"He's not regenerating." Kagome said with concern to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha leaned forward and checked his brother's sides. The wounds Kitsune had given him would've been fatal to any other but Sesshomaru had somehow survived it. Kagome had sealed his wounds but could not heal him. They had hoped he could regenerate but something in Kitsune's poisoned tipped tails was blocking his regeneration.
"If we could kill that bitch again I would." Inuyasha grumbled.
"What are we going to do?" Kagome asked him with worry in her eyes.
Inuyasha wrapped his arms around his wife comfortingly and looked to the other side of the guest bedroom where Rin laid in the bed. "She hasn't come around either."
"It's been days Inuyasha. She has no visible injuries that I can see and every time I try to give her healing energy something blocks me."
As they both watched Rin, her form suddenly seemed to fade for a brief moment before she solidified before their eyes. "I don't have your spiritual energy Kagome. My powers come from physical strength. I have no way of sensing or figuring out what the hell is wrong with her." Inuyasha said.
"Is she going to disappear?" Chieko suddenly asked worriedly, giving away her and Kichirou's hiding place under Sesshomaru's bed. "Aww man! I knew I shouldn't have let you hide with me." Kichirou complained as Inuyasha quickly pulled both his children out from under the bed. "I told you two to stay outside." He scolded them.
Kichirou rolled his eyes. "If Rin's disappearing I want to see her go. It's so cool how she goes and comes back." He said with his usual excitement.
Inuyasha balled up his fist and hit his son on the top of his head in punishment. "You're scaring your sister."
Kichirou rubbed the sore spot on his head. "She's always scared."
"Am not!" Chieko said defensively.
"Are too!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
"All right you two it's time to go." Kagome said as she tried to stop them from bickering. Both easily dodged their mother's arms and Kichirou ran around her in circles as he laughed with glee.
Inuyasha easily caught his son as he tried to run past him and wrapped his arms around both his children's waist and hoisted them up onto his hips. As he walked out, Kagome close on his heels, they both squirmed and tried desperately to hit the other much to Inuyasha's annoyance as the door shut loudly behind them.
Sesshomaru awoke to the loud bang and quickly mentally scanned his surroundings. Finding no danger he slowly assessed his injuries. Frowning to himself in annoyance he summoned Jacken.
Jacken quickly appeared by his masters side with tears in his eyes. "Master, I was not there to protect you! There are no apologies as there can be no forgiveness. I offer you my life as is your due for my negligence."
Sesshomaru gingerly forced himself to sit up, calling upon his vast reserves of discipline to not cry out from the crippling pain surging through him. "Silence." He commanded.
Jacken clamped his mouth shut and awaited his instructions.
Sesshomaru gripped his side, his muscled arm rippling suggestively as his body tensed from the pain.
"Master, you are not regenerating." Jacken exclaimed in surprise.
Sesshomaru glared at Jacken. "I'm aware of that. Take A-Un and retrieve for me an herbal root I require. You will find it to be the only living thing in my mother's lands."
"Would you like me to deliver a message to your mother?" Jacken asked politely.
Sesshomaru gazed at Jacken with sincere confusion. "Why?"
Jacken nodded his head, already aware there was no love or affection between Sesshomaru and his mother. Still, he felt the need to ask. Just as Jacken turned to do his masters bidding his eyes fell on Rin as she faded in and out again. "She's fading in and out with more frequency." Jacken said sadly.
"For how long?" Sesshomaru demanded.
"Three days. Kohaku found her after you had lost consciousness."
"Kohaku not only sensed what I could not but also rescued her." Sesshomaru said.
Jacken glanced at his master. "You did sense something was amiss master."
"I allowed Kitsune to distract me."
Jacken remained silent, not at all sure how to respond. Sesshomaru rose from the bed holding his hand to his side where Kagome had bandaged him up. He only wore a pair of loose trousers Inuyasha had insisted he wear while Kagome treated him. Kagome had rolled her eyes at Inuyasha's demand. "I need to treat him. My healing powers are not connecting with him because he's a demon. So I have to do this the old fashioned way."
"He's naked." Inuyasha had growled.
"He's covered by the blanket and wounded." Kagome had replied drily.
"I'm not chancing my wife seeing my brother naked. If he wants you to treat him then he can wear some damn pants." Inuyasha grumbled.
"Fine. Get the pants then." Sesshomaru had said.
"I'm not leaving my wife alone with a naked demon." Inuyasha had quickly grabbed Kagome and dragged her protesting out the door while Sesshomaru had shaken his head. Now as he stood Sesshomaru was grateful for Inuyasha's insistence. The loose fitting grey pants hung low on his hips, and though he was comfortable with his nudity, the last thing he wanted was for Kagome or the children to walk in while he checked on Rin.
