It's three weeks before her hands stop shaking and four before his circumspection wanes. Time has been cruel to them both, and neither trust that it won't strike out again.
That it won't steal what's left from a time neither can forget.
"I keep thinking you'll disappear." Emotion chokes her words as she picks at her lunch, an anxious hand tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. "Like the others."
Sesshoumaru stills her fidgeting, ignoring the grief that makes him worry the same. "I will not."
"Promise?"
Slender fingers grasp his, and her hope and vulnerability cut through him. "Yes."
