Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha…until I invent a time machine and go back in time and think of it before Rumiko Takehashi does!

OtakuGirlEmi: Hello again everyone! Chapter 2 is finally here! I was a bit tricky to write, so I hope everyone has fun reading. I was amazed how many reviews I received, I was overwhelmed! You guys rock! In fact, I had so many reviews that I couldn't fit the responses at the beginning of the chapter, so you'll find my responses at the end! A huge thank-you to all of you guys! I hope you enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2: A Realization (finally!) and a Problem

"Good morning, My Lord!" Rin exclaimed as she rubbed her eyes and stretched toward the rising sun.

Sesshomaru looked up from polishing Tokijin. "You are certainly up early, Rin. Why the change?"

Usually Rin was the last to wake and took her time getting up. She was also as close to quiet as she could get in the morning. So Sesshomaru was puzzled over this sudden change.

"Oh, I just decided that it would be fun to start getting up early to greet the day!" She replied as she happily sat down next to him. "Why do you get up so early, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Demons such as I do not need to sleep as long as you humans do. Therefore, it is a waste of my time to oversleep." He replied coolly as he kept his eyes glued to the sword and refused to look up at her. He was lying. Despite the fact that what he had said was true, he had actually not gotten any sleep the previous night. He had stayed up thinking about what had happened between them. Even though their kiss seemed not to bother Rin, it had (though he wouldn't admit it to anyone) made a huge impact on him. Not to mention left him thoroughly confused about his feelings toward Rin.

Having her right there next to him only confused him more and made thewarm sensation in his gut return. "I am going for a walk." He said stiffly as he stood up and placed his clean sword in its sheath. Really,Sesshomaru didn't want to go for a walk as much as get away from Rin and the akwardness that plauged him around her.

Rin, oblivious to his discomfort, jumped up and eagerly asked, "Lord Sesshomaru, may I go with you?"

Sesshomaru inwardly flinched. So much for getting away from her, he thought miserably. But despite how awkward he felt, he once again couldn't help but feel a strong longing. A longing for her company: A longing to hear her light, carefree voice, and see her beautiful, happy face. He couldn't fight the overwhelming feelings that rose up in him when he thought of her.

Damn these emotions, Sesshomaru thought irritably, they're so useless and fickle. They are meant for humans, not those such as myself.

"Fine, if you wish." He replied as he turned and walked into the trees, hoping that the leaves would hide the blush appearing on his face.

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They walked in content silence for a few minutes, leaves rustling under their feet as a breeze swept through the forest. It really is a preferable day for a walk, thought Sesshomaru as he savored the light breeze and tried to distract his mind from thinking of the beautiful human next to him.

A voice broke through his thoughts. "Lord Sesshomaru! Look, a butterfly!" Rin was pointing to a small purple butterfly that had landed on his shoulder. She giggled and remarked, "It seems to like you, My Lord." Sesshomaru felt his face heat up. Why was he blushing? Demon Lords aren't supposed to blush, he thought, feeling frustrated.

He quickly chanced a look at Rin; she didn't seem to have noticed his crimson face, as she was still enamored with the butterfly. He felt a wave of relief wash over him. But she isn't stupid, he thought, she'll notice this eventually if it keeps happening.

"It really is unusual to see one of these so late in the year," Rin half-whispered as she stretched out her finger to touch the butterfly. The small insect fluttered its wings and flew away. Rin, unaware of what she was doing, continued to stroke Sesshomaru's shoulder.

Her touch sent shockwaves ringing throughout his body. Rin realized what she was doing and stopped, averting her eyes to the fleeing butterfly and blushing slightly. Sesshomaru felt suddenly relaxed when he saw this; maybe he wasn't so odd if she blushed too.

Using his demon reflexes, Sesshomaru snatched the butterfly out of the air. He heard an intake of air next to him. Rin must have thought that he had killed the fluttering creature. A tiny smiled crossed his face as he opened his clutched fist to reveal the unharmed butterfly. He gently grabbed her small wrist as Rin sucked in another soft breath. Sesshomaru felt inexplicably powerful as he placed the butterfly in Rin's open palm. Her skin felt so soft and welcoming, he had to resist the urge to hold onto her hand. Rin closed her palm to keep the butterfly from flying away and looked up at Sesshomaru.

It was the first time that morning that he had made eye contact with her and it felt like she had put a spell over him. Sesshomaru felt paralyzed. He couldn't move: he didn't want to move. He was free-falling into her beautiful, deep, chocolate eyes and he never wanted to stop.

But anything between them was broken as Rin quickly looked away, blushing. Why is Rin blushing so much? Sesshomaru wondered as he shook his head as if clearing away a fog. Does she feel well? I wonder if she has a fever.

