This is the last chapter of this story. Its the longest chapter that I have written to date, so hope that compensates for the longer delay in updating the story. SessRinLover, Laura, ZafiraMente, rin x maru, blackboldbeuaty, Lulu and Sessrin531, thank you all for leaving encouraging reviews to the last chapter.

A few clarifications before we start as usual:

SessRinLover: thanks for your comment. Well, I could not imagine a pouty Sess either, and that's not what I had in mind when I wrote that part. By sulking, I meant something similar to the expression he gave Kagome when she called him her big brother. Similarly, I could not imagine him smiling yet, which is why I also avoided writing it.

Laura: I had to use a translation software for your review as I don't know Spanish, and I think you wanted me to write about their family. Well, I shall admit that I have no inclination to involve the twins at the moment, but maybe in the distant future if everything goes well with HNY. I appreciate your feedback though, muchas gracias.

ZafiraMente: Thanks, and yes, I agree that Rin's mortality is not an impediment, which is why I appreciate it more when authors write her as a mortal rather than turning her into a demon/half-demon.

rin x maru: thanks for your comment. I don't like the idea of an immortal Rin much, since I believe that the eternity and moment concept is what makes their relationship so precious. At the same time, I will never have the heart to write a third death scene for Rin, so I guess I have mixed feelings. Also, in many Asian cultures, back in those times it was not at all uncommon to address husbands with honorifics, and I think even Sango does that in ep 1 of HNY. The SessRin relationship was very respectful, so it is more natural for me to write it that way. More importantly, Rin knows that she is not required to use the honorific and can occasionally drop it (chap 1 and even this chapter).

This chapter has many funny and cute SessRin moments, but it's not all happy at the same time. Please enjoy.

A lively scene was unfolding in the front courtyard of the Lord of the West's castle later that day. Rin had dragged out Jaken into the snow covered landscape as soon as she finished her training session, despite the whimpering cries of protest from the little demon. Sesshomaru sat at an open window of the hall at the lower floor, from which the front courtyard was clearly visible. The snowfall had ceased by dawn, and the soft golden glow of the winter sunshine illuminated the frosty landscape. He quietly watched his wife and his retainer engage in a snowball fight. A-Un was also with them, and was following all the action with its green eyes that were alight with excitement. Almost every snowball that Rin had launched at the imp hit him squarely, while she on her part had managed to dodge most of them. The odds of this game were certainly more evenly stacked years ago, when their heights were closer to each other. Now, poor Jaken did not stand much of a chance.

"Hey Master Jaken, that's cheating," Rin exclaimed and gesticulated when the toad demon picked up his staff of two heads, and used the fire from the head to melt an oncoming snowball, thereby avoiding getting hit for the umpteenth time that day.

"No its not, Rin, I blocked you fair and square," Jaken yelled back in his shrill voice. Sesshomaru took a mental note of reminding Jaken later that he did not grant him the use of the staff of two heads for such picayune matters as winning a snowball game. But for the moment, he did not want to spoil the fun that his young wife seemed to be having, and he had to acknowledge that Jaken's much shorter height had put him in a particularly disadvantageous position to compete equally in the match. Perhaps, a little unfair play would actually make the game more interesting for Rin.

Rin was about to remonstrate, when she caught sight of the golden eyes silently watching them from the window. As usual, she was unable to look away from her husband immediately, and her opponent in the snowball match took advantage of the momentary lapse of her attention to make a hit, although the snowball barely hit her a little above the knee level even with Jaken's best aim.

"Got you, Rin!" Jaken shrieked in excitement. "I am getting better and better at this," his high pitched voice rang out in the morning air.

"Wait a minute Master Jaken, I will have my revenge," Rin said and walked over to her husband.

She stood on her tiptoes and peered through the window. "Lord Sesshomaru, look, we have made a snow Jaken," she pointed at the little snowman that stood in the snow, with its mouth given a pointed shape to resemble the imp's beak, big wooden buttons painted in bright yellow for the eyes, thin, tri-pronged branches for hands, and a origami cap made of black paper resting on its frosty head. The demon lord raised an eyebrow marginally at the hilarious snow sculpture.

"I wish we had green snow occasionally, then the snow Jaken would have been just perfect" she continued, ignoring the absence of a reply from Sesshomaru. "Say, my lord, would you like to join us outside?" she asked.

"I would rather not," Sesshomaru replied and at the same instant, Rin was struck by another snowball. Jaken had used A-Un as a perch to elevate himself to a higher level before he projected the snowball, and as a result, Rin was hit just below her shoulder region this time. She whirled around, the motion blowing some of her hair in her husband's face. The impact from the snowball had left her dark tresses spotted with the tiny white flakes.

"Master Jaken, I wasn't ready. I was not even looking, that was unfair," Rin fulminated.

"Serves you right for being so absentminded in the middle of a task," the imp retaliated.

"I was just telling Lord Sesshomaru about our pretty little snow Jaken," she pouted.

"Stop making excuses just because you will be losing to me in no time at this rate," Jaken responded. "Who cares about that stupid snowman of yours, it will either melt if it gets warmer or get buried in fresh snow if it gets colder. Either way, it wouldn't last. And you forced this silly game upon me anyway. Is it even proper for a grown-up lady like you to be out frolicking in the snow?" Jaken retorted in his usual whining tone.

