Piece of the Sun
Sesshomaru was hardly surprised to find Rin missing from her study. Jaken groveled at his feet while he passed with a heavy glance quietly demanding to know where she'd gone. Cautiously, the imp lifted his head and peered up at him.
"To t-the quarters where the kenin reside, m'lord," he warbled, clearing his throat as he blurted out. "I've told her more than once visiting them is beneath a lady's stature, but she simply won't listen!"
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and Jaken choked on another outburst, quickly bowing his head. Of course Rin wouldn't listen, he thought to himself as he strode through the castle corridors, ignoring those who lowered their gaze. Sunlight tinted the shoji and brought the images on them to life, rolling hillsides painted in sun gold. The corner of Sesshomaru's lips twitched upward at the memory of Rin painting in earnest.
Colors streaked across her nose, the sides of her fingers, and her elbows when she finished. Tired and wanting, throwing her arms around him to the onlookers' surprise, the wet paint staining his clothes and a chilled silence fell. When no punishment came, he could feel a collective breath taken but his attention was solely on his wife's cheerful smile at her accomplishment.
The ache to see her returned and Sesshomaru pressed on, leaving the castle's main building to one of the others on the outskirts. It was smaller and less extravagant but reminded him of the village his half-brother resided in. Children ran about the dirt paths surrounded by trees, their mothers and fathers committing to chores, washing linens Sesshomaru had seen folded neatly and pressed to Rin's hands from attendants he hadn't put a name to although she did in earnest.
By a few of the huts, doors open to allow air to circulate, children gathered on the veranda while a gaggle of women and men tended to the laundry lines nearby. Sheets billowing in the wind granted him limited view of what kept the children's attention but he heard a voice, familiar to him as the blades resting at his hip.
Not minding the clothes lines, Sesshomaru brushed aside a few comforters and stared down at the woman on the other side who stifled a cry and clutched a few cloths to her chest. Her wide eyes and trembling mouth almost made him scowl but it couldn't be helped. Many who tended to the castle knew of his reputation, wisely fearing what he would do if they displeased him. Even then she and the others nearby who stopped at the sight of him were human with remarkably low spiritual energy. They wouldn't prove much of a challenge to him at all. More of a nuisance really.
"G-Good afternoon, Lord Sesshomaru," she took a half-step backward then bowed clumsily, nearly knocking her head against the hilt of Bakusaiga.
Sesshomaru's gaze swept from one end of the line's post to the other as they bowed to him. A low hum simmered in his throat, gaze flicked up to where a young woman in pleated skirts emerged from the flock of children at her heels. With her back to him, she crouched down and showed them something in her hands. Their chorused gasps of awe and excitement were dulled by her giggling and Sesshomaru was hard pressed not to smile.
"Ah, were you looking for Lady Rin?"
His gaze snapped back to the woman in front of him, wringing the cloths in her hands before handing them to the man crouched beside her. After wiping her hands on the towel tucked in the front of her obi, she cupped a hand around the side of her mouth, turning back toward the smatter of huts huddled together. "Lady Rin!"
At once, it was as if the sun had come out. Rin turned with confusion pinching her lips, one of the children clinging to her neck with a whine, attempting to distract her.
"T-Tomoe, stop that…" The woman called, casting a wary glance up to Sesshomaru then away. "Lady Rin, Lord Sesshomaru's arrived."
It didn't occur to him she couldn't see him with the comforters on the clothes line blocking her view. Pushing one aside, Sesshomaru peered past it and met Rin's gaze. Her eyes growing impossibly wide, mouth falling open then snapping shot.
"Sorry, sorry, little ones," she said hurriedly, prying the little girl's hands from her neck. "I'll come play with you another day, okay?"
A cacophony of cries and whines to say followed her as she leapt off the veranda, thanking the woman on the other side of the line with a squeeze to her hands, then grasping Sesshomaru's sleeve as she pulled him away. It wasn't until they were further away, striding through the open fields that he allowed himself to smile.
Often times, armed with momentary fascination and a journal, Rin absconded from their home to sate her curiosities elsewhere. Demons who swore loyalty to him weren't very kind to her but Rin hardly let that stop her. Earning the favor of humans and several others with her cheer and infectious laughter, interacting with those beneath her, despite her position as Lady. One of her charms, Sesshomaru deduced. No matter how far she'd risen in social status, Rin remained warm and welcoming to all who crossed her path.
"You didn't have to stop," he pointed out, staring down at her as she slipped her hand in his own.
"Of course I did." Rin shrugged, sweet and patient as she squeezed his hand with an upward wink. "Suspense is what keeps them coming back after all."
Sesshomaru scoffed, not minding slowing his pace to allow her to tuck her arm around his to keep him close. The warm line of her body obscured by their clothes drew his attention. A familiar scent reminding him utterly of home and safety leading him to guide her to a less taken path beneath joined tree boughs allowing slivers of sunlight as she liked to play in when the mood touched her. Pinpricks of light danced across her skin, her eyes closed, long curved eyelashes almost brushing across rounded cheeks. He found himself staring at her more than the road ahead. Committing every last detail to memory as if it was the first he'd seen it.
Something smooth and hard brushed against his sleeve and he glanced down, noticing a stone in the palm of her hand. With her fingers curled around it, she shifted her hand out in front of them. "Neh," she prefaced, always when she was going to ask him something mind-boggling. "Would you believe I had a piece of the sun right here in my hand?"
