Wow… I've been surprised by the response I've gotten to this – I really hadn't expected so many reviews! It does make me really happy, though, so thank you! The rest of the narrative goes back and forth between Sesshoumaru and Rin, just to give a heads up on the point of view.
Rin barely stifled the yawn that wished to escape her lips. Surely, they would be done soon. The introductions themselves had taken a great deal longer than was necessary, probably because the guests were clearly unused to practicing formalities. They stumbled over the common courtesies and were awkward in their actions. Still, they did seem very well meaning and so had to be treated with respect.
It just made it a very, very long morning.
She looked around the room, noticing that many others of the household were wearing carefully schooled looks of interest while their eyes belied their boredom. It was rare to receive dignities who came as a show of goodwill; generally, visits were reserved for times of crisis, whether it was to call up the bonds of allegiances or to make a final effort to avoid war. These were usually interesting, and Rin had picked up a great deal about the subtleties involved in politics through her observations. This, however, lacked anything to hold her attention.
As often happened when she found herself taking part in some court activity that was woefully inadequate at entertaining her, Rin wished that she could return to those years traveling with Lord Sesshoumaru, brief though they now seemed. It was nice to have a home, of course, a place that was warm in the winter and dry when it rained. The comfort of a place to sleep and meals whenever she grew hungry was also pleasant. All the same, certain things were expected of her, restrictions upon her nature.
There had never been these restrictions with Lord Sesshoumaru, or if there had been, they had been so unobtrusive that she didn't notice. So long as she obeyed his rare instructions, she had been more or less left to her own devices. While he had been cool and unsociable for the majority of their journeys, his façade had never fooled her.
As distant as he was, he had always protected her from harm. Whenever she had been in danger, he unfailingly appeared. If she needed anything, be it a new clothes or food or rest, he found ways of providing it for her, although he did manage it in as detached a manner as possible.
Although Rin would never have voiced it aloud, she knew that Lord Sesshoumaru had a kind heart. It was a truth that had always been clear to her, even if it was unrecognizable to everybody else, including Lord Sesshoumaru.
Her mind wandering so far from the present, she almost didn't notice the subtle change in the air. After having lived with demons for so long, she had slowly found herself noticing the auras each had. With time, they had even become distinct, a point of recognition just as much as the sound of a voice.
There was a new current on the air now, a different aura. Before she could consciously recognize it, she felt her heart begin to race excitedly. She had to fight to keep a calm exterior while she tried to ignore the voice that suddenly started chiming that her lord must have returned, finally.
Another voice, one whose constant cynicism always baffled the rest of her temperament, tried to dampen the excitement by pointing out that it had been six year since she had last seen him. It could easily be another demon she had simply not seen for a few years.
By the air of restlessness settling over those assembled from the house, however, Rin could tell that it was not so.
It has to be him, her heart screamed joyfully, by now seeming to want to escape her chest when she was unwilling to get up herself. He's returned.
The visitors were oblivious, however, so there was no way to leave. Rin folded her hands to keep herself from fidgeting and tried desperately to become intensely interested in the present conversation of alliances and mutual benefits.
There was suddenly a disturbance, and a side screen was drawn back, allowing one of the guards to enter. He gave a short bow to the assembly before turning to the house elders, those who managed the palace in Lord Sesshoumaru's absence.
"The Lord of the Western Lands has returned," he began calmly, "and will be attending to this council shortly."
There was a short moment of silence before everybody suddenly rose, quickly changing their seating to provide room for Lord Sesshoumaru at his proper place. Rin shuffled her way to her new seat, having trouble keeping herself from tripping over the layers of her kimono. It had just been so long…
Six years. Twenty-four seasons drifting past that would have usually seen him at some point. Rin could not help but feel strangely when she considered this, simultaneously old and young. She knew that she had not changed as dramatically in her outward appearance as she had while he had been around, but she could sense the changes in her thinking. Although he might have been oblivious to what he had given away, she had always caught the strange flickers in his eyes whenever he had come back to see her, a sort of sad surprise.