"Come on, Master Jaken, who had ever decreed that grown-ups don't deserve the right to have fun? Don't pretend that you did not enjoy building our snow Jaken or playing snowballs with me. Many things don't last Master Jaken, and that's why I want to make really really good memories of them while they do; memories with you and A-Un, with Lord Sesshomaru, with everyone," Rin replied.

"What are you rambling about Rin? You should -," Jaken did not get to finish his sentence as the implication of the last part of her reply dawned upon him.

"It's time for my revenge hit Master Jaken," Rin however carried on in her usual cheerful tone, bending down outside the window to scoop up snow from the ground.

"Rin, if he tries to use the staff of two-heads, aim lower, and hit his hand to knock out the staff," Sesshomaru calmly suggested.

"Right," Rin turned her head and gave him a bright smile. "Now Master Jaken, you are a frozen Jaken now, as frozen as the one over there," she took aim and launched the snowball. Jaken seemed to be still preoccupied in processing her earlier words, and did not get a chance to use his staff. The snowball knocked him over, and he fell down from A-Un's back and landed on the ground covered in the soft snow.

"I win," Rin proclaimed raising her hands in the air.

"Don't stay out in the cold much longer," Sesshomaru rose from his seat and walked towards the stairway.

That night, Sesshomaru was alone in his study writing the replies to the correspondences that had come in over the last ten days while he was away. Rin had handed them to him that evening, the ones that needed his reply neatly sorted in a separate stack.

"What did Lady Tōran write?" his wife had asked before going to bed.

"Tōran has reasons to believe that the Eastern Lord has commissioned some demons to the Western Lands for the purpose of reconnaissance," he had informed her.

"Why? What does he want with our lands? Do you know the Lord of the East?" she had asked.

"I don't know him, but father did," he had answered.

"And were they enemies or rivals? I wonder what kind of a demon he is, and if the Lord of the East is also a just and honorable ruler like my lord," as usual, Rin had a lot of questions.

"I know of no acrimony that existed between the Lord of the East and my late father. Apparently, he is a horse demon, and is not known to be particularly dishonorable. So, this turn of events is rather unusual if Tōran's reports are true," Sesshomaru had explained.

"Maybe he has some reasons," his wife had scrunched her brows in contemplation. before she suddenly extended her arm across the desk and grabbed his wrist. "My lord, could it be -", she hesitated for a moment and then continued, "could it be that he is suspicious of us because you had aimed to conquer his lands earlier?" she had asked.

"Rin, the Lord of the East is known to be a very powerful demon, and was rumored to be my father's equal. That makes him a worthy opponent, which means that I would have wanted to defeat him in battle at some point. However, I have no interest in conquering the Eastern lands or any other lands for that matter. It has never been my intention to acquire such useless things, and presently, I have no desire to seek unnecessary battles either," once the words were spoken, he had felt that he had probably not cared to explain anyone else so much about his intentions before that occasion.

"I know, it's just that Master Jaken kept harping about the empire you would build through conquest. I thought you might have wanted it earlier," she had said.

"Don't take Jaken's words too literally from now on, he can be such a simpleton at times," Sesshomaru had placed his other hand on his wife's hand. "Don't let such tidings bother you. I shall do the needful," he had said.

"What will you do my lord?" being the headstrong woman that she was, the reply had not convinced her entirely.

"First, I shall try to verify that Tōran's suspicion is not unfounded. If the veracity of her report gets established, then I will have to deal with the Eastern lord, for he has no business in spying on the Western Lands," he had added.

"Or he might have. Forgive me if it sounds preposterous my lord, but I think that even if Lady Tōran's report is true, we should try to find out why he might have deployed those informers in the first place. I feel that it is difficult to judge someone without knowing their true intentions. Maybe, he wants to convey something to you and is waiting for the right time to do so, since you said that he is not a disreputable person," Rin had reasoned.

Sesshomaru had regarded his wife's face for a few moments before replying, "It's not entirely unreasonable Rin. Very well, I shall keep that in mind."

As the Lord of the West drafted his replies, he found himself thinking about the matter he had discussed with Rin earlier. The Lord of the East's commissioning of informers was perhaps only the less serious part of the problem that was seemed to be brewing, and he had not told his wife anything about what Tōran had told him at his mother's castle on the day of his marriage.

Sesshomaru signed off the document that he had just finished and was about to start writing the next one when he felt a pulsation in the ring on his finger. He quickly opened the top and found that the violet hue of the magical stone had turned to blue. The pulsations were growing rapidly even as he was inspecting it. The ring is reacting, Rin! He did not wait a moment longer to start heading for their bedchamber.

When he reached there, Sesshomaru found that Rin was asleep but her face had turned pale, and she tossed her head from side to side on her pillow. As he sat down beside her, she flailed her hands wildly, her lips muttering something indistinct. The dark blue halo around her ring was clearly visible even through the top of it was closed. His sensitive ears picked up two words: don't leave. He realized that she was having another nightmare. He placed a hand on her face, and gently nudged her shoulder with the other, calling her name.

"Rin, wake up," she did not open her eyes immediately at his voice. "Rin," Sesshomaru called her again. "You need to wake up now." He had to call her name once more before the brown eyes finally opened and met his golden ones. Her eyes were completely expressionless for a moment, before the terrified look returned in them. She sat up with a jolt, and flung herself straight into her husband's arms.

