrowed her eyes. The Fukai Mori? But why would he be wary of the forest? It was sealed up, and has been for years.

"Kagome, go. Now."

Kagome looked up at Miro and wondered as to the reason why he suddenly seemed urged as if to battle. Was there something wrong?

"Miro?"

"Go!"

Kagome panicked and ran away towards the castle. Miro never shouted like that unless something big and dangerous was headed their way.

Miro glared into the forest as a wind gently floated by. This scent...he knew this scent. But from who?

"Miro..."

Miro's ears flicked as his head twisted to his left. His eyes narrowed as he searched the breeze for anything that may be hidden from him. He found nothing. He looked to his right, just in case, and gazed around again. Still, he found nothing.

"Who is there? Who are you, and how do you know me?" Miro called out.

"Miro...the girl..."

Miro hiked upon his hind legs and thrashed out as something appeared before him. He could see straight through the beast. He could see nothing but pale skin and golden, piercing eyes. He wriggled away from the phantom and whinnied, growled and flared his nostrils.

"Who are you...? What sorcery is this?" Miro asked. The phantom did not stop staring at Miro and took a single step forward. Miro, for the first time in his entire life, felt a surge of fear overwhealm him and he felt his entire body begin to shake.

"The girl...the girl...Miro..."

Miro's eyes flashed as he lashed out at the phantom. He would not allow some ghost to make him afraid, and to get the better of him. His front hooves lashed straight through the being. Miro began to panic. How was he to defeat that which could not be touched?

"Wind Scar!"

Miro gazed in wonder as a surge of energy hit the phantom, surrounding it in such power that Miro knew that no ordinary demon would be able to survive such energy. What fused his interest was, what demon was strong enough to weild and control such imminent power?

Miro turned with a scowl as he saw InuYasha. How was the hanyou brat able to weild this? Miro's gaze landed upon the Tetsusaiga. Of course. Their father. Then it was not the half-demon's strength, but Touga's power that protected him. Miro huffed. It should have been his master that held that sword...

"I need no help from you, half-breed. I would have slain this beast had you not appeared..." Miro huffed. He would not let this pathetic hanyou get the better of him. InuYasha merely growled.

"Oh shut up you idiot. I don't give a damn what you're able to do, and you wouldn't have been able to defeat it anyway. The things a ghost!" InuYasha shouted. He then turned back to the Wind Scar and his eyes widened as his breath hitched. The phantom walked out, unscarred. InuYasha's eyes narrowed. What the...?

The phantom held no face. Merely golden eyes were visible. Its arms were like a running river, fading away, seeing as the ghost held no hands. Its legs were transparent until it came to its shins, when it began to disappear, just as the hands did.

"Who the Hell are you, anyway?" InuYasha questioned. The phantom stopped in its tracks. It neither moved, nor blinked as it stared at InuYasha, seemingly through him, to his very soul. A light wind tickled against InuYasha's ears.

"InuYasha...protect her..."

A blast of wind whipped past InuYasha and Miro, straight to the phantom, and so it disappeared. InuYasha's eyes became somewhat blank. It couldn't have been...

-Was that really Sesshoumaru? But he's dead, isn't he? What am I saying, of course the looney bastard's dead...-
InuYasha thought to himself. He sheathed the Tetsusaiga and began to walk back to the castle. He glanced slightly at Miro and glared.

"Come on, damn it. I don't have all day..."

"InuYasha, what happened to my master?"

InuYasha stopped walking, keeping his back towards Miro. Already he could tell that the horse will not stop pestering him until InuYasha told him the truth. InuYasha sighed.

"Sesshoumaru's dead, and he won't be coming back. Not now, not ever." InuYasha said harshly before leaping into the air and running towards the castle. Miro stood there, gazing into the Fukai Mori. Sesshoumaru...dead...? No. It was impossible...wasn't it?

Flashback

"Hey, Miro! Watch this!" A young Sesshoumaru said from atop a tall tree. A young stallion stared at Sesshoumaru before he leapt off the tree. Miro's eyes widened before he started to panic. What if Sesshoumaru didn't make it?

"Sesshoumaru!"

Miro sighed in relief as the young pup made his way down to the ground safely, stumbling as he had tried to get up and bow. That rotten little runt...Miro laughed as he realized that he had worried over the young youkai's life. Then again, the young one always did want to defeat his father...

"Sesshoumaru-sama, why do you wish to defeat your father?" Miro asked. Sesshoumaru did not answer him. Instead, the young six-year-old looked up at the stark white tree. It was the tallest tree in the Fukai Mori, and the most beautiful...

In the spring, the trees branches were covered in emerald leaves and a beautiful rainbow of flowers. In the summer, it was full of cherry blossoms. In fall, the tree was decorated with a variety of beautiful leaves, ranging from the bright gold, to the crimson red. And in winter, it was the most beautiful...

