TWO

Rin suddenly stopped walking and looked around her. Memories continuously stabbed at her for the past two days, and she did not understand why she had them. They were not her memories, but those of a beautiful woman named Tatiana. She did not understand why she would ever have these memories of a stranger, but once these memories would come, they would continuously enter her mind without stopping. She fell to the ground and shook her head.

Tatiana was kneeled in a secluded forest clearing, picking her much loved flowers when a strong gust of wind hit her on the chest. She looked around for shelter, but much to her surprise, demons appeared from behind the colossal trees and began closing in on her. When she woke up, she was in a dark cave, surrounded by those same demons that abducted her –

"Rin."

Rin slowly opened her eyes and saw Sesshomaru's, which were looking directly into hers. She blushed and looked away, and then realized that Sesshomaru was carrying her in his arms. Jaken was by his side, looking at her with a strange expression. Trembling with fear of her recent memory, she grabbed at Sesshomaru's silk kimono, buried her head into his chest, and started sobbing silently.

Sesshomaru struggled to keep her eyes off her. Somehow, as Rin grew older, she more and more resembled Tatiana, an unforgettable beautiful young woman that he fell in love with when he was sixteen. He let his mind wander back into his childhood, when he first met Tatiana.

Jaken trailed after Sesshomaru and Rin, wondering what has happened to her. he remembered thinking about slapping her and giving her secrets away to Sesshomaru, and the next second, Rin collapsed onto the ground, trembling and saying "no, please don't…", then the glorious Lord suddenly appeared in front of her, and carried her away. Jaken was sorry for the young lady, but was not able take these thoughts and put them into the right words for the girl to hear.

When his mind came back to the present world, Sesshomaru looked down at the sobbing Rin, and said softly, "Rin, may I ask you what has just happened back in the forest?"

Rin did not want to answer that question because she did not want to remember what she has seen. She was positive that in this very memory, she saw a young Sesshomaru rescue Tatiana, and she saw her kiss him in the clearing she was picking firewood in before he left Tatiana there with the same mysterious expression in his eyes. Tears flooded her eyes again when she remembered seeing Tatiana turn into herself and ran after Sesshomaru, who was now his present age, turn his back on her and walk away.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember," her whisper trembled as she looked up into his unfathomable eyes again.

"Rin, do you have anything you are willing to tell me?"

"No, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Very well then. Jaken, stay right here. Rin and I will return shortly."

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama."

Sesshomaru carried Rin to a river and placed her lightly on the bank. Rin observed the fish frolic in the river silently while Sesshomaru walked to a tree and sat there. He wanted her to have a moment of her own, when she could think things through, and tell him what she wants to say afterwards. Sesshomaru gazed up at the clouds and wondered of Tatiana would ever return to him again.