Chapter Thirty-Two
The familiar beat of her heart gave him reason to pause. Her beautiful face radiated sunlight in spite of the fact that the Earth's star was nowhere near where it should have been in the sky to cause such happiness to glow. She was clear in his vision, lovely and resting before him in a bed stitched with silk and even softer fabrics that he was in no state of mind to name just yet. Although one of her arms was motionless at her side, the other arm was outstretched and reaching for him. He could do nothing but allow the delicate touch of cool, feminine fingers to caress the rough skin of his cold face. Her scent was weak but fragrant and all too familiar. Roses…yellow, like the sun.
He fought the urge to retreat from her touch. The shock of its familiarity weakened him in a way that he had never experienced before, but he remained frozen as Rin explored his face for the first time in what seemed to him thousands of years. All that he was capable of doing while she touched him was to swallow the knot of pent up emotion in his throat, not daring to release them regardless of his audience. Instead, he gazed at her as he once did all those years ago. With every blink of Rin's weary yet soft brown eyes, he was reminded of the feelings that only she could bring about inside of him from their past.
Sesshomaru blinked involuntarily and was astonished to learn that his eyes were moist. He was thankful that the wetness had not fallen down his cheek, but that did not stop Rin from realizing it. Without a word of warning, her hand made its way up toward his left eye and she traced the flesh beneath his lower lashes. Her mouth drew a smile that could have melted even the coldest of hearts in the world. "Words will never describe my happiness at having returned to you."
Rin's voice held little strength, but her declaration weakened Sesshomaru's ability to stay silent. His own hand came up to take hold of Rin's and removed both of their hands from his face. But instead of releasing hers, he drew her whole upper body up out of her resting position and into his arms. Holding onto her tightly, the words finally broke free. "I have died everyday… waiting for you." Tufts of raven hair blanket his arms and tickled his nose when he buried his face in it. But he couldn't get enough. He needed to feel her body against his, feel her core body temperature rise with her resurrection so that he could know that she was indeed alive and here now, with him…alive.
Rin wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back as tightly as she could, silently begging for him to be real, for this to be real. "I-I never wanted to cause you such pain, Lord Sesshomaru! Even in death…I have loved you…"
"And now?" Sesshomaru's voice was thick with unshed emotion, but Rin never dared force him to show it.
As their embrace slackened, Rin pulled back to stare him straight in the eye. Her eyes were soaked with tears. She cupped Sesshomaru's face in her hands and rested her forehead against his while she responded. "I will love you for the rest of my life in this world, my love." Free falling tears drew sticky lines down her cheeks. "And I will love you still when our souls converge in our time of death…when we have lived a full life!" Rin didn't have to move first into the kiss when it happened. Sesshomaru beat her to it and took great care to remember that of her weakened state when he forced her back into her pillows.
(A short time later)
"Master Jaken?" The voice wasn't unfamiliar, but it wasn't welcomed while the small toad demon anxiously wrung his hands and churned his thoughts to avoid thinking of anything to do with the recent events.
Jaken twisted his neck sideways to catch a glimpse of the woman before he decided if he wanted to speak to her or not. At a time like this, doing so wasn't ideal, but then again she was the only link to his young female companion at the moment. No one else seemed to show initiative when it came to Rin's well being. Everyone was too afraid of what Sesshomaru might do if interrupted while alone with Rin's body.
He had managed to go against strict orders from everyone in the castle and stationed himself directly outside the room that Kagome and Miho had taken Rin's body to when she faded. No doubt Sesshomaru already knew he was there, but didn't seem to mind since he hadn't bothered him about it.
The small toad demon sighed heavily as he reached a decision, trying hard not to lose his mind as he addressed the speaker. "I don't care what Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Ura, Master Inuyasha or Lady Kagome say about my being here. I am not leaving this spot until I know if Rin survived. Off with you, Miho!" He shoved his hands in the direction of the Priestess as a way of shooing her from the hallway while brandishing his Staff of Two Heads as a warning for her not to test him. He wouldn't really use it on her, but he just wanted to be left alone.