Rin, oblivious to his silent ponderings, opened her palm and watched as the butterfly fluttered off. "Why did you do that? I assumed you were going to keep it." Sesshomaru asked.

"It has a right to be free. Besides if I had kept it, it would have died and then I would've felt guilty and sad." Rin replied, her eyes still glued to the sky. Sesshomaru felt once again amazed by her child-like innocence. Here she was saying how she would've mourned the loss of a butterfly, when he had killed plenty of demons and humans. She's so innocent and pure, he thought as the warm sensation spread through his body, just like the first snow. Everything she does she treats as if it's her first time experiencing it. And she does everything with such love…

I wonder if she could love me...

Sesshomaru immediately cut his train of thought off. What was he thinking? He didn't even know the meaning of love, so he couldn't possibly love Rin! And there was no way that Rin loved him, he had practically raised her! "My Lord, i-is something wrong?" Rin stuttered, looking up at him worriedly. He felt embarrassed about his previous thoughts and realized that Rin was blushing. "You've been staring at me for the past couple of minutes." Sesshomaru felt his face heat up and tried to stay calm. How could he be turning into such an idiot! He was supposed to be the cold, quiet, arrogant Lord Sesshomaru. And yet, he had been caught staring at a girl who made his stomach drop and insides heat up and face blush.

"No, nothing is wrong. I was simply thinking." Sesshomaru replied in his trademark cold tone. But he quickly turned his eyes to the ground, acting like something had caught his eye.

"Oh, I'm sorry for disturbing you Lord Sesshomaru. It won't happen again!" Rin replied hurriedly. A few moments of silence passed, while they both were lost in their own thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, Sesshomaru noticed that Rin had stopped walking. He looked up to see what had made her stop so abruptly.

They had reached a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The bright sun shone on the tall, green grass and wildflowers seemed to dance in the summer breeze. The soothing sound of bubbling water signified that a stream or lake had to be nearby. Rin gasped. "It's so beautiful!" she turned to the youkai standing next to her and grabbed his clawed hand in excitement. She led him into the sunlight and to the middle of the field. Once there she proceeded to sit down on the grass and pulled him down next to her.

It was like something out of a daydream (if Sesshomaru actually had something as frivolous as daydreams cross his mind). Him and Rin, alone in the middle of a beautiful field with all the time in the world. The sunlight made her hair seem to glow and her skin looked tanned and healthy as she closed her eyes and seemed to soak up the sun.

She still hadn't let go of Sesshomaru's hand; in fact, she was clutching it happily on the ground. And he made no move to withdraw from her touch. Her hand seemed to send waves of heat racing through his body, along with waves of longing. If he had it his way, he would have been holding her petite, vulnerable body in his strong, muscular arms and would have been kissing her again. They would have lain together in the sun until the moon had risen, then they would lay there and count the stars while they kissed and embraced. An unlikely pair, under the stars.

Sesshomaru sat straight up as a thought struck him. A thought that rang so true and was so strong that he had to listen to it.

I love Rin.

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It was if his mind had been turned upside down and then shook.

Thoughts whirled through his head like snowflakes during a snowstorm. One almost being understood as another shoved it away, and then that thought got blow away by another one. His thoughts were blurred, scrambled, and incomprehensible to his confused, dazed mind.

Obviously, this realization was a lot for Sesshomaru to handle.

He had never shown any real feelings to another being before. Sure, Jaken was a friend and servant, but he invoked no real feelings. And Sesshomaru had no other friends. And...he had most certainly never been in love.

But, as he glanced over to the girl sitting next to him, clutching his hand, he knew that she was different. That day that he had brought her back to life so long ago came spinning back to him. She had to have been different if his cold demon heart had saved her life. And Rin was. It seemed that every day she surprised and amazed him. She had shown him things that he never would have noticed or cared about, she had gradually softened his heart. And without even realizing it, he had fallen in love with the little human called Rin.

"My lord?" Rin had opened her eyes and was smiling at him. "May we camp here for a while? It's so beautiful. And there's water nearby, so cooking and bathing wouldn't be a problem. And we're far enough into the forest that no humans or demons would stumble upon us. Plus, it feels so peaceful here."

It seemed as if she had cast another spell on him. Just hearing her voice calmed the calamity and chaos that had been running rampant through his mind. He could think clearly. He tried to act normal as he replied. "Yes, I suppose so. It seems to have all the necessities we need. And" he added as a rare smile crossed his face, "it is rather beautiful."

"Yes!" Rin screamed happily as she suddenly leapt up and (literally) tackled Sesshomaru in a hug. "Thank you, Sesshomaru! Thank you so much!"

Sesshomaru was stunned. Firstly, Rin was hugging him: while they lay together on the ground, no less. Secondly, she had called him by just his name for the first time ever. He tried to act cool and collected, but he couldn't resist putting his hands around her waist, lightly hugging her back, and whispering in her ear. "You're welcome Rin."