"Sesshomaru," Rin's voice trembled as she pressed herself against his chest, one hand firmly gripping his shoulder, gathering the fabric of his kimono in her fist and the other circling around his midriff.

"It was just a nightmare, Rin" Sesshomaru held his wife with steady hands.

"No, it wasn't. It was a dream, a very bad dream," two drops of tears ran down her face with those words.

Rin's words perplexed the demon lord a bit. He was more than aware that his wife's traumatic childhood had left her with frequent nightmares, but he could not recall a time in the recent past when she had seemed that much scared of them. Usually, she would feel just a little low on waking up from such nightmarish visions, but would feel better as soon as he held her in his embrace or simply stayed with her. It seemed different that night. The pulsations emanated by his ring was still strong, although the blue glow had diminished somewhat after she woke up. Nevertheless, the stone was still blue, an unmistakable sign of her fear. He could feel her heart thumping rapidly against her ribcage, and the racing pulse in her throat. Unlike her usual gentle embrace, the tight grip of her hands seemed to suggest that she was clinging on to him with all her might, as if afraid that some unstoppable malevolent force would take her away from her husband. "What was different?" Sesshomaru asked gently.

"There were no bandits and there were no wolves. I know my nightmares well my lord, and I have lived with them for years. This was not one of them, but it felt even more real," Rin said in between her ragged breaths.

Sesshomaru allowed a few more moments for her paroxysm to subside. When her breathing became more even he spoke again. "You can tell me about it, if it makes you feel better," he said running his fingers through the waves of the dark hair that cascaded down her back.

"There was this lone tree at the end of a large moonlit meadow," Rin started. "A gigantic butterfly was hovering around that large tree and a young woman dressed in a priestess's attire stood close to the tree -," her voice cracked at this point.

"Your sister-in-law," Sesshomaru said in a tone which was something between a statement and a question, intending to give her the encouragement to continue.

"I couldn't see her face, but I am sure it was not Lady Kagome that I saw. Her form was somewhat translucent. I did not see myself there either, but it felt that I was there the whole time, trapped there somewhere. I don't know why but I wanted to run away from that beautiful tree, get far away from that pretty butterfly, and yet I could not move an inch," Rin breathed in deeply. "And then there was you, Lord Sesshomaru. I tried to call out to you but I could not hear my own voice. You turned your back to the tree and started walking away, it seemed that you were walking away from me. I screamed for you to stop, but no words left my mouth, and neither did you hear my silent plea. It was like I was mute again like the first time we met. Then I felt that it was just a dream, and I desperately tried to wake up, but I couldn't, not until you came to the room and called my name," she completed without raising her head from his chest even once.

So that was the dream which had disconcerted Rin so much. Sesshomaru sighed softly. Considering the number of awful things that she heard at his mother's court about the possibility of the Lord of the West getting disenchanted with his human wife within a short period of time, his family history of his father leaving his wife for a second woman, and her own childhood life of abuse and neglect after her family was slaughtered, could he really blame her if she struggled with such fears of abandonment? Perhaps the abandonment issues that had developed in her subconscious mind had manifested themselves in the form of such a dream. Sesshomaru gently freed himself from her hold. He needed to see her face and look into her eyes. He lifted her face with his hands. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes, even though she was not sobbing at all.

"Rin, I shall say this only once so listen closely," Sesshomaru closed his eyes momentarily, bracing himself for what he was about to say. "Under no circumstances would I forsake you in any way that you might imagine, and neither shall I dishonor our marriage vows. You have nothing to fear," his amber eyes focused intently on her brown orbs as he assured her. I shall not walk the same path that father had taken, his mind asserted.

"Oh no my lord, that's not what scared me," Rin said quickly. She raised her hand to his cheek. "I believe in you Lord Sesshomaru, more than anyone or anything else in the world. Do you think that I would have married you if I didn't have the same faith in your honor as you have in your own?" she said. Indeed, Rin knew that she could never bring herself to wed a man who she thought was capable of leaving her for another woman, if it was even possible for her to be in love with such a person in the first place. She was no Lady Kagome who could urge the man she loved to go back to his past sweetheart, and make herself wait in the sidelines in the hopes that her love would eventually return to her one day. As much as Rin respected her sister-in-law's perseverance, it was not the type of relationship that would work for her; she simply did not have that tolerance in her nature. She did not even want to consider the case of how Lady Sango's husband used to be once, in conjunction with Lord Sesshomaru. Considering her husband's immaculate character, she had often felt that fate had been kinder to her in love than those two women, and thanked the heavens for it. While she had her fair share of tears and sighs in love, it was a source of her secret pride that there was never any second woman between her lord and herself, and never believed for an instant that it could be anything different in their married future. So, she felt a bit embarrassed by the impression that her words had apparently given her husband, although his earnest declaration stirred the most profound emotions in her heart.

"I know that leaving me isn't something that you would willingly do. It was more like it scared me to think that something might happen to us that would separate us from each other," Rin finally said in a soft voice. Her tears ran down her cheeks and on to her husband's fingers as he held her face.

"It was a dream Rin, most of the time, they have no connection to reality," Sesshomaru told her.

