Part Two: An Angel's Smile
The next few days dawned sunny and warm, unseasonably so.
Sesshoumaru had consumed more alcohol than food, and Rin was starting to withdraw from him, this creature who could barely make his self trudge through mundane routines. The only thing that ever made his day better was Kagome—news of her, a call from her, seeing her. Rin was becoming more and more attached to the woman, too, since she made the father she knew come back—but Kagome had a wedding to plan, and barely any time to spare for her new family.
So Sesshoumaru walked like a zombie through the day, thirsting for someone he could never have: until Rin finally stood up to it.
"Father," the hard, demanding tone of the child's voice made him feel guilty. He turned around his swivel chair, away from the computer, and gave Rin a tired, weak smile. "You need to get out. All you do is sit there at your computer, pretending to work, while all you actually do is wait for your cell phone to ring—don't object, Sara and I both know it."—she bit into him with a frosty glare, and then suddenly, her resolve crumbled—"What's happening to you, daddy? Why don't you ever hug me anymore, or tell me you love me?" at the word "love" Sesshoumaru visibly flinched.
"Rin…" he started, touching his forehead. He knew then that he couldn't say anything to make up for the past five days, nothing magical that would mend his relationship with this suddenly-estranged girl, whose withdrawal was quicker than most children's. He knew he had to gain back her trust though, no matter what. Her speech, however stinging, had replaced some of Sesshoumaru's drive. "Come here, honey." He opened his arms, and the young girl immediately rushed into the embrace, salty tears on his shoulder.
"I love you, daddy, please don't be sad because of Kagome. You'll always have me." She whispered into his shirt, and he held her closer.
"I know; I'm sorry…I'm sorry."
Then, all that day, when his cell phone rang, he ignored it.
Sunday rolled around fairly quickly, and Rin's trust in her foster father had been slowly building up. They were sitting at the breakfast table (the young girl sitting on Sesshoumaru's lap), Rin in her pajama's, and Sesshoumaru in a robe. Coffee and pancakes—Rin had insisted that she get coffee, but had been counter-bargained with chocolate chips and blueberries on her pancakes. They sat peacefully, the newspaper out in front of them, Sesshoumaru reading to the girl between sips.
Tomorrow was the wedding.
Sesshoumaru had been poked, prodded, and all other means of uncomfortable actions to get his suit ready, and now it was hanging in his closet, pressed and ready (a gray suit with a silk ocean-blue shirt and no tie).
The wedding march played on his cell phone, and Rin grabbed it and opened it with a renewed vigor. "Kagome?" she giggled at something said, "Uncle Inu-Yasha, stop imitating her! Nuh-uh, she doesn't sound like that! No!" a large grin spread across her face, her freckled nose scrunching up. "Yes, he's here." She wiggled until she could hand the phone to Sesshoumaru, who shook his head, amused, and took the proffered object.
"Hello? Yes. You weren't really imitating her, were you? …Lunch, why?" for a moment Sesshoumaru's features drooped. "She thinks I'm avoiding her…hn… Well, I suppose we could drop by Check's. Let me check with my secretary."—He smiled down at his younger daughter—"Well, Ms. Rin, what do you say to lunch with our old friend Kagome?" Rin closed her eyes for a minute, thoughtfully.
"Well, I think we could fit her in. Say…1 o'clock?"
"My secretary thinks we could fit her in at one. Good? Good. Yeah, see you tomorrow, little brother." Flicking his cell phone shut, with Inu-Yasha still grousing about the nickname, Sesshoumaru hoisted Rin up and off his lap, and onto the now-vacant chair. "Finish those pancakes, darling, we're going shopping."
"Yay!" was the response.
The mall was crowded and sweaty and a place Sesshoumaru would rather avoid—but today it was subdued and the crowds were thin, and no Goths, punks, or any other strangely dressed people hung around in dark corners. Rin and him traveled from store to store, looking for a pretty dress for her for the wedding. By the time they got to the last store on their list, Rin had tried on exactly 32½ dresses (he called one a half because with how little material there was to the dress), 10 pairs of shoes, and he had bought a headband for her hair, one pair of shoes, and no dress.
Needless to say, he was exhausted. "Thank god, the last store." He grumbled, and Rin poked him in the ribs.
"Cheer up!" she sung, grinning broadly. "I'm sure we'll find a dress here!" After half an hour of greens, purples, pinks, reds, blues, and all other colors of the color wheel, everything finally came to a screeching halt. She was standing in front of him in the perfect dress. It was a subdued turquoise dress, almost white, and fell in soft folds and tucks to her ankles. It was sleeveless and perfect.
"Bellissima." He said, and she twirled, giggling amidst the sea of soft fabric.
They ambled through the rest of the mall without aim until 12:30, when they finally left so they could make it to Check's on time. They grabbed a window table, and told the waitress that they would wait until their companion arrived to order. Five minutes later, the same angel the two were waiting for entered the restaurant. With a quick glance around, her blue-gray eyes lit upon the two, who were currently in a contest as to who could make the best sculpture with paper napkins.
Her smile lit up the room as she walked over to the table, where she said teasingly, "What? Started a contest without me." Rin jumped and then squealed, launching herself at the lady. The two laughed and Kagome patted the girl's head, and then turned to her soon-to-be brother in law. He stood, took her hand, and kissed her knuckle, golden eyes locked on her. Without her consent, a blush spread across her face. "Hello Sesshoumaru."
"Hello Kagome."