Miho furrowed her brow and put her hands on her hips. She had managed to change into a freshly laundered lavender Kimono created from cotton threads, and her hair was pulled up to keep it out of her face. A true beauty in her own right, but not as beautiful of Rin, Jaken decided pointedly in his mind. Although Miho didn't need to be a mind reader to see how he felt about her as it was clearly written on Jaken's slimy green face. "Master Jaken, I didn't come here to ask you to leave."
"A likely story." Kagome had already tried it once not long before to get him to go away when she emerged from Rin's room earlier. The woman didn't give him any details despite his demands and left in a huff while Jaken made way for Sesshomaru as he came swooping by, casting him aside as though he didn't exist at all.
"I only came up here to check on you. Nothing more, nothing less." Miho held up her hands to show that she was not brandishing any secret weapons in which to knock him out with, nor did she appear to harbor any impatience regarding his decision to plant himself where he had. "Priestess Kagome assumed that I would be better suited to checking on your well being since she snapped at you last."
"I am well, thank you. Now leave me." Jaken didn't really demand it this time. Instead, he seemed more defeated in tone as he hunched over and turned back around to stare sadly at Rin's door.
Miho didn't budge. "I am also well," she offered so that they might have something more to discuss.
Jaken nodded. "Now that Rin's soul is no longer attached to yours, you are a free woman."
Miho smiled at the back of Jaken's head. "I suppose that's true…"
"And a priestess."
Miho shrugged. "That is also true, but that means that I am not really free."
Jaken turned his head back around to glance quizzically at her. "Doesn't it?"
"I am bound by powers that I have never been trained to understand." Miho sighed again and cast her eyes toward Rin's door. "Priestesses are trained from birth to control their powers and use them for both good and evil. My powers have been sealed within me for seventeen years and I have no idea how to wield them."
"You can be trained." Jaken offered.
Miho nodded. "Kagome has offered to take me on as an Apprentice. I agreed, but it means that by my very nature, I am bound to serve the creatures of this world and protect. I am not free to live."
Jaken considered this for a moment. "But you are. You seem to be forgetting that Kagome is also a Priestess, the most powerful one I have ever met, and she lives. She became not only a Priestess, but also a wife and a mother. It is not required for you to train to become a priestess, but if you do, you will not be asked to protect anyone unless you desire to do so. No one can force you to do anything now that your life is no longer in peril."
"If only it were that simple, Master Jaken."
Jaken blinked at the woman. "You almost died. By some cruel twist of fate, you ended up at death's door and Rin was the cause. You fought to bring her soul home at great expense to yourself and asked very little in return. I believe you are entitled to live your life however you see fit and no one can take it from you now. You are free. Being a priestess doesn't mean you are enslaved by your powers and the needs of others. Anyone who tells you otherwise…is a fool."
Miho grinned softly while she watched him. "I suppose that's true."
"It is true." This voice did not belong to Jaken, but he appeared to know who it belonged to and spun around quickly to confirm his suspicions. Miho glanced above the toad demon's head and stared, her smile never wavering.
"It's nice to finally use my physical voice with you, Miho." A dark haired woman was standing inside the doorway leading into the recovery room, and she appeared to be struggling to stay upright. She was wearing a sunset orange silk kimono with white trim. Apparently, she had changed from her death shroud. "I didn't think I would ever get this chance."
From off to the side, Jaken began to blubber. "After all this time!" He muttered excitedly and hoped from one foot to the other while he watched Rin's silhouette emerge slowly from the recovery room. Following her sluggish movements was Sesshomaru, holding tight to her left elbow to ensure that she remained on her feet. It was as though he had appeared out of thin air.
Rin's soft brown eyes were bright with fresh tears, giving them a rim of gold that made them radiate happiness. "Master Jaken!" She whispered excitedly, weakly.
Jaken had never seen her look more beautiful than she appeared in this moment. "Rin! You foolish child!" He shouted out of pure habit before he took off for her, arms outstretched and ready to embrace her.