"Even if the same dream repeats itself? This was not the first time that I saw these things my lord," his wife answered. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not speak, allowing Rin to continue. "I had the same dream a few days back when you were away, although it was less vivid that time. I had seen the tree and the butterfly last time, and had a vague feeling of being trapped there somewhere. The feeling was much stronger today, and I saw more. I saw the priestess, and I saw you, walking away." she elaborated.

"I see," Sesshomaru said, not knowing what else to say. What Rin just said somewhat weakened his earlier hypothesis about her abandonment issues conjuring up such dreams. He found himself thinking if there was some threat that he was overlooking, and immediately recalled the matter concerning the Lord of the East, and Tōran's words at his mother's castle.

"I really wish you hadn't said anything about renouncing your title today, Sesshomaru," Tōran had told him once her sister had taken Rin outside the range of hearing.

"Explain," he had stated laconically.

"My two sisters had recently travelled to the easternmost frontier of our lands. It is there that they saw one of the demons of our court with a foreign demon who had an incredibly powerful aura, similar to your own. They said that the demon covered his face with a mask and the description she gave me sounds similar to what we know about the Eastern Lord. They disappeared from sight into a magical mist once Karan and Shunran tried to get closer to them. One thing I am sure of is that the masked demon is not from this land. If a demon that powerful had resided in the Western lands, I would have definitely heard about it," the panther demoness had informed him.

"So, you are suggesting that someone from our court is in collusion with the Lord of the East," Sesshomaru had said.

"That's not the only thing I am suggesting. Shunran said that the sheep demon whom she had seen with the foreign demon was present in today's court. I noticed that the fellow did not say a word from the beginning to the end, but seemed to be observing everything with a keen eye. Well, I don't know myself what they are conniving for, but you better be careful, Sesshomaru. If the Eastern Lord was interested in finding your weakness, then after today, he would already know what it is. It's all right to have a weakness, but don't make it so painfully obvious." Tōran had bared her fangs in a grimace.

"I appreciate that you imparted me with this information, Tōran, but don't think that gives you the authority to lecture me. I shall deal with it in my own way," he had said sternly.

"Sesshomaru, I hope you are not planning to confront the sheep demon at this point. I thought you were smarter than that, for all we know there might be more traitors in the court who will immediately get alerted by such a confrontation. But as the legends say, love makes people foolish, and some lecturing might do them good in such cases," the demoness had replied in her usual smug manner.

"I don't see why I should discuss my plans with you," he had snapped.

"Fine," Tōran had crossed her arms and sighed. "However, I think that giving up your title might make it easier for them to attain their objective, whatever it might be. You might think this is just about the Eastern and Western lands, but there's no saying that the one you want to protect so dearly, your darling wife, won't get caught up in the imbroglio, especially if whatever is happening is allowed to go on unchecked. So, I hope that you would be more prudent going forward if you want to protect her. Anyway, I didn't want to make your poor wife worry about such things so early on, so I did what I could to warn you in private," the panther demoness had said, and Sesshomaru could not help but mentally appreciate the consideration that his former foe had shown in keeping the information from Rin. She would definitely be more perturbed if she had known it. In the most recent letter, Tōran had reported sightings of more foreign demons in her parts. Apparently, she had casually confronted one of them, who had claimed that he was just a traveler. Sesshomaru on his part had commissioned two of his most trusted vassals to keep an eye on the sheep demon who was the suspect, and was waiting for a report from them before he decided on the next move.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked tentatively, observing that her husband had not spoken for a while and was contemplating something with his eyes closed. Sesshomaru opened his eyes and looked at her. He was not sure why he thought about all that in connection with Rin's dream. There was no apparent logical connection between the two.

"Rin, I won't let anything happen to you," he said, using his fingers to wipe away the tears from her face. "We could be next to each other or we could be thousands of miles apart, but you will always be the destination of all my paths," he leaned down and gently pressed his delicate lips on her forehead in a tender kiss, making her heart skip a beat once again that night, but with warmth instead of fear. "Do you understand?" he asked, his thumb gliding over her cheek in a comforting motion.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru," she smiled at him. Her tears had dried and the pulsations in the two rings had almost died down.

"Good," Sesshomaru rose to his feet, and walked towards the door. "Then try to think no more of such dreams," he said before walking out of the bedchamber.

When he returned shortly afterwards, he found that Rin had left her bed. She had lit a lamp in the room and was sitting at the large bay window with an open book on her lap. The silver light of the full moon, amplified by the reflection from the frozen ground below entered the room abundantly and mixed with the golden light of the lamp. Her long dark hair was left down with a simple ribbon tied at the loose ends, and a few locks hung about her face, casting soft shadows on it. Her lips moved as it uttered some soundless words as she read something from the book. The pearls of her necklace hugged the slender column of her neck and the crescent moon of her pendant glistened at the junction of her collarbones as her fingers fidgeted with it intermittently. As Sesshomaru regarded his wife in the strange fusion of the silver and gold glow that filled the room, he was unable to draw his eyes away from her beauty. At that moment he felt that it would not be a waste of his precious time if he just stood there a long, long time and watched his Rin from afar. Almost immediately, he overcame that unusual feeling, and took a step inside the room, the passive gaze returning in his eyes. He was sure that for a moment there, his eyes and his face had the same dreamy expression that he had sometimes seen on Rin's face as she regarded him at random moments of the day when she presumed he was absorbed in his work and not paying attention. Until that point, he had thought that it was quite impossible that he would ever react in such typical ways of people in love.

