Chapter Fourteen

Rin held her breath while standing there watching, waiting…praying that the figure standing regally before her would not dissolve into the winds like an icy phantom playing with her already fragile mind. So much had already happened to her in the previous day that wrapping her thoughts around seeing a woman whom she had already seen murdered seemed like a bizarre dream clinging to the outer edges of her brain, taunting and teasing. Nothing made sense, and the more she tried, the more stunned she became. Even seeing her wasn't enough to make Rin believe Ura was actually there, so she turned her attention on the figure of the man that made her very bones quiver with unresolved emotions. "My Lord…Sesshomaru…I can't really be seeing what I'm seeing, can I? I-I mean…can you see..?"

Sesshomaru laid his golden orbs on her for one guarded moment before filling the silence with a voice that tightened Rin's unfamiliar flesh in several very familiar places. "The last time you saw her before your death, my sister had been brutally slain at the hands of a demon who I foolishly trusted with both of your lives…I had every intention of burning her remains along with yours, Rin, but even Jaken protested in order to restore her soul to her mangled body." Sesshomaru stepped toward his sister while keeping his eyes directly on Rin. "Ura's body, of course, had to be healed. I had called upon the priestess Kaede, your mentor, to aid her as well as she could…but even she could not completely heal the wounds that had been inflicted on my sister. If I were to bring her back, she would be scarred for the rest of her existence…so I gave her the choice of returning to her body from the Underworld and living with those scars, or remain in death."

"Naturally, I chose to live." Ura's kind, yet mischievous voice reached Rin's ears.

Rin, or course, was paralyzed by emotions that her new body had already grown accustomed, and she eventually crumbled beneath the weight of herself. Her knees hit the ground first before her hands had a chance to catch up and the pain sent shockwaves up her thighs while she gripped the earth. Her petite hands clenched fistfuls of grass and dirt, desperate to cling to her reality.

Before Sesshomaru took a step in her direction, Ura had already made it to Rin's side.

"Deep breaths, my dear…deep breaths…" Warm arms draped across Rin's shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

Instead of the comfort that she expected, Rin experienced a bright flash of white behind her clenched eyelids and blood clouded her vision once she opened them to stare into the night.

Crimson beads of liquid life painted the surrounding trees in the most devilish red that Rin had ever seen. Blood spatter dressed the ground in a cloak of fire. Even the soil beneath her own body appeared soaked in it.

Rin's lungs constricted, forcing the air to expel from them in a harsh gust. Hyperventilation drove her body into a bout of vicious tremors, making the fear of her surroundings appear that much worse. Instead of allowing the comforting arms of Ura to resolve her inner turmoil, she released the badly bruised ground from her aching hands and shoved the female dog demon away from her.

Ura tumbled backwards, stunned by this foreign woman's bodily strength. Or course she knew exactly who it was that she had been embracing, but even knowing that wasn't enough to keep her expression of shock veiled by concern. She looked up toward her brother and caught a pair of eyes that mirrored hers. They both had clearly been caught off guard.

Almost instantly, the blood had vanished from Rin's sight, leaving her speechless and unable to defend her actions to the most powerful pair of demons she had even known. "Oh…gods…" She whispered to herself. Rin blinked stupidly before looking up into the face of the woman she had been allowed to call sister in her previous life. "Blood…I…I saw blood…everywhere, when you touched me." Hot tears drenched her face as she confronted a ghost from her past. "Just now, there was blood on everything, Ura! When I saw you…mutilated, freshly murdered…I-I was so sick with grief. I remember the blood! That wolf painted the walls and floor with your blood, and I could see it still!" Rin was nearly shouting. The buried feelings came into light and set a raging fire within her aching body. She was angry. No, she was more than that. Rin was beside herself, filled with the poison of bitterness and unlikely to forget the hatred she felt toward the wolf demon that had been the source of her own pain and murder.

She used her dirt covered hands to wipe the salty tears away from her cheeks and then moved to stand. Completely ignoring the protest of her swollen ankle, Rin stood erect on both feet and steadied herself before turning her attention away from the auburn haired demon to stare into the amazing eyes of her demon lord. "I want to kill him, my lord…I need to end his life! I want to rip him apart and make him feel the agony that I felt on the day I died! I WANT TO KILL HIM!" Rin, by now, had begun to scream her intentions into the dense forest, not caring if she woke the entire world. She had finally reached her breaking point so much in fact that both Sesshomaru and Ura sprang forward to quiet her down.

Before Ura could reach the shaking human, Sesshomaru was already there and had trapped Rin in a one armed embrace while he sealed a free hand over her still frantically moving lips. "Enough of this, Rin!" He growled from deep within his chest. This was not a position Sesshomaru normally found himself in, and it confused the only other witness to the scene, Ura, to the point that she had to blink several times to convince herself she was actually seeing what she was seeing.

Rin struggled fiercely in his hold. She gripped Sesshomaru's steel like hand and yanked on it with everything that she had while she kicked her knee upward to make contact with the only known area of his body that might bring even the strongest male to his knees. Unfortunately for her, Sesshomaru was quicker than lightning and dodged her attacks by jolting his hip sideways in order to catch Rin's knee cap with his thigh muscle. Luckily for him, he barely felt it. Sesshomaru had had enough. "Stop this, Rin!" His voice got deeper upon saying her name, which appeared to be enough to stop the struggling woman from wearing herself out with her foolishness.