Sesshomaru was too quick for him and Jaken found himself on his back, staring up at his rage filled demon lord. Blood red eyes warned him that death was not far away should he try to touch the human woman again.
"Lord Sesshomaru, that was not alright!" Jaken's ears perked up and he became aware once again of the woman being protected behind Sesshomaru's back. Rin's face appeared beneath a snow white sleeve. She was smiling so brightly that Jaken was positive that her soul had taken on the power of an angel. He had to restrain himself from being reduced into a green, tear filled puddle of toad. "Hello, Master Jaken." Her voice touched his heart in a way he never thought possible and he immediately lost his restraint.
He made a beeline for her, dodging Sesshomaru's authority by leaping above the silvery mane of hair and landing just behind him into Rin's outstretched arms. The two fell backward with a THUD and tears dropped from both individuals.
Sesshomaru glared sharp daggers at the pair while Miho fought to contain her weepy giggles. "Welcome home, Rin."
Rin clutched at Jaken's robes with a fierce intensity, afraid that she might fade again if she let him go, and Jaken appeared to be doing the same. Neither of them seemed too concerned by the blood seeping through the front of her kimono. Sesshomaru, however, was deeply concerned. "Jaken!" He reached down and grabbed the toad by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him high. "Rin is still in danger of blood loss!"
Miho sprinted around the pair of arguing demons and dropped to assist a laughing Rin. "Are you alright? Rin, your wound hasn't had time to heal!"
Rin just kept laughing. "I-I know!" She giggled harder. At one point, tears rolled down her already flushed cheeks.
Miho placed an opened palm on Rin's belly above the wound, ignoring the urge to run away in disgust as the warm, red metallic liquid coated her hand and pressed firmly to stop the bleeding. "Rin, what's wrong!" Miho had no idea what was happening, but she was beginning to get worried. "I should get Kagome!"
"No!" Rin held up a hand in protest, but still could not stop laughing. Instead, she looked down at Miho's hand covering her stomach and grinned through a stream of tears before she looked at her. "No…I needed this…" She sniffed then blew out a long breath of wind. "It's…this just…it's a reminder to me."
Miho crinkled her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
Rin shook her head and glanced up at Sesshomaru and Jaken, both of whom were giving her astonished looks. "It's a reminder," she said again. "…that I'm here." Another sniff. "I'm alive…" She wasn't smiling anymore as she caught Sesshomaru's hard gaze. "I'm alive!" A hand came up and covered her mouth as a sob snuck through.
Miho fell back out of the way as Jaken came out of nowhere and wrapped the bleeding woman in a vice like hug. "You are indeed alive!"
Sesshomaru rounded them both, sat down behind Rin and pulled her back into him, Jaken still attached and hugged Rin and delicately and closely as he could.
Miho caught sight of a clawed hand reaching around and resting above Rin's freshly opened wound. Kagome, she thought instantly. "I'll…I'll get Kagome…" she whispered as she found herself on her feet again. While she turned around, she kept herself at a slow pace so that the two demons could have their time alone with her. Her wound isn't too bad, so there is no hurry. Miho smiled to herself as she made her way toward Kagome's location. They've waited long enough.
Author's Note: The inspiration for this chapter can be linked to two different songs. "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri, and "All of the Stars", by Ed Sheeran.
Another stress filled semester is over and done with and now I am faced with more free time than I know what to do with. It seemed an appropriate idea to devise a fitting conclusion to my story, but alas, I am still working on it. There are just a few chapters left and I am looking forward to its completion with a mix of happiness and sadness. Feel free to ask questions about anything you have read so far, but do not expect me to reveal release dates for future chapters or plot ideas for future stories. I am not a computer and cannot write at your leisure. I am simply a person like you all and need time to sort out the ideas in my brain before I can compose. It has been a long time since I have written creatively I am sad to admit, but I am just now getting back into the swing of things. Have patience and I will keep writing.
OliviaAR