He sat gingerly next to Rin and watched as her body slowly faded in and out. "Three days she has been suffering these effects…and that is not even taking into account how long Kitsune had been playing doppelganger."
Jacken looked on worriedly. "You can help her right?"
Sesshomaru frowned. "To push someone into another realm like this is a rare ability, one I did not know Kitsune possessed."
"Shouldn't her death have removed this from Rin and brought her back into our plane?" Jacken asked.
Sesshomaru sighed. "It would depend on the length of time she was in that other realm." Sesshomaru tried to raise his arm to scan her but pain shot up his side and he gasped before he could control himself.
Jacken immediately jumped forward an attempt to stop him. "Master please, Rin would not want you to cause yourself further injury."
"What about the injury I have caused her with my negligence." Sesshomaru asked quietly.
"Master?" Jacken asked with confusion. Not at all liking the pain he could hear in his masters voice.
"She's my responsibility. My duty is to protect her yet I have failed her in every way possible. I've allowed her to come to harm on more than one occasion. Why? Why do I permit such foolhardiness? If I had left her in the village with Kaede she would be safe."
"She would also be married to Benimaru." Jacken added absently.
"What?" Sesshomaru growled.
Jacken gulped audibly. "Benimaru. That is the name of the young man who wanted Rin as his bride. I believe in the village they shortened it to Ben."
"He was unworthy of her. I would never permit such a union." Sesshomaru said.
Jacken thought it best to hold his tongue. Little good it would do to remind Sesshomaru that he would have no say in that decision. If Rin was to stay in the human world then she would need to bend to its rules. Marriage was a protection for women. However the thought of Rin married appeared to infuriate Sesshomaru.
Rin's breath stuttered at that moment and she faded out again but instead of only becoming translucent and reappearing solid as usual, she disappeared fully and returned a heartbeat later.
Sesshomaru immediately reached up and ignoring his pain brushed his knuckles over her cheek before he allowed his hand to trail down her throat until he rested his palm against her chest, right above her heart. He closed his eyes and began to mutter under his breath.
Jacken felt the hairs on his arms and head stand at attention as he felt the energy in the room gather around the bed. Alarmed, Jacken called out to his master. "Lord Sesshomaru, what are you doing?"
"She needs an anchor in this plane. I need to tie her soul here or she is lost to us."
"What will be her anchor then?" Jacken asked with growing alarm.
"I am." Sesshomaru said with determination.
"Lord Sesshomaru you cannot!" Jacken said quickly. "You are a full blooded yokai and she is a human. By anchoring her to you, you are tying your lives together. It could either shorten your life to human years or-"
"Or lengthen hers to mine. I am aware of the risks Jacken."
"It is irreversible my lord! No one has attempted to do this before and for good reason! The possibilities are endless."
"She will be much harder to kill." Sesshomaru replied.
"But you could be killed through her death! Please my lord, I beg of you do not do this. If you must anchor her then anchor her to me! I will take the responsibility." Jacken volunteered with bravery.
Sesshomaru for the first time looked down at Jacken and a small smile tilted his lips in approval. "But you have no soul Jacken. In order for this to work I have to tie her soul to another's."
Flustered Jacken adjusted his hat atop his head. "No demon has a soul master." He said pointedly to Sesshomaru.
"My family was cursed or blessed with souls Jacken. A deep and hidden family secret. A gift bestowed upon my line by my grandfather."
Jacken froze in shock. Sesshomaru possessed a soul? It was unheard of. And he could understand the need for secrecy. In the demon world, having a soul would be looked upon as a weakness. It also explained so much. How his father the great Demon Lord had fallen in love with a human. Inuyasha, though only half demon, had still fallen for another human. And even with Sesshomaru's obvious affection for Rin…it explained so much!
Sesshomaru lowered his head and continued his small chant. Jacken, recovering from his shock at Sesshomaru's revelation ran forward and pulled on the leg of Sesshomaru with his green clawed hand. "Master please…the danger to you is too great."
"I owe it to her." Sesshomaru said quietly.
"But my lord-"
"My decision has been made Jacken. Go gather what I need and leave me to finish what I started. I will not fail her again." He vowed.
Jacken bowed his head and turned to complete his masters bidding. It did not behoove him to question his master's decisions. As much as it pained him and as much as he cared for the human child he had helped raise, he was just not willing to trade her life for Sesshomaru's. Jacken left and immediately searched for Inuyasha.
Sesshomaru breathed out and continued his chant. He reached out, deep within Rin and allowed energy to flow from within him into her. He felt her then, felt her deep pain at his betrayal as if it were his own and her spirit shied away from him. Sesshomaru ruthlessly pulled her spirit back and wrapped himself around her dwindling spirit, forcing her to accept him. He would not fail her again. He would fight to protect her, even against herself. He felt her cry of pain and despite his best efforts he could feel her withdrawing from him. Sesshomaru growled low in his throat. He followed her relentlessly and demanded her obedience. Expected her compliance. When she continued to withdraw, Sesshomaru opened his eyes and could only see a pale outline of her on the bed. She was leaving him.
