"Rin," Sesshomaru called.
"My lord!"
She ran up to him eagerly. Her scent was intermingled with all sorts of human smells: food, fire, herbs and soaps. Since when had she grown so tall, her voice become so full and confident? She had put on weight over what was once a scrawny, childish frame, and was now glowing with health. She was thirteen human years old.
Only two years ago he had left her in the human village. Before then, throughout their travels, Sesshomaru had offered to leave her in any number of human groups. Always, she had refused and came running back to him.
So he was unsure why that time, it had been different. Perhaps it was the stern warning of the old miko, that the girl needed to reintegrate with human society as soon as possible before such capacities were lost for good. Perhaps it was the warm welcome extended by his half-brother's mate, and their just-married friends. Or maybe it was the din of village children playing. But this time, Rin's interest was piqued, and she agreed to stay of her own accord.
Sesshomaru could not help but feel a twinge of disappointment, realising that the urchin would no longer be trailing at his feet. He allowed her to return to her own kind, and stay she did. They had treated her well, better than his own travels with her ever did. She appeared stronger and in greater spirits than ever.
He continued to visit her every few moons. He always questioned the utility of such a task, but his presence appeared to bring her pleasure. So he kept up with them. He was told that if he did not visit, she cried out for him. He brought her yukatas, combs, venison and an array of other items that were not readily available in the human village. At least, Sesshomaru thought, not of a quality that he deemed worthy.
The sight of her today, however, made him gasp. She was not wearing the purple yukata that he had gifted a few moons ago, the one made of precious silks and which gave her the air of royalty. She'd chosen the tattered orange one from their previous travels. She had long outgrown it. The fabric that once covered her knees now rose to the edge of her thighs. Her once childish chest had begun to push out from the cloth. It seemed all but indecent now.
He glanced away, suddenly shy.
"Where's the yukata I gave you?" he growled.
Rin flinched, and looked hurt. "I like this one better," she sighed. She continued striding towards him, hoping to capture him in an embrace. Her brown eyes gleamed, still, with such innocence.
He leapt back, just short from her grasp. He felt his breath quicken. Long ago, he had watched over her as she bathed in the river, and held her close to his mokomoko to warm her. But things had changed.
"I must leave," he muttered.
"But why?" she cried out, eyes darkening with disappointment.
"I will return," he only said, and was gone.
More than a year passed before his next visit. He had missed the day on which she had turned fourteen. She highlighted this fact most morosely.
"My lord has forgotten me," she accused. She did not mention the lavish gifts that he had left by the old miko's door, always by night, packaged with care. To his chagrin, he'd heard from the old miko that she'd made a habit of giving them away to other village women. One such parcel had been filled with small white forest flowers. He'd plucked them from the highest point of a cliff after Jaken had made note of them, commenting that they might have pleased the girl. He'd had the petals enchanted by an old earth demoness, so that they would never wilt. He was pleased to see that Rin had tucked one of them into her hair today.
She sat languidly on the porch of the old miko's home, unwilling to advance to greet him. The twilight cast shadows on her face, and he could not make out her expression. She wore a plain white robe, like that of any commoner. It made her, too, look plain. The single white flower in her hair glowed in the half-light, forever youthful. Sesshomaru saw that she had grown tremendously since his last visit, likely having surpassed the old miko in height. But the shape of her face remained that of a child.
"How have you been, Rin?" he asked.
"How have I been! I have been miserable," she shot at him. And he knew, at once, that he had been the source of this misery. "My lord promised that he would visit. And he has forsaken me."
It might have once pleased him to know how she ached for his presence. Yet the pain in her voice and her averted gaze shot arrows into his heart. But he could never let her know of the terrible fantasies that brewed behind his eyes, of depraved demons or corrupt men carrying her away as a child bride.
"I will always be yours," Sesshomaru said, to his own surprise.
She looked up, startled. Something wavered in her eyes.
"Leave," she only said, and began to weep for reasons that he could never understand.
It took him the entire night to collect himself. Jaken, who was waiting nearby for his return, was startled by the violence in his eyes. A-Un, the first to notice his arrival, moaned from each of his two heads.
"M-my lord, what ails you?" the imp exclaimed. "Has the urchin offended you in any way? If she has, I shall kill her in your stead!"
"Silence," Sesshomaru only growled.
"My lord," Jaken cried again, breaking the darkness. "Let me know how I, your servant, may be of help…"
A-Un moaned again. Suddenly, the two-headed steed reared and lunged into the air. The lead was yanked out of Jaken's unprepared hand, and A-Un flew off into the air.
"What's gotten into him!" Jaken exclaimed, amid a slew of profanities.
"Let A-Un be," Sesshomaru sighed, and turned to the fire that Jaken had set up in his absence.
Later, when Jaken was asleep, he would follow A-Un's sent all the way back to the human village. Hidden in the treetops, Sesshomaru found A-Un kneeling at Rin's side. The steed grunted happily, rejoicing in her company.
Rin caressed the two heads, her face buried into their manes. She wept.