Rin could not help but feel ashamed of herself during those times, as though she had done something wrong in growing up. As desperately as she tried to remain the little girl, her body had seemed to have other ideas and she had grown up, changed both physically and mentally. It had taken years for her to become comfortable with this new person she was becoming, a person who was clearly not what Sesshoumaru wanted.
It had taken time, but she had grown into her skin. She'd even become comfortable with her life within the palace, even though the irony of the dirty mortal orphan becoming a lady in a youkai court never ceased to amuse her.
Suddenly the door opened, and Rin felt all her disjointed and nervous thoughts dissipate as Lord Sesshoumaru entered the room.
He was exactly how she remembered him, ageless and regal. She could not help but feel a swell of pride at being the ward of such a noble being, one who instantly commanded the respect of the guests.
There was no room for disappointment when he did not look at her. After all, the present setting was hardly one that would be appropriate for her to say any of the things buzzing in her head, so it would be better if she could just speak with him afterwards.
The prospect of sitting through the rest of the formalities had never seemed so tedious before. Every word suddenly seemed superfluous, although the time taken to express gratitude at being given lodgings for the night as well as arranging a meeting the next day to speak about the matters missed could not have amounted to more than five minutes.
Finally, however, a group of servants came forward to take the visitors to their rooms and everybody else slowly began to leave. Unfortunately, however, the elders and some of the esteemed nobles apparently desired to speak with Lord Sesshoumaru. Rin didn't know how this rather obvious fact had escaped her attention, although she was pretty sure that, when simplified, it was probably on account of her excitement.
It seemed that it would be a while before she got the opportunity to speak with him, if she was lucky enough to see him that night. In all likelihood he would be detained for the remainder of the evening to be informed on the various treaties and battles fought while he had been gone.
Of course, she could appreciate why this would be necessary. All the same, it didn't make the blow of disappointment any softer.
Rin exited from the council room with the other servants, replying to those who spoke to her in a distracted manner. She was asked something about her opinion on the visitors as well as what she thought of the sudden appearance of the lord, but her mind was clearly elsewhere and she was soon left alone.
Not for the first time, she was grateful that her rooms where in a building toward the back of the complex, at the end of a hall that jutted out into the gardens. While it had initially seemed strange that he had arranged for her to be in such a remote area of the palace, with time Rin had appreciated his foresight. It had provided her a haven in the middle of things that, although familiar to her, were still strange to the basic nature of her people. Whenever she wished to escape the demands of courtly life, she could always go there.
She took the route around the edge of the complex, hoping to eliminate as much contact with others as she could. This proved effective as it always did, although it did require a few more minutes. As there were no other demands upon her time, a few minutes made no difference to her.
Once she reached the screen leading to her rooms, Rin paused for a moment. The sun was low in the sky, still bright but on the verge of setting. The blue of the sky had deepened in preparation of this, ready to sink into purples and pinks as soon as the sun began to drift below the horizon.
Slowly she turned back to the door, sliding the shoji screen open enough to slip within the room.
She had taken one step into the dusky room when she realized that he must have been near. Although everything in her reasoning found this conclusion to be absurd, she could sense his proximity.
Her brow furrowed determinedly. In the past, her instincts had always been correct. There was no reason to think that they would suddenly mislead her, although considering her excitement, Rin figured that she might have just imagined it. Still, it would not hurt to check.
Carefully stepping outside again, one hand upon the screen, she found him standing a dozen feet away, looking up into the sky much like she had done a moment earlier.
She felt all her smooth thoughts tangle in her mind. He had apparently left his advisors and nobles behind, but he had not yet acknowledged her. While she would have liked to think that he had come to that particular part of the palace to see her, from his present actions there was no reason to assume that such was the case.
Rin approached him, a bit surprised that he made no move to recognize her presence, even given her closeness. Surely he had caught her scent by now or had heard her making her way through the grass towards him.
A bit cautiously, she spoke the first thing that came to mind. "Welcome home, Lord Sesshoumaru."
He now turned to her, his expression dissolved in the long shadows thrown by the trees around them. Rin still felt the weight of his eyes upon her even if she could not decipher the accompanying reaction they might have revealed.