Ura was dumbfounded by the whole situation. Even in her wildest dreams, she never imagined that her eldest brother could be so…forgiving, despite being constantly attacked by the same assailant. Especially given that the assailant was the reincarnation her brother's former mate. Before their murders, Ura remembered that Rin barely got away with anything that might make Sesshomaru seem like a weak demon if they were in front of others. Her actions reflected on him just like any other person of high rank, and even in his castle, he never let his guard down…except once. That would claim to be the biggest and only mistake he would make in his life.

Rin knew her struggles were in vain, but she couldn't help but feel bitter and angry. Ura was MURDERED! I was MURDERED! My unborn child had been murdered before I had the chance to care for it and Sakuya deserves the worst type of punishment for taking me away from my Lord Sesshomaru! Her internal battle seemed to drain her of her energy faster than when she had nearly kneed Sesshomaru in the groin and attempted to fight him. I want to see that wolf's blood! I want…!

While she continued to yell at herself about all of the things that were taken from her, the man holding her tightened his grip around her waist and glared into the deep brown eyes of a woman scorned. "You cannot kill him, Rin! Do you honestly believe I allowed him to get away after what he had done?"

Rin ignored his question and continued to shout in the privacy of her thoughts.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes after several seconds and leaned down to whisper in the struggling woman's ear. "He is dead! Rin…I already killed him for his acts."

The words had to sink in before she could fully understand the gravity of the confession, but she still harbored anger toward the deceased in a way nobody could understand. The reality stung a lot worse than she had ever anticipated. Thoughts of her unborn child surfaced at a rate that brought her to her knees again, and this time she brought Sesshomaru with her. Only now, she clung to his robes as if they were a lifeline anchoring her to the present and fighting off the past with an invisible sandalwood club. The hand that held her mouth dropped away slowly as if unsure if it was a good idea until finally settling back to the ground to support both of their weights on his legs.

The words eluded her in that moment. They had locked themselves deep within her mind and she could not find the key to release them.

Ura was astounded by the viciousness in which Rin's reincarnation had reacted upon laying eyes on her after nearly sixty years. "Brother, perhaps we should return her to the main house?"

Sesshomaru was silent while he held onto Miho's body, afraid that any minute his Rin would disappear. When the words of his sister reached his ears, his body tensed inside. The thought of sending Rin back to a place where her new body has been beaten, or where she might be touched by other men made him physically ill. But they had to be smart about it. They couldn't just disappear with this woman in the night. It would cause and uproar and no doubt Inuyasha and Kagome would be hot on their trail before the morning sun had a chance to paint the sky blue.

He let out a gruff sigh and spoke softly, but firmly as not to startle to female in his grasp. "She needs to rest, Ura. And she has also sprained one of her ankles, so she will be unable to perform for a few days at that…teahouse. That will give us time to prepare our leave."

Ura nodded as Sesshomaru turned his molten eyes in her direction. She reached up and pushed a few strands of hair past her shoulders and then she looked down to study her violet and crimson kimono. "When should we leave, do you think?"

Rin, who had curled up into a blubbering ball of white fabric, had been surprisingly quiet during the sibling's exchanges. Upon hearing Ura's voice, her heart clenched in undeniable fear and she roughly pushed herself away from Sesshomaru's warm chest. Her face was stained with dry tears and dirt, and her hair poked out in various places, making her appear as if she belonged in the wild. Her eyes were wide and desperate and she soon located the key to her voice and released it swiftly. "NO! You can't leave! You can't! Don't…don't leave me here! Please don't leave me here!" Memories of blood enveloped her mind and she began to dig her hands and fingers into the skin on either side of her temples. "No…no!"

Sesshomaru was on her fast, grabbing at her hands with mild strength and wrenching them free of her hair while he brought her back into his embrace, cutting off the images that flooded her brain like a tidal wave. "What made you think we were going to leave you behind, Rin? We're not, do you understand me?"

Ura joined in and moved to embrace them, making sure that her voice made it into the woman's ear. "We are not leaving you here, alright? It's okay; there is no need to be afraid of that." She held her tight and addressed Sesshomaru. "Let's at least get her back to the main house and wake Inuyasha. He can keep an eye on her while we prepare for a long travel. We need to get her back to the castle as soon as possible."

Sesshomaru nodded in agreement. "Jaken!"

Rin's new body jolted and she looked up through her puffy eyes to find Sesshomaru's golden eyes staring down at her with a straight face. It was as if he hadn't shouted. "Wha..?"

"Yes, my lord?" The annoyingly familiar voice came from behind them all, and Rin turned in time to catch a glimpse of the imp demon she had grown very fond of in her previous life. He had emerged from the foliage to their left side.

A weak smile touched her lips through her teary haze. "Jaken…" She whispered hoarsely. Her throat felt thick around her words.

The imp demon looked up at her with his saucer like eyes and smiled lightly before he turned his full attention to his master. "What is it, my Lord?"

Sesshomaru paused for a moment before answering. "Bring Inuyasha to me. Be quick about it."

Jaken studied his master curiously, but did not question him. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru." He turned to disappear back into the forest.

"Jaken!"

The small imp froze in place, and then turned his head back into their direction. "My Lord?"

The great demon lord only gave him a steady look, which Jaken and Ura understood, but Rin did not.

Before little green toad vanished, his eyes traveled back to Rin's and a curious expression came over his features. He was smiling at her for the first time in a way that proved to her of his love and appreciation for her. Apparently, he had missed her presence in his life much like Sesshomaru. For the first time in this life, Rin felt home…and she would not lose them again.