They soon settled into the normal routine of bantering, and then they ordered and ate, while trading embarrassing stories.
"Okay, okay, I can totally beat your story." Kagome said, trying to talk between giggling and her French fries. "I was in a co-gender camp, and one night all the girls in my cabin decided to play truth or dare. We all snuck out to the beach and half way through the game, I was dared to go skinny dipping."—She mock-glared at the two when they started to snigger—"So I did, and when I got out of the water, they were all running away with my clothes. I had to sneak through the whole campground completely naked!"
Sesshoumaru had to try very hard not to envision a wet Kagome running around naked.
"Okay, I agree, that beats mine." Sesshoumaru conceded, sighing over exaggeratedly. The two girls giggled at him. Sesshoumaru could imagine them all living together—Kagome was the perfect mother figure, and the two girls (not to mention himself and Kagome) had such great chemistry together.
The afternoon passed too quickly.
As they all exchanged goodbyes, Sesshoumaru caught Rin's look of admiration mixed with sadness. He drew Kagome in for a hug, holding her tightly. She let out a soft laugh/gasp, and then giggled nervously at his strong hold. "Sesshoumaru, you can let go now! Really," she wiggled a moment, before he whispered,
"I hope you're not making a mistake." Pulling away from her, and her shocked look, he took Rin's hand and walked away.
That evening, after Rin was asleep and Sara had been sent home, Sesshoumaru stared at his computer screen blankly. His book was ¾ done, but today, no words came from his nimble fingers. Instead of the grand architecture and mouth-watering food of the cities in Italy, all he could picture was Kagome. Kagome and Inu-Yasha kissing, Kagome with Rin, Kagome's smile—he rubbed his eyes tiredly and tried to shake off the images.
The door shuttered with knocks. He jumped from his chair, checking the time on his clock. 11:20, it read in flashing text. He hurried to the door, glancing out the window on his way there; the rain was pouring down in torrents.
Pulling open the door quickly, there stood a pale, ghostly creature on his doorstep. Her pale spring dress clung to her legs and waist, and the brown jacket thrown carelessly over her shoulders didn't seem to help. She was shivering, and her nose was red. She clutched the jacket closer to her.
"I was thinking about what you said." She offered, and that suddenly jump-started him into moving.
"My god, Kagome, it's so late, it's raining, what are you doing? Come inside—" she threw herself against him, and her lips tasted like rain and salt, and her body melted against him like she needed to fit into every crevice and niche of his body. When she pulled away their tears mingled like a warm stream, being swept away by a cold ocean of rain.
"I love you." She whispered, and he drew her to him again, but only to clutch her to him like a starved man.
"Why are you here?"
"To tell you that I'm marrying Inu-Yasha tomorrow—"
"I know that…"
"—but that I love you."
She pulled away to look up at him, her eyes full of pain and yet understanding. He knew then that this frail woman had strength beyond him. He nodded silently, and then they just looked at each other for a long time, his hands on her and her hands on him. They connected more in those few precious moments than Sesshoumaru had ever connected to anyone.
Then she was gone, disappearing into the darkness and rain, melting into it as if she was never there.
The next morning Sesshoumaru woke up to a rainbow. There was still a light drizzle, but nothing substantial. He made himself get out of bed, pour two bowls of cereal (though Rin didn't come to the breakfast table, so he just put the milk in his) and have a shower. After drying off, he peered into Rin's room and heard the shower going, so he left and donned his suit, pulling back his hair into a tail at the base of his neck. He found Rin fumbling with her hair ribbon in the front hallway.
"Good morning." He greeted her gently. She shifted to look at him, a very concentrated, almost exasperated, look on her face.
"'Morning, daddy. Can you tie this ribbon for me?" he tied the cerulean ribbon and then moved it so the bow was at the side of her head. He kissed her cheek.
"Did you have breakfast?" she nodded. "Where are your shoes? We have to leave in five minutes." She raced of to her room, and returned with her black shoes, shined extra-bright. Her smile outshone them.
"I think Kagome's going to look so pretty today!" she exclaimed, plopping down on the footstool to pull on the shoes over her white, frilly socks. Sesshoumaru scoffed, scooping the girl up into his arms once she had finished with one shoe.
"You'll be the fairest there." He nuzzled her hair and she giggled and batted at him playfully.
"Not with one shoe on, I won't!"
The cathedral was huge and beautiful, and was filled to the brim with people. Everyone was sitting excitedly in their seats, fidgeting and talking to each other. Sesshoumaru sat Rin beside Izayoi and his father, giving her an affectionate pat on the head. Having been a best man before, Sesshoumaru had felt no need to go to dress rehearsal, and went and stood in his appropriate spot.
Soon, the pianist started playing, and everyone stood, craning their necks to get a good view of Kagome. She delivered, all right. A long-necked beauty, swathed in white, decked in pearls and diamonds entered the cathedral. She held a bouquet of red roses, as red as her ruby lips. She took graceful, slow steps, and it almost looked like she was floating. The entire audience held their breath.
Rin was smiling broadly, right on the edge of her seat, watching awestruck. His father and Izayoi's hands entwined, reliving sweet memories. Inu-Yasha's eyes were bright and his smile was wide.
And though no one else would ever know it, for a moment she looked at him, and smiled.
The End
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed my story! I'm sure it didn't end up as most of you hoped, but I decided early on that Kagome would remain faithful. And who knows, maybe there will be a sequel! Later days!