haha yes i know this whole story is slightly -- ok ok fine i admit extremely ooc for sesshomaru, but admit it! that just makes this story all the while better:P btw all copyright disclaimer w/e still applies.

One Year Later

"Sesshomaru-sama!"

Rin raced across the clearing and into the dense woods, joy and elation surging inside her body. Sesshomaru had disappeared five days ago, and Rin could help worrying just a little bit more every day. She was just about to walk off in search for him -though Jaken forbade this sincerely- when she detected his sweet demonic scent coming from deep inside the woods. She had never felt this happy in her life, knowing that she is in love with Sesshomaru, but moreover that Sesshomaru loves her as well. She ran until she saw his armor, his silky hair blowing in the wind, then his face, then his eyes, and crashed into him, holding him so tightly like there is no tomorrow, tears streaming down her face. "Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered, "I thought you were never coming back."

"Rin, it's not like I didn't tell you that I have gone to make you a sword," Sesshomaru sighed. Remembering that, Rin sheepishly let go of Sesshomaru, wiped her tears away, and waited for what was in store for her. He took from his belt a slightly smaller yet still beautifully and skillfully crafted weapon and placed it in Rin's hands. "Phoenix claws, and in the dead center is one single golden phoenix feather." Rin took out the sword and looked at it impressively. "This should aid you," Sesshomaru continued, "since the phoenix is an immortal bird. Which means, the sword will protect you even if it is in bad condition or possibly broken." Rin quietly slipped the sword back into its holder. She knew where Sesshomaru was getting at. She would have to bear through his "I need for you to be safe" lecture all over again, and possibly again, sometime in the future. She didn't understand why she needed the sword when she wasn't even allowed to come face-to-face with a demon other than Sesshomaru himself, though she has been secretly training herself by attacking weak demons with her bare hands during his absences, for his sake, she had always thought.

But instead, Sesshomaru took her waist with his only arm and held her tightly. "Damn Inuyasha," he murmured, "some day I chop both his arms off and show him what it feels like not to be able to hold a girl."

Rin secretly smiled to herself and buried her face in his chest so he wouldn't see. Her lifelong goal was to be his left arm, to aid him in his battles, to stay with him for as long as he lives…

"Sesshoooomaru-sama! Riiiiin! Hurry up, Ah-un! Sesshoooomaru-sama!"

"Rin?" Sesshomaru questioned, a slight tone of humor carried across as he spoke. "Don't tell me you abandoned Jaken and Ah-un just to see me?"

Rin blushed.

"No," she said softly without looking at him, "Jaken-sama was just too slow."