Fear spiked within him. Do not leave me!
Though he meant for it be a command it ended up being a hoarse plea from deep within him. He called to her and begged her to stay. Her fragile spirit hesitated hearing the deep grief in his calls and he immediately took advantage and surrounded her spirit with his energy again, locking her to him. Before she could slip away from him again he tied her soul to his. He felt a strange wrenching from within him, as if tiny threads were being woven between them. On the cusp of that he was suddenly flooded with emotion. Anguish, deep and slicing into him. Fear, paralyzing and heart stopping. Sesshomaru suddenly realized that the emotions flooding him were hers. He opened his eyes and stared at her. Rin's form was slowly solidifying as she anchored herself to him in this realm.
Sesshomaru couldn't help taking her hand within his and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles soothingly. He hadn't protected her the way he should have. He hadn't paid her the attention she deserved. He was the cause of her torment. She had hidden a well of deep agony from him. He was surprised when he dug a little further and found an even deeper well of love for him. She selflessly had dedicated her life to his happiness and welfare. He had always assumed it had been more a matter of convenience she followed him when she was a child. Now he realized she had idolized him as a child because he had saved her life.
At the time he hadn't been interested in saving the child's life. His intent had been solely to test the power of Tenseiga. He had felt the sword pulse beside him as he had stared at her young dead body. With Tenseiga he had restored her life and that had been his final thought of her. From that moment forward she had followed him at a distance and eventually, he wasn't sure exactly when, she had become a part of his group. As time passed, he had looked upon her as little more than a possession. She had belonged to him and he would not tolerate harm befalling her. Not necessarily because he had cared for the child, but because she had been his. Kagome and Inuyasha had always assumed he had viewed her as an adoptive daughter but that couldn't be further from the truth. He hadn't loved her or cared about her future. All that had mattered to him was that no one would take her from him. It was a question of power. He was powerful enough to protect the child from any who would use her against him. As a result, she had idolized him and later her fascination with him had grown to infatuation.
Sesshomaru sighed heavily. She believed herself in love with him. Though he had protected and sheltered her nearly her whole life, she believed he had cared for her as deeply as she for him. Any tiny crumb of affection she could claim from him she took as if he had gifted her with the sun. No wonder she believed it was love. She knew no other. Her loyalty and endless devotion astonished him.
Guilt for his almost dismissive nature with her when she was a child was a heavy burden. For a brief moment, elation had overtaken the surprise he had when he discovered she thought she was in love with him. It was an emotion he wasn't very familiar with but just as quickly as it had come it was gone as reality set in.
For the first time in his life Sesshomaru felt regret. If Benimaru wasn't worthy of her he knew damn sure he wasn't. He didn't deserve her. Sesshomaru had never really known love in his life. His father had not known love until he met Inuyasha's mother. His father had been different afterwards and had been very loving towards Inuyasha and his mother. He had even attempted to include Sesshomaru in their circle, but Sesshomaru had been uncomfortable and unsure. Later he had seen the open displays of love and affection as a weakness in his father. A weakness that would and did get him killed.
She couldn't be in love with him because there was no way he could ever return such a tender emotion. She believed whole heartedly he could but he wasn't prepared to risk hurting her more than he already had, only to discover he was incapable of love.
If anyone in this world deserved love it was Rin. And he felt regret, knowing he could never be the one to give it to her.
Sesshomaru bent suddenly from the waist and grasped his bandaged side as dizziness besieged him. He looked down and realized his blood now coated the bed sheets and seeped from between his fingers. The door to the bedroom slammed open and Sesshomaru quickly placed his body between Rin's prone form and the door protectively, instinctively.
Inuyasha filled the doorway with Jacken peering worriedly around him. "What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be resting." Inuyasha snapped at him.
Sesshomaru grimaced in pain and gingerly stood but swayed so suddenly Inuyasha rushed to his good side to steady him. Sesshomaru wrapped his good arm around Inuyasha's shoulder for support.
"You're getting blood all over my damn clothes." Inuyasha grumbled, attempting in vain to hide the worry in his voice.
Sesshomaru grinned. "Weren't you the one that cut off my entire arm years ago? There was more blood back then and you didn't care."
"Yeah well, you were an asshole back then." Inuyasha said as he guided his older brother back to bed, slightly taken aback by his grin. Sesshomaru tended to bare his teeth more than actually smile.
Jacken pulled back the bed sheets and backed away, giving Inuyasha room to place Sesshomaru into bed. Inuyasha looked towards Jacken. "Go get Kagome."