Rin did not notice him until he was beside her. "Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, you are back, I thought you had to return to your work," Rin beamed at him, evidently delighted that he returned to her side.

"I went back to retrieve my swords from the study," Sesshomaru said as he placed Tenseiga and Bakusaiga against the adjacent wall, before sitting down next to her. "The work that is left can be completed by tomorrow morning with ease," he added.

"I see," Rin said. "Well, I couldn't sleep right away so I thought I would write something, but I could not focus," she said. As she proceeded to shut the covers of the book on her lap, he stopped her and took the book from her hands. It was the same one that from the night before, her writing book.

"You will get it back when I am done reading it. You can keep writing then," he told her. "You should rest for now," he flipped through the pages of the book and started reading from the first page.

"I am not sleepy yet, let me sit with you for a while," Rin asserted. Her husband's eyes flicked from her face back to the pages of the book. She took his free hand and pulled it on her lap, regarding the long fingers and the sharp pointed claws at their ends with admiration. Her fingers brushed over the ring that she had put on his finger. The stone had returned to its usual violet color. She closed the top which he had left open after the magical stone had started pulsating that night. "Lord Sesshomaru, why don't you paint more often? You are so good at it," she finally decided to raise the topic.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened briefly as he glanced up from his reading to his wife's curious face. Then he deduced the source of her information; he had almost forgotten about the portrait that he painted not so long ago. "You have found your portrait somewhere in the study, I assume," he said calmly.

"Didn't I tell you that I had found out a secret?" she replied with a chuckle. "It was amazing, my lord is so talented. I have never seen you paint anything though," she said.

"I have no particular interest in it, and it is hard to find time for such things," he stated tersely. Knowing her husband, Rin doubted the first part although she knew that there was some truth in the second part of the statement.

"Why did you paint that one then? I know that you were so busy and it has such intricate details which must have taken a lot of time. I couldn't help but wonder." Rin said.

Sesshomaru set his book to the side and fixed his gaze on her face. He decided to tell her the truth. "Rin, I didn't think it was possible that I would see you again after I received that farcical letter from the old priestess about your marriage," he began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I did not want to forget -," he paused. "Your eyes," he continued with a distant look in his gaze that suggested that he was recollecting the emotions he felt at that time. "Your face," a slender finger glided down along the bridge of Rin's nose as his golden eyes seem to flicker, "your smile," the same finger lightly traced the outline of each of her lips.

Rin's heart had sped up once again. "You had written something similar in the portrait, but that was not the only reason, was it Lord Sesshomaru?" she managed to ask in a shaky voice.

"No," the monosyllabic reply caught Rin by surprise since she was almost certain that her husband would not admit anything more than what he already did. The hand that rested on her shoulder had moved to the back of her head, and he applied a gentle pressure there to draw her face closer to himself. His other hand held her chin, and when she found that the handsome face for which she could die a hundred deaths was a breath away from her own, she closed her eyes. Is he going to …. Rin could not think coherently anymore and her mind swirled with a flurry of thoughts and emotions. "I was not prepared to let you go, and yet I didn't have the power to capture anything more than a mere moment," the carefully modulated tone of the young lord's voice was replaced by the fervid timbre of a man who had ardently loved a woman at the instant when their foreheads and the tips of their noses touched as he said those words.

But it was only for an instant. "Rin, did you start seeing weird things again?" Sesshomaru questioned in the next moment as he lifted his face, breaking the contact with hers. Rin's eyes fluttered open.

"What?" she said, blinking her eyes.

"You seemed to be agitated about something," Sesshomaru said in his usual cool voice. He could feel the rapid pace of the pulse in her throat against his palm as he held her chin with his fingers.

Rin wanted to smack her face against the adjacent wall for being so flustered and at her husband's cluelessness. "Of course not," she stretched her arms and got up from her seat to conceal the blush that was rapidly spreading over her cheeks. Was she supposed to explain to him that a moment earlier, with her eyes closed, she was anticipating a perfect fairy tale moment, where her handsome prince locked his lips with her in the light of the full moon? Nevertheless, she found it adorable that such an intelligent person as Lord Sesshomaru was such a dunce when it came to understanding a woman's heart, and that such a powerful being was so shy about showing his affections.

Rin felt that her lord's eyes followed her for a few moments as she pranced inside the room, trying to compose herself. After that, he picked up the book that he had set aside, and resumed reading. It was a relief that he did not question her further. When her mind felt somewhat settled once again, she went back to her husband and sat down behind him.

"Did you learn it yourself Lord Sesshomaru? I mean painting. I tried too, when I was younger, but I am just awful at it," Rin said, placing her hand on the demon's shoulder blade, and her chin on top of it. She wanted to forget the awkward moment that passed, and resume their earlier conversation.

"My mother insisted that I learn different useless things while growing up. It was she who taught it to me," Sesshomaru said.

"How wonderful of Lady Mother, she must be a virtuoso then," Rin exclaimed, clasping her hands together in excitement. "I don't consider it as useless if it had comforted my lord, even if it was on a single instance. I know that you would have been more unhappy that day if you wanted to paint my portrait that day, and it did not turn out good. I was sad that I did not have that skill when you went away to that long war, and I wanted to see you so badly," Rin said.