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and glanced at her then her hand. Absolutely not. If she were holding a piece of the sun, it would have burned her hand and how would she have gotten it anyway? Looking to her again, his silence seemed to answer her question and she huffed in mock irritation.
"So mean," she whined, holding the stone to her chest. "You would doubt your wife that easily? I'm crushed."
Sesshomaru highly doubted that but he found amusing how she sulked. Bottom lip poked in a sullen pout lasting for all of a second before she tossed the stone in the air, catching it in her palm. For something so precious, she treated it with such frivolity, he couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Well, the children believed me. Although I'm not sure how the story ends…"
He arched a brow. That was new. Rin's vast imagination often lent a wealth of endings to her winded stories. "No?" He questioned when she seemed lost in thought, slipping his arm from her grasp to set his hand against her side. Almost immediately, she pressed close to him, slipping her arm around his waist.
The stone held up between her thumb and forefinger as she angled it to catch the sunlight, its surface almost seeming to glow. "I told them it was a sunstone, fallen a long time ago after a fight between the sun and moon."
Sesshomaru hummed. With a story like that, finding a satisfying ending would be difficult. They passed over a wooden bridge overlooking a river cutting between the land, smooth rocks along its banks, gravel and sand trodden over by numerous trips by those who lived nearby. Rin's footsteps slowed when they'd reached its center and Sesshomaru looked down at her curiously, hearing a thud and catching the stone rolling across the planks. A soft touch to his cheek, the smell of flowers and plush lips catching the corner of his mouth, stealing his attention. Chiming bells from the anklet she loved to wear reminding him of the difference in their height as he leant down to kiss her.
This is what he missed most. Unabashed affection, her arms slipping around his neck, smile pressed to his mouth as she kissed him again and coated her lips and invited him with nip after nip until they were reddened and swelled. Rin's giggles stammering his heart's beating.
"Not interested in the story?" She murmured, a smile in her voice.
Sesshomaru scoffed at the suggestion of eagerness. Even if it was true. "You kissed me."
"I told you you were missed, didn't I?" Rin asked with playful exasperation, seeming to think on it for a second before adding with a breathy sigh. "Oh, I didn't…" Another kiss filled the silence between them, his face cradled between her palms. "You were missed…"
He opened his eyes, staring at her from beneath his lashes, the blurred visage doing little to take away from the sight of her. Wanting to burn it into his memory for when she was here and when she was not.
"As were you…"
He could hear the loud thump of her heart, see the moment her smile fell then returned with such brightness it almost burned his eyes. Nimble fingers working into his hair as she pulled him closer, pressing feathery kisses to every inch of his skin she could reach. Tucking his arms beneath her, he lifted her carefully and suppressed a shudder at the kiss to his forehead, delighting in the surprised look she gave him.
"Well now you've made a big mistake," she said with a beguiling grin. "Now you'll have to carry me home, I'm afraid."
Sesshomaru chuckled softly, allowing the moment of expression to feel her heart skip and see the utter fondness in her eyes. He expected no less from her, telling her such as he cradled her in his arms.
"Are you calling me predictable now? I'm offended."
Predictable? Never. In all the centuries he'd wandered the world, he'd never met someone who confused him as much as she.
"Take it back," she whispered against the shell of his ear, warmth curling and settling as heat stirred in his stomach. "Or I'll be mad."
Mad? He raised a brow, almost willing to leave it simply to know what mad was like for her. So often, he'd seen her cheerful and upbeat or despondent and sullen. What would her anger be like? Before he could make up his mind on the matter, Rin leant back and stuck her tongue out at him. "Joking. It would take more than that to make me mad, I'm afraid."
What a shame. Although, he did prefer this smiling and happy Rin. Pressing a kiss to her cheek when she turned her head, he hardly expected her breath to hitch and the sharpness of her gaze.
"What was that for?"
He stared at her incredulously. "I missed you." Wasn't that obvious?
Perhaps not or perhaps Rin was simply pleased by the slightest showing of his affection, so often he gave it to her, he thought she would be accustomed to it by now. If anything, she seemed pleased just as the first time he'd shown it. Her nose brushing against his cheek, smile hidden in a press of lips against his jaw. Hugging close to him with her face tucked against the column of his throat.
"I have a piece of the moon right here in my arms," whispered against his neck in a sing-song voice, her love-drunk giggling making him roll his eyes and clutch his piece of the sun a little tighter.
Author's Note
Hey there! I'm back on my bullshit as usual and decided to write smaller ficlets, or a drabble collection with different AUs and situations and themes, to gear me up for my longer works.
This one was at the top of my mind since I started writing early in the morning. They're not proofread and kind of just written as-is but I'm pretty proud of it.
Anyhow, Rin is Lady of the West and although not everyone loves her, she wins them over with her personality and a lot of what she does. Still a free spirit and Sesshomaru loves her for it without a doubt. Even her strange stories and habit of being affectionate no matter who is watching has persisted over the years and he adores it.
The story about the sunstone is one that appears in some of my works and I love the meaning behind it, so I couldn't help it. Also pointing out the dichotomy between Rin being the sun and Sesshomaru being, well, the moon.
If you guys have any prompts and ideas you'd love to see, let me know here or elsewhere.
As always you guys can find me on FFN, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pillowfort at unlockthelore! If you want to read some of my original fiction, check it out on Tapas. Currently, I'm writing Legend of the Four Elemental Heroes, a litRPG Isekai novel with a bit of a twist.
Thanks for reading!