Even in the awkward silence, she managed to smile. After all, wasn't this what she had longed for over the past six years, constantly wishing to see him again? There was no reason to let the time that had passed prevent her from the joy that was desperately bubbling within her.
And suddenly Rin knew that everything would be fine as she smiled. Something in the air, a thin tension stretching between them, snapped, instantly replaced by a relieving calm that allowed her to speak further. "I'm so happy to see you," she said, aware of the fact that she was probably grinning in a very ridiculous manner. "I have missed you so much."
He was quiet for a moment. "I have missed you as well," he admitted presently, his eyes turning back toward the horizon.
Rin suddenly was very thankful that he was no longer looking at her when she felt her cheeks suddenly flush at this response.
After a moment she collected herself. "Would you mind accompanying me to the gardens, my lord?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, even though she was sure her expression would give her away.
He nodded, and she fell into step a few paces behind him as they followed the path into the dense gardens. He glanced back at her, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes at her distance. Once she tipped her head slightly to the left and he followed this motion to the group of women sitting on the steps outside their quarters, he nodded, understanding that she was simply following decorum while they were in the presence of his subjects. Although Rin supposed that she could pass without acting so, it seemed disrespectful to forgo these formalities now that she was old enough to understand their importance.
Of course, when they reached the secluded portion of the gardens he had frequently visited with her, the rules quickly broke down. After having realized that Sesshoumaru had abandoned whatever pressing duties he might have had upon returning to see her, it was all she could do not to embrace him once they stopped. Occasions when she had done so had been terribly rare, however, and always when she had been younger.
With this in mind, Rin was just able to prevent herself from being so rash. Still, she was so giddy that she dared to allow one hand to softly touch the pristine silk of his sleeve before quickly withdrawing. When Lord Sesshoumaru did not comment on this breach of his space, Rin released a breath she had been unaware of holding.
Clearing her throat, she looked up into his face. "Please, tell me everything you and Jaken did while you were gone. I miss the days when I was able to celebrate your accomplishments with you." She paused for half a moment before laughing, realizing the ridiculousness of her comment. "I suppose I should amend that; I seemed to do the celebrating for us both."
He nodded. "You always were an enthusiastic child," he conceded, and she noticed the distance that grew in his eyes now that they were in the dimming light of the sun.
"But not a child any longer," she said, her smile becoming nostalgic at his expression. Rin paused thoughtfully, toying with her sleeves in the silence that he made no effort to fill. Things she had considered many times in the past few years manifested themselves again, pushing past her attempts to keep the sad thought from her mind. "It does not bother you, does it?" she asked quietly, torn between wishing he would answer and praying that he wouldn't.
"What, Rin?"
"That I'm no longer a child." She spoke to her feet, carefully avoiding his gaze. When he did not answer, she sighed. "I did not intend to let the conversation become so heavy so quickly," she said, her mouth quirking. "I had not planned on asking you that tonight."
She continued to avoid meeting his eyes, instead studying anything and everything else until she suddenly felt the soft touch of his fingers on her cheek. With a start, she followed the gentle pull of his hand, raising her head towards his. Although her breath caught for a moment, Rin did not notice it over the sudden heat again assaulting her cheeks.
While she hoped that he would not notice, she knew that with him looking so intently at her there was no way he could miss how red her face must have been. She was so preoccupied with feeling mortified and confused that she did not catch the flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He suddenly dropped his hand. "No, Rin," he said slowly, holding her eyes for a second more, "it does not bother me."
There was a moment where Rin wondered how the conversation could possibly resume before Lord Sesshoumaru asked about her health. It was as though the previous conversation had not taken place, it's understandings recognized while all other knowledge of it was forgotten.
Rin accepted this and replied, voicing her own small questions when it was appropriate while casually picking flowers. Darkness covered them and she suddenly found herself outside her rooms, realizing with a start that they must have been out for at least an hour or two. She turned to him, noticing that he was already leaving, and barely managed to speak before he turned out of sight.
"Goodnight, my lord," she said. "Thank you for seeing me."
He stopped for a moment, but did not turn around. "Goodnight, Rin," he replied before continuing on his way.