Normally Jacken would've scoffed at being ordered by what he considered to be a lesser demon, but the quiet urgency in his voice spurred him as nothing else could. Jacken dashed out of the room in search of Kagome.
Sesshomaru laid his head upon the pillow and Inuyasha stood back with his fists on his hips. "Mind telling me why you suddenly smell like Rin?" He asked suspiciously.
Sesshomaru paused before answering. "We are in the same room and you did find me checking on her."
"No. Her scent may have clung to your person but not like this. Her scent is mingled with yours and is coming out of your pores. Almost like you were the same person."
"Or that we had sex." Sesshomaru replied drily.
Inuyasha laughed. "You look like you could barely fight your way out of a paper bag." He glanced over to the bed where Rin lay silently. "And she looks nearly comatose. So unless you suddenly have a thing for necrophilia I highly doubt that's what happened."
Sesshomaru closed his eyes. "Leave me." He said, as one used to instant obedience.
Inuyasha snorted. "You don't order me around in my own house ancient one. Your scents were never combined like this before. You're hiding something from me."
"Hiding something from you would give you importance in my life that you simply do not have."
"Are you saying you wouldn't bother hiding something from me because you find me that insignificant?" Inuyasha blustered.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome snapped from the doorway when it looked like Inuyasha was about to strangle his brother. She pointed to the door. "Out."
"I'm not leaving until he tells me why the hell his scent has changed. He did something to Rin. I know it!" Inuyasha said stubbornly while glaring down at Sesshomaru.
"Either you leave voluntarily or you can kiss the floor for the rest of the night." Kagome said threateningly, reminding her dear husband she had the power to slam him into the ground by the necklace around his neck.
Inuyasha glared at his wife then glared at his brother. "We're not finished ancient one." He said angrily before he stomped towards the door. Before he could leave Kagome raised her hand and stopped him by her side. "Kiss first, then you can go." She said haughtily and presented her cheek.
Inuyasha bit back a curse before leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. Jacken suddenly had a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like laughter and Inuyasha glared at him before he stomped out of the room.
Before Jacken could enter the room Kagome slammed it into his face. Jacken yelled from the other side but from the sound of it her children had immediately jumped on him and forced him to go play with them.
Kagome waited until all their footsteps left before she sat by Sesshomaru. She looked down at her brother in law and looked over to Rin on the other bed. She used her other senses and could feel the tiny threads binding their souls together. "So it's true. You tied her soul to yours. I almost didn't believe Jacken when he warned me of your plans."
Kagome poured healing energy into his body, almost forgetting her powers did not work on demon flesh. Biting her lip she grabbed the bowl of hot water and towels she had Jacken bring in earlier, then bent to clean Sesshomaru's wounds. He hissed in pain and his fangs snapped together. Though Kagome couldn't use her powers to heal his flesh, she could and did use what she could to block as much pain as she could from him.
"Well?" Kagome persisted.
"You didn't ask a question little sister. There was no need for a response." Sesshomaru stated.
Kagome grinned. "Talking to you is like crossing a mine field. I guess I'll just have to wait until Rin comes to and ask her what's going on."
Sesshomaru's hand clamped down on her arm and surprised her enough to raise her startled eyes to his very serious ones. "Do not interfere." He gave her the only warning he could.
Kagome carefully changed the energy she was giving him to a calming stream. Very slowly he responded and laid back down. She encouraged him to sleep deep and though he fought her a bit, he was too weak to put up much of a struggle. Once he was asleep Kagome released a slow breath. Even at Sesshomaru's most ruthless, he never displayed emotion. But when he had warned her to not interfere, she had actually felt threatened. Though he had tried to stay in control, Kagome was very susceptible to energies around her, and his had been a boiling cauldron of fear of losing Rin, and anger at anything threatening what he believed was his tenuous hold on her.
Kagome was very worried. Sesshomaru was the most powerful demon she knew, and that power required strong discipline. The few times she had known of him losing his temper had been devastating. He had destroyed entire villages and other powerful demons within minutes with no real recollection of what had happened. When he had flown into his rages, Jacken had told her he could barely tell the difference between friend and foe…or that he just simply did not care. What mattered was death and blood. The screams he could induce in his victims only drove him to more madness. When it was all over and Sesshomaru was back in control of himself, he never remembered what he had done.
Kagome looked over at Rin. Rin had always inspired something special in Sesshomaru. Kagome had always liked the influence she had over him, but now she wasn't so sure. If Rin was the cause of the confusion she had sensed inside Sesshomaru they were in big trouble. She doubted Sesshomaru would ever willingly let her go. He was much too possessive of her, and had always been since she had been a child. But now that she was an adult, it appeared their relationship dynamic was changing and Kagome wasn't sure if the change would be for the better.