"I'm going to call this the God Tree..." Sesshoumaru whispered to himself. No one but he knew of this tree's magical powers, and no one ever will...he would not allow it to be abused.

"Milord?"

Sesshoumaru turned to Miro and grinned.

"Well...I wanna be strong. I wanna be the strongest demon ever!" Sesshoumaru shouted before running off and laughing, Miro following close after.

...in the winter, the tree held crytal and white roses whos nectar had the power to bring back the dead...

End Flashback

Miro's eyes softened as he thought of his master being killed by some lowly demon. He wouldn't stand for it...not now, not ever. Sesshoumaru was his master and...friend.

"Sesshoumaru, your death shall not go unavenged."

-1-1-1-

"Rin, we have a problem."

Rin looked up from the scroll she was reading, InuTaisho looking up at his uncle's disturbance. Rin gazed at InuYasha's face. It was an expression of fear and worry. Something must have happened. Rin opened her mouth to say something when Kagome too, barged in to her room.

"Rin, something's happening."

Rin sighed and shook her head, holding it in her hands. This couldn't be happening...not now. She wasn't in the mood for anything going wrong right now. She glanced up to Kagome and InuYasha, only to see them both looking at each other with such longing, but Rin could see sadness lurking in their eyes as well.

-What happened between them? I never knew...one minute they both love each other, even if they didn't know it, and then the next moment, they refuse to be in the same room!-
Rin thought. She swore that she would get to the bottom of this mystery...if it was the last thing she did.

"What happened, InuYasha?" Rin asked. InuYasha snapped back to Rin, although he still glanced at Kagome from the side of his head, and Rin saw it perfectly.

"I don't really know, Rin. There's a phantom haunting the Fukai Mori. Is there something that's going on that you're not telling us? Maybe something about...Sesshoumaru perhaps?" InuYasha questioned. Rin paled. A ghost of Sesshoumaru? Impossible! Or was it...? But how was she to explain it? She couldn't tell InuYasha about Sesshoumaru's body being made anew, otherwise it would be destroyed and Sesshoumaru would never return to the land of the living. She would have to lie...to her friend and her sister.

"I'm sure that it's just one of the poor souls that was slaughtered in the Fukai Mori, you know. The one's killed by Khan?" Rin covered. InuYasha growled at Rin's response. He knew that she was lying...but for what reason? Was she really hiding something from them?

"Rin, if there's something you- "

"InuYasha, Rin answered your question. Now quit pestering my sister!" Kagome shouted. InuYasha glared and turned right on Kagome. Rin sighed and held her head. Not again...

"Hey! Don't talk to me like that! And how long have you been gone exactly? Four years? What do you know about your sister's life?" InuYasha yelled back. Kagome's face began to turn red in anger. How dare he assume that she knew nothing of her sister's life!

"SIT!"

-Sesshoumaru...your body better be remade soon...otherwise one of these two are going to see you in the Otherworld as well...-
Rin thought to herself.

-1-1-1-

He opened his eyes slowly as he glanced around the forest that he currently resided in. The place was dark and dank, and no one lived here but himself. He could not leave, for he had been sealed into this place, although not intentionally. He stood up, his legs feeling as if they had never been used in his entire life. How was he to find a way out when the Fukai Mori continued to drive him mad?

"I need to get out of here...before I lose my mind..." He whispered to himself. No one could hear him, that he knew of. But he did not want to remain in this place any longer.

"Someone help me!"

His cries echoed through the forest, meeting no sign of life but the wandering dead souls of the afterlife. He collapsed to his knees as he squeezed his eyes shut. His head was banging and he couldn't sense anything anymore. Sounds echoed in his head, whispers pestered him and drove him mad constantly. He could no longer define what was real or not.

"Master Naraku..."

His head snapped up at the name. Naraku? The name was familiar...he could have sworn that he heard that name from somewhere before. He looked to what stood in front of him. It wasa young child...a young demon child, that he could tell. Her hair was misty white and her eyes were an empty black shell. She wore all white and held two white flowers in her hair.

"W-who are you...?" He whispered. The child also held a mirror of some sort. He looked into the mirror, staring back at himself. His eyes widened as the mirror began to ripple and glow.

"No sir...who are you?" The young girl whispered before something lashed out of the mirror and engulfed him. The young girl stared emotionless as the man was sucked into the mirror. She stared at the ground and stood there.

"Now I must wait..." She whispered again. Her master would be reborn, and this time, he would remember everything...from this life, and the last...

To Be Continued...

Well, here's your new chapter. I was happy that I was able to createthis story. Also, I have decided to do many of the sequels that I promised and never brought up. The sequel to Nothing shall be next, and then the sequel to Christmas Rose. If there are any other sequels that I did not include, please tell me and I will do my best to start on it as soon as possible. Well, I'm at school typing this, so gotta go!

PLEASE REVIEW!

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