Rin laughed as Jaken continued to lecture her about her lack of ladyship, she poked her tongue out at him and watched as he went from green to purple.

They were one night away from what would undoubtedly be the most dangerous battle she would enter and although she was sure in her ability, it did not make her cocky or arrogant.

She knew very well that Sesshomaru gave her a task he knew she would have to see through alone, without his aide. This would be where she proved herself a worthy companion or a naïve child. If this was going to be her last day in their presence, she would not regret it, she would laugh to her heart's content until the next sunrise demanded otherwise.

She walked closely behind Sesshomaru now, smiling all the while.


She never ceased to surprise him. As they neared closer and closer to the battlefield, her contentment knew no bounds.

"Do you consider yourself a warrior, Rin?" he'd asked last night.

Just as soon as the question had left his mouth, the campsite was filled with her downplayed scent; sadness.

This life of fighting was not one she had chosen easily, this much was clear and yet as they approached what could easily be her undoing; the cause of her demise, she was unwavering. Perhaps she was a warrior after all and just did not know it, he mused.

Though as he watched the young woman who trailed behind him now; the new Rin, he could hardly believe that her newfound glee was due to the possibility of lives she would have to reap.

No.

Like the old Rin, she simply did not have the degree of malice or awareness necessary to pity herself. She could find no unhappiness within her to exude, she simply chose not to dwell on the negative and so the only thing left was the positive.

He watched as her hair tumbled over her back as she laughed at Jaken's expression. The melodious sound cosseting his sensitive ears and engrossing his inner spirit and youki. He scowled at the effect but said nothing.

Now as she stood closely behind him, he found he could not help but to keep glancing at her, though her flushed face pointed in every direction but his own. He decided then to ignore her as he did all else, when suddenly she spoke up.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru." She said melodically, as if they had been engaging in conversation all along.

He cocked a brow in her direction and her bright brown eyes finally met his, though hers was chagrined.

"For allowing me to accompany you," she breathed, "and for allowing me to stay at your side, thank you." She said as she bowed and smiled up at him, unleashing the full force of her beauty upon him.

Her parted full lips, flushed face, bright brown eyes and cascading hair in full effect, capturing him in her spell.

His eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat as he felt an unfamiliar and yet recognizable warmth stirring within him.

He didn't reply and instead snapped his mouth shout in reply.

Rin took no notice, suddenly he watched as her mouth fell open and her eyes lit like new flames, "It's a village." She beamed.

The town stood beautifully beside the water's edge overlooking what seemed to be pastures and fields of undisturbed green land. The livestock and greenery populating the area in abundance only bothered by the children that seemed to run past them in their games.

Rin smiled as she threw a hand over her eyes to shield them from the glare of the sun. She had never truly belonged in any human village. She'd known this from a very young age, after all, she spent so much of her life within the confines of those villages. She could never seem to fit in, do the right things, say the right words. Somehow, she always managed to find herself alone or ostracized by her peers though after her time with Lord Sesshomaru, she had come to care naught of such trivial matters.

Even when she had stayed in Inuyasha's village, she had very few friends as no one seemed to be able to understand her. Kohaku and Shippo aside, she didn't have any friends her age. The girls who tried to befriend her found her odd, as she preferred to train rather than play or dress up and the boys her age at the time either teased or ignored her. Of which, she preferred the latter.

As of late however, once she'd reached what Kaede and Kagome deemed an appropriate age, she seemed to draw attention everywhere she went from young women and men alike. The young men in the village, who had once teased and ignored her, flocked to her for attention and would often treat her with acts of kindness that she couldn't quite understand. They made offers and promises of marriage that she neither sought or wanted and to make matters worse they constantly interfered with her training; something Inuyasha was none too pleased about himself. If they didn't follow her to the fields then they'd watch from a distance, or worse they'd try to make themselves of use, which they soon found out was no aimable task.

She remembered how both Sango and Kagome had sat down with her, warning her to be weary of her feminine charm. Something that in their line of work could be both a gift and a curse. She'd been young and naïve when she brushed it off, now she was sure it was nothing short of a hinderance to her cause; serving her Lord. Yet she found if she lived a more nomadic life, she wasn't subjected to being an oddity, a bother, or some prize to be won. She was treated as a guest and could see how living a simple life in a village could be pleasing. When she traveled it seemed that most men weren't bold enough to confess to her after only a short week of acquaintance, so she could watch as they worked the fields or played with the children. Many women treated her with kindness during those times because there wasn't enough time for them to become envious of her.

Though she could never truly understand why they would be anyway, because yes, she had come to realize at a certain age that she was beautiful, but she was not vain. In her eyes the only beauty in life was having it be fulfilled and Rin was not fulfilled in these villages. How then, could these women envy her, when they possessed what she wanted? Fulfillment, self-indulged purpose.

Nonetheless, as long as she didn't stay too long she could understand and even appreciate the pull of a human village. She was after all, human.

Thus, she strained her eyes to watch the village men play alongside the children almost too willingly and stifled a laugh as she recalled her own memories of being chased by Jaken, Inuyasha, or Kohaku in her own childhood. She imagined briefly what her Lord would look like chasing after a child, exhausting himself with laughter and glee. Though she knew all too well, that hell would just as soon freeze over before he played with children. After all he'd barely entertained her as a child and yet, she thought as a small blush crossed her visage, it had been more than enough.

He didn't have to look at her to know her eyes would be glowing with mirth and contrition, begging him to allow her to go. He looked at her anyway and immediately regretted it.

He felt his insides clench at the way her eyes implored him, beseeched him, moved him to submit to her demands. He couldn't stand this, the power of this new Rin.

His youkai stirred within him at her contrite expression and yearned to appease her. The feeling in the pit of his stomach shocked and repulsed him.

Was this what his relationship would be with this new Rin? Submission? He'd rather be skinned alive, slaughtered, and dragged throughout the nations by the ogres than have his youkai tamed by a human; be it Rin or anyone else. His compliance to her simple wish, her simple will, coaxing his youkai to readily and willing submit to her. He ground his teeth together and closed his eyes in concentration before snapping them open at her.

"No." he all but growled.

Her eyes widened in shock as she was taken aback by the sudden change in his demeanor.

Jaken too looked up, a bit startled from his position.

Sesshomaru watched her face as he readied himself for what, he did not know. It was not as if she would attack him and yet he tensed.

Rin looked over once more at the town and brought her bright eyes back to him as they continued walking.

"Okay." She said agreeably as she strode past his frozen figure.

Sesshomaru watched as she continued on, unbothered, and ground his teeth together at his own annoyance before following after her and soon over taking her in his long strides.

Jaken let go of the breath he'd been holding and brought his small hand to his soaring heart.

That was too close he thought as he wearily eyed his Master. What has gotten into him all of a sudden? He acts more and more like a dog with a bone around her these days.

Suddenly amber eyes pierced his and he fell to the ground and bowed unrelentingly.

"Forgive me my Lord!" He shouted before he was met with a rock to the face.