Sesshomaru remained quiet. His wife certainly had a way of making him see things from a different perspective. He vaguely recalled the faded images of the happier times of his youth with his family. He was still a young boy then, and his parents still dwelt in harmony. Perhaps his mother was not so cynical at that time, and his own heart had not totally turned into a block of ice. He remembered his mother's parlor, a big canvas and a palette of paint as the lady's nimble fingers glided the brush across the paper in front of her, as she awaited husband's return from his patrols with her young son by her side. On those occasions, he used to sit beside his mother and watch with wide eyes as she brought a picture to life with her skillful strokes. He remembered the smooth touch of his mother's hand on his own as she guided his hand through the more complex strokes sometimes, when it was his turn to practice. It was certainly not an activity that he liked as much as a sword sparring session with his father, but he was a quick learner nevertheless, and he did not remember having hated it either. He wondered if his mother still painted such exquisite pictures. She had left all her paintings and most other articles behind when she left his father's castle. No one had resided in his father's castle for over a century now, and the mansion had surely fallen to ruins.

"It would be amazing if my lord used such a beautiful skill more often," Rin went on undeterred by his silence. "The paintings would look much prettier with colors," she added.

"You want me to paint? And use colors?" Sesshomaru asked.

"It would certainly make me happy, but I don't want you to do it for my sake if you don't find it agreeable enough," she replied.

"I didn't have colors at my disposal when I painted your portrait, so I used regular ink," Sesshomaru mentioned, trying to sound casual. In truth, he saw no need for colors at that time. That portrait was a creation of his agony, after all. Perhaps his lovely Rin did deserve a merrier one than that.

"It's beautiful even without them," she said, running her fingers through the long silver strands on her husband's head. She pressed her face on the bunch of glossy strands, taking in the delightful scent of the frosty mountains and the morning mist. As she caressed the length of his hair, an idea struck her. Is it alright though? What if it annoys him? She reflected. Nevertheless, she took courage and rolled back the loose sleeves of her haori for the task. If he doesn't like it, he will ask me to stop, she thought that she had a better chance that way as compared to asking for his permission beforehand. With eager hands, she parted his hair into three even strands. There was no need to brush his hair, as it did not have a single tangle or knot despite its length and volume.

Sesshomaru paused his perusal briefly and glanced over his shoulders to look at his wife who seemed to be busy working on his hair with a determined expression on her face. Her intention was obvious to him, and he wondered if he would still allow her to get away with it if it had been another day. But considering how upset she was over her dream earlier that night, he could not bring himself to ask her to stop braiding his hair. If her mind found solace in such a simple task and it cheered her up, who was he to take that away from her? Besides, in the seclusion of their chambers, he did not need to be the all perfect Lord of the West, the most powerful and feared demon of his lands. Just for that night, perhaps he could let his guard down and just be a kind husband to Rin and nothing more, allowing her to have her way with his hair.

Rin's hands stopped temporarily when she saw her husband turn his head and look back at her over his shoulder. She thought that he would ask her to stop and waited for him to say it. However instead of prohibiting the task, he turned away his face again, and focused his eyes on the open page of the book. Relieved, she continued to entwine the silver strands into a neat plait. It was a long sought after goal for her, but of course it was impossible to accomplish it during his visits to the village. As she worked her way downward, she remembered that she had the opportunity to try the little "experiment" on his brother once when she was much younger. It was probably a year after she started living with Lady Kaede, and Lady Kagome was still living in a future era. She used to get depressed very often between her lord's visits, and Lord Inuyasha was very irascible during that period. When Rin had wanted to braid his hair, first, the half demon had refused her flat out. He had even jumped up to the highest branch of the nearest tree where he would be out of her reach, but still be able to keep an eye on her. However, he could not bear the sight of the child dressed in a brightly colored kimono sitting under the tree with her face buried on her knees much longer. She must have had been the very picture of gloom, because he had jumped down to her a while later.

"Hey kid, just this one time, all right?" Lord Inuyasha had said back then, dispelling Rin's sadness in a flash. As she plaited the half demon's thick silver hair, she had asked him why he had changed his mind.

"I don't want another kid to grow up having no one to play with," Lord Inuyasha had simply replied that day. When Rin was older, she understood that he had connected with her on that occasion due to his own childhood memory of being ostracized by society for being a half demon. Indeed, Rin never did get along with the village kids when she was a child, despite Lady Sango's best efforts. She was not comfortable around them, and they regarded the strange new kid dressed in attires that were too fancy for village folks with cold skepticism. Perhaps, that was the reason why only Rin got the opportunity of braiding Lord Inuyasha's hair, and not Sango's kids despite the innumerable times she had seen them pester him for it. Although, at that time when she was finished with the braid, Lord Inuyasha had said that he hated it, and would cut his hair short if she tried to do that again.

Lord Sesshomaru's hair was even longer than her brother-in-law's, although she found the finer strands to be more tractable to work with. She wondered if one day, she would be able to do the same for the other dog demon with such beautiful silver hair whom she knew, her mother-in-law. Since she was a woman she would be more likely to allow it, right? At least Rin hoped so. She had almost reached the loose ends of her husband's hair. She untied the silver ribbon from her own hair and tied the ends of the braid with it. Then she tossed it carefully over his left shoulder which was not covered with fur, and moved to sit face to face with him.