After a few seconds, Rin seemed to come to her senses and climbed off of Sesshomaru. She was blushing so brightly that her face seemed to glow. She had never called his "Sesshomaru" or hugged him, before, and she must have felt embarrassed of her actions. He stood up too, feeling surprisingly calm. "We should return to camp."

Rin nodded, her brown eyes still wide at what she had done. She seemed to decide something and said "My Lord, I'm sor-"

He cut her off by patting her on the head. "It's quite alright Rin. I didn't mind."

Reassured, she beamed up at him. "Let's go tell Master Jaken about this place!" she said excitedly as she walked back into the trees.

Sesshomaru followed her, but stopped to look back when he reached the ring of trees surrounding the clearing. Another important thought had just struck him.

How do I tell her?

It seemed obvious now, but at the time, he hadn't considered actually telling Rin about his feelings. But it seemed to be the most logical thing to do. Not only would it feel more right than hiding it from her, but it would surely become impossible to hide if he was already blushing and feeling funny around her. I will simply have to tell her soon, he thought, mentally closing the subject.

A small voice in the back of his head piped up, but how will she react?

Sesshomaru felt as if he had been doused in cold water. Of course he would have to consider Rin's reaction! How stupid was he to forget about such a huge detail. Obviously it would make him the happiest demon on earth if she loved him back, but what were the chances of that happening? She was a human and only 18, while he was a nearly immortal Demon lord. What if she hates me, he thought, now panicking. The small voice piped up again, this time reassuring him. If she had hated you, she would have run away 10 years ago when she first laid eyes on you. He agreed with the little voice and felt a little bit better. But he still had nagging doubts about telling her he loved her.

"Are you coming, My Lord?" Rin called from ahead of him.

This could end up being a problem, Sesshomaru thought as he entered the shade of the trees.

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OtakuGirlEmi: Oh, how right you are Fluffy. Anyway, how was chapter 2? Good, I hope. It was longer than chapter 1. I have BIG plans for chapter 3. A very awkward moment (perhaps moments, not sure yet) is about to take place at the camp. MMWWHAHAHAH! cough cough ...sorry about that, I tend to get a little carried away. So remember to READ and REVIEW! I will listen and reply to any ideas, questions, or comments (good or bad) you guys can come up with. As always, I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! Emi

Reviewer Responses (I'll respond to my WONDERFUL reviewers here):

Sonracer: I'm so happy that my story impressed you! Thanks for the compliment. Sorry ch. 2 took so long to finish! And I understand the curse of impatience, I have it too! Thanks for the review and the compliment!

Lovegoddess567: I'm very glad that you like it! Fluffy is a little out of character for me too, but it's surprisingly fun to write. I hope its fun to read! Thanks!

Icechii: YAY! You liked it! I'm happy. (can you tell?) And since I updated you don't have to kill me! More yay! Thank you!

Siri: I'm glad that you don't think Sesshomaru is ooc, I was afraid people would accuse me of that. And I agree with you, I've seen a lot of fic.s like that, and usually they tend to irritate me.Arigato for the review!

Samm: I'm very very happy that you liked that cliffy. Usually people hate them, but I tend to use them frequently in my stories. Thanks a bunch for the review.

kattygirl32132:I finally updated, so I hope you enjoyed! And I'm glad you liked the kiss! (I'm running out of ways to say thank you, so please don't hate me for repeating some) Thanks for the great review!

darkmoonfang: I'm ecstatic that you liked it. And I'm sowwy; I was trying to surprise you! Thanks, as always, buddy!

Cring White Wolf:(as you can see) I finally updated! Thanks for the review, and I hope you liked the update.

Hanna: I am so very happy that you like my fic, even though it's out of the ordinary for you! Believe it or not, it's pretty out of the ordinary for me! But not anymore! Thanks a lot for the review.

Sailor Millenium: I'm happy you're so excited about this fic! I hope that this chapter was long enough for you. (if it wasn't at least you can look forward to more chapters) And I love Sesshy too! Thanks!

Jasmine: I'm happy you liked the kiss! I thought people might be outraged that I did that. Anyway thanks for the review and support!

Danica Blake: I love that part too! I'm glad you thought it was funny and cute! Thanks for the compliment and review!

jerseygrl246: Another supporter of the Sesshy choking on his own spit, YAY! I'm cracking up reading these reviews! Thanks so much!

IceErines: Glad you like the idea and the couple, I certainly do! (if I didn't, I wouldn't be writing this) I hope you liked ch.2 and I hope you keep reading. Thanks for the 2 reviews!

lilkag0m3: I'm glad you think it's sweet! And I hope you liked the update! Thanks for the sweet review!

Thanks so much everyone, see you in chapter 3!