"All done, Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said. She raised her sleeves to her mouth to suppress a yawn, braiding his knee length hair took quite some time. "So pretty," she said, lifting the silver plait and hugging it with her arms. Sesshomaru could not agree with his wife's statement, but at least he was thankful that she kept the base of the plait loose so that he did not feel his hair getting tugged at the roots.

"You are sleepy now," he said without looking up from his book.

"Yeah, I will go to bed I suppose. I will undo your braid first thing tomorrow morning," Rin replied, getting up. She went to the bed but did not lie down immediately.

Is she scared of the possibility that the uncanny dream might reappear in her sleep? Sesshomaru thought. He got up, left the book closed on the small desk, and proceeded to sit beside his wife on the bed.

"I shall wake you up if you happen to have another bad dream," he said.

"And if you can't for some reason, just be in my dreams with me, please?" Rin looked up at his face with her large brown eyes. "Then I think I would be just fine," she added.

"I am not sure that I understand what that is supposed to mean, Rin," the demon lord said solemnly.

"I don't either, my lord. It is just something that I felt like telling you," she smiled at him at that point. "I have always wanted you to be in my dreams," she proclaimed. "In the ones that I see in wakefulness and in the ones that I see when I am asleep."

"You are strange," Sesshomaru said, as he lay down by her side. She immediately cuddled close to him.

"I know, my dearest," she closed her eyes slowly. How she loved it when it was her beautiful Lord Sesshomaru's face that she saw as the last thing in the night and the first thing in the morning.

When Rin sought out her husband in his study the next afternoon, she found that he was not at his desk. Instead, she found him sitting on a mat next to a window of the study through which the mild winter sunshine crept in and splashed patches of gold on the surface of the mat before him. Her writing book that he had begun reading the previous night was open before him. He looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him since their marriage. Indeed, the last of the responses to the previous messages had been drafted by that noon, and Jaken was sent out with A-Un to deliver them an hour ago. There had been almost no new correspondences delivered over the last few days, since around that time of the year, when the earth seemed to wrap itself up in a frozen blanket and lie in a long slumber, there was usually very little activity, and even most demons avoided travelling as much as possible. So, on that winter afternoon, the Lord of the West found himself free of the burden of his official duties for the first time in many months. Rin thought that it was a good time to state her request. With light steps, she approached him, and circled her arms around him from the back.

Sesshomaru was getting better at reading into Rin's gestures. That particular form of embrace usually meant she wanted something. "What is it Rin? Come to the front and say it," he said when she remained like that without speaking for a while.

Rin did as she was told to. "Lord Sesshomaru, I was thinking of visiting everyone in the village some time this month," she started.

"Jaken should be back in a couple of days with A-Un. Take them with you," her husband replied.

"Actually, my lord, I was thinking of visiting Lady Mother too. So, I was wondering if you could also come," she said, a bit hesitant this time, remembering that he had mentioned once that he did not want to visit those places regularly. Sesshomaru did not reply. Instead he looked out of the window, and appeared to be thinking something. "Well, if my lord does not wish to come, then I suppose I can take A-Un to the village, but I am not sure if Master Jaken remembers the way to Lady Mother's castle either. That route seemed a bit complicated to me when we went there last time. Besides, I am sure, everyone will be glad to see you, and -" Rin was trying to persuade her reclusive husband.

"It's you whom they will be glad to see," Sesshomaru cut in at that point. "Nevertheless, I shall take you this time," he stated.

"Really?" Rin's eyes lit up in excitement. "Then we can go sooner, we don't have to wait for Master Jaken and A-Un. Maybe Lady Kagome or Lady Kaede will be able to tell something about that dream," she said.

"You are still thinking about that," Sesshomaru said. It was certainly not a good sign that it left such an impression on her mind.

"I know that I might sound unreasonable my lord, but something tells me that I have not seen the end of it yet," Rin mentioned, as she placed her arm on the low window sill next to her and lowered her head on her arm, fixing her eyes on the snowy landscape visible through the window.

"We shall go tomorrow if we continue to have sunny weather," he said, without continuing that topic further.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru," Rin raised her head as she spoke.

"Rin, I can instruct you on the basics of cartography this evening if you are interested," the demon lord said, recalling the conversation that he had with his wife before leaving for his patrol. "Once I show you how to read a map, you can put that skill to use while travelling to mother's castle tomorrow. I believe that's the best way for you to understand the route which you called complicated," he added. It was safe enough for her to go to the village accompanied by Jaken and A-Un, but there was no way he could let her go like that to his mother's place, even if Jaken knew the way there. It was quite far off, and there were many other demons who worked at that castle. In particular, with the situation surrounding the Eastern Lord, he could not just let his wife be unaccompanied in the presence of random demons, even if they were his mother's subordinates. However, he considered that it was important at that stage to impart Rin with as many practical skills as possible, lest a day came when he could no longer be by her side, and she was left to fend for herself. Unlikely as it was, if any tragedy befell him, she should not be left helpless in the world at the mercy of other humans, like the princess his late sire had loved. After all, he had promised himself that he would not let his Rin live Lady Izayoi's life in any imaginable way, long before he had even thought that it was possible that he would fall in love with her and marry her one day.

"Does that mean that I have to find the way there?" Rin questioned, turning her gaze back to him.

"We shall pretend that I don't know the way, and you shall have a map to guide us there," he replied.

"Do we have a map for that route?" she asked.

"No, but I shall sketch one tonight. Mapping an uncharted territory is the next thing that you should learn once you successfully complete your first lesson on making use of them for finding your way," he elaborated.

"Sounds exciting! Just like a game! I shall look forward to it Lord Sesshomaru," Rin proclaimed.

Sesshomaru nodded and continued his reading. Unlike her physical skills with weapons and stuff, Rin's mental skills were quite impressive. Her mind was naturally inquisitive about everything around her, and of the many scholarly topics from the numerous books that she read and discussed with him, he never had to explain a topic twice to her. So, he was quite sure that his young wife would do well in her lesson. The book that he read at the moment was also a proof of her creative mind. Some of her writings were just short haikus written on random or comical things such as a grasshopper on a rainy day or Kirara's whiskers after having milk cream. He managed to read through them with a straight face only by virtue of the sangfroid that was second nature to him. Her other writings were longer verses on more profound aspects of life, and he noticed that the themes of time, eternity, death and love were present in different forms in many of them. The theme of love in her writings was also a very odd one. Surprisingly, she did not eulogize the romantic love between couples, a point that Sesshomaru found refreshing. Neither were her verses dedicated to the familial bonds of fondness, or the affection that exists between friends, or the altruistic feeling that binds people to the entire living world around them, or even the devotion one feels towards a heavenly power. It was not any one of those, and yet somewhere in her writings one could feel the essence of each of those types of loves. It was really indescribable, and yet her writings resonated strongly with what he himself had always felt for her even before he realized that he loved her, and also after that realization. Perhaps at some higher spiritual level, these different forms of love truly became indistinguishable from one another.

When Sesshomaru looked up from the pages of the book a while later, he found that Rin was sitting with her head on the elbow of her folded arm that rested on the window sill, and her eyes closed. Sunlight touched the crown of her head, and a few spots of her lilac kimono, her white and purple haori, and her tabi covered feet. It was understandable that she was tired, since her bad dream had taken away a good few hours of sleep from her the night before. However, if she maintained that posture, she was sure to have a stiff neck before long.

"Rin, if you are tired, go and rest properly," Sesshomaru called her. She opened her eyes and slowly raised her head from the window.

"But I wanted to be with you, Lord Sesshomaru," she protested half-heartedly. "Such a pleasant afternoon outside," she said. "But perhaps -," she drew herself closer to him, curled up her body, and lay down with her head on one side of his lap. "I can still rest here, for a while," she finished the sentence.

"Better than the window sill," her demon husband replied as he loosened the fur pelt from his shoulder and adjusted it around her body.

"Mmm, much better," she responded wearily as she allowed herself to sink in the downy feel of the fur. It was like a portable cushion. She closed her hand around a bunch of the long silver strands of his hair that fell over his shoulders. She found it strangely comforting to hold his hair that way. That morning also, upon awakening she had found that her fingers were curled around the plait she made him last night. She could only hope that she did not tug it in her sleep. Since his hair was so long, he would not feel any strain if she just held a handful of them gently.

As the familiar pale hand brushed away her own dark locks from her face and tucked them behind her ear, the Lady of the West took a moment to reflect on her not so long life. She remembered how the little orphaned girl had hated the winter with all her heart the year she lost her family. Life was so hard at that time. There was no wild mushrooms or berries for her to gather from the forest in that season and finding even a morsel of food was a struggle; collecting every piece of dry wood that she could use for fire was an excruciating toll on her little body. As she tried to go to sleep on the rags stacked over a pile of hay in the bare and dilapidated hut that was ravaged by the bandits, she would sometimes cry and just pray that she could survive the night, and that winter ended the next day, and never came back for as long as she lived. Yet, she was glad that she never gave up, and was able to push on to live for the day when winter arrived in all its glory on her path in the form of a certain dog demon, whose skin, hair and attire were all as white as the snow, and whose eyes radiated the same warmth for her as winter sun on a chilly day. How she had started loving the winter since that encounter! Back then, she had never known that winter could also bring such warmth as she was experiencing at that moment, as she lay there watching the soft afternoon sunshine cast a comfy glow on the classy furnishings of her lord's study. The cold and hungry orphaned girl from those distant winter nights had certainly not dreamt of spending such a winter in a stately castle with a regal and loving husband by her side, who cherished her everyday, and also be able enjoy the company of friends to whom she was not a nuisance or a burden.

As the Lady of the West rested with her head on her young husband's lap that afternoon, she silently prayed that everyone in the Western lands had food on their plates and a fire in their houses that season, and most importantly, the fortitude to live on and discover the warmth of winter one day, just as she had done once. Two drops of tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, which she quickly swiped away with her fingers, before closing her eyelids. To her, winter had magically transformed into a season for rest and rejuvenation; for mending or strengthening old bonds, and for forming new ones. On that pleasant winter afternoon, Rin knew that she would always look forward to that season to fill her life with happiness, hope and love.

~ The End ~

So that's it for now. It was somewhat painful to write Rin's dream scene. I hope that I can come back with these two again some other day. Thanks to all who have followed the story so far, and please leave a review if you enjoyed it. Have a safe and happy holiday season.