**Author's Note: My next update will probably take a bit longer than usual, but I promise it will be worth the wait. :D

I do now own Inuyasha.

Chapter Six - An Awkward Encounter

Rin kept her eyes on her feet as she walked through the thick undergrowth of the forest. She had to calculate every step to ensure she didn't fall again. Her new body proportions turned the simple task of walking into a test of coordination and balance. She repeated a simple mantra in her head to keep her feet in sync with one another. "One, two, one two. Left, right, left right." Eventually she established a rhythm, and was able to look up at her surroundings as she walked. The forest was dense and seemed to go on forever. Even worse, there was no sign of Sesshomaru.

She sighed as she continued onward. Jaken could really be insensitive at times. But she supposed he couldn't really understand what it was like to have your entire world turned upside down in a matter of minutes. "Master Jaken merely sees me as a nuisance anyway, this is probably just something else for him to worry about." As Rin became flustered, she missed a step and stumbled forward. She threw her arms in front of her and stopped herself from falling on her face as her hands made contact with the forest floor. That was when she heard the sound of rushing water.

She cocked her head towards the sound, still balancing herself on her hands. "A stream? If I follow that, it will make it easier to find my way back if I can't find Lord Sesshomaru." Could she find him? He could be anywhere by now...but why would he go so far out of the way when he seemed so eager to leave the forest to find a Priestess?

Rin steadied herself on her feet again and walked more cautiously towards the sound. Not too far off behind some tall bushes, she discovered that there was in fact a stream. She examined the path of water carefully, and saw that it ebbed and flowed several hundred yards away before it disappeared behind a cluster of trees. She then looked down at her feet. Well, if anything she'd have the hang of walking by the end of the trip.

Rin plotted forward, and continued to think amidst the ambiance of running water and forest sounds. Birds chattered overhead but she took no heed to their cries. She was absorbed by thoughts of her transformation, and more importantly, she was coming to realize that it was not just her physical body that had been altered. "I don't just look different, I feel different. I felt a weird sensation when Lord Sesshomaru was behind me before. It's almost like I wanted him to look at me." No, that was impossible. She was embarrassed to have him look at her. But even so, the way she regarded her demon caretaker seemed different now. She shook her head, as if trying to shake off the notion. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Soon we'll find a Priestess and I'll be back to normal again. Then things can go back to the way they were and I can forget about all of this." But Rin was surprised when a voice seemed to beckon her from deep inside her subconscious. "What if you don't want to forget?"

At the opposite end of the stream, Sesshomaru was immersed neck deep in pond water. His garments were discarded on a rocky bank in a disheveled heap. They had obviously been removed in a hurry.

But it was not for the purpose of relaxing or even bathing that Sesshomaru found himself wading in the water's depths. In fact, the water was chilling, even on his resilient demon skin. But that was the purpose of his presence there. He sought a distraction in the icy water.

His long hair fanned out around him and waved gently against the water's surface as his eyes seemed to stare into nothingness. He could feel the gentle current of the nearby stream lap at his neck and face. He allowed the cold to absorb into his body. He resisted the urge to shiver.

"Strange," he thought to himself as leaves rustled against the wind overhead. "It would seem even I am not impervious to new feelings." New feelings. He suddenly felt nauseated.

The conundrum with Rin was certainly a difficult one. He knew she must be confused about the change of her body, but he had no experience with such matters. Even if he had wanted to understand, he felt incapable. And Sesshomaru did not like feeling incapable.

Is that why he retreated to this pond? Partially. He supposed it was a quick escape from facing a potentially awkward situation. But it was more than just that. Far more.

The very sight of her, especially her bare flesh, roused a myriad of new feelings and thoughts that stirred so heavily in his brain that he felt overwhelmed by them. The sudden lack of control over his own emotions frustrated him, to say the least. Especially when they were emotions that he did not understand.

He briefly considered the possibility of simply abandoning Rin. After all, he had no business with humans from the start and it would circumvent the problem altogether. But this split-second notion made his blood run hot. "How could I consider such a thing? After all I have done to keep her safe, could I so readily cast her away now? Even if it served only to ease my mind?" He then became aware of yet another emotion, one that he was familiar with but had not felt in eons. Guilt.

Sesshomaru furrowed his brow in annoyance. Apparently, the cold water wasn't enough to help him stifle his thoughts.

He gave the skies one last hard look before resigning to a simple expression of his frustration: a sigh. He then turned towards shore and began walking up the slope of the pond's floor, all the while trying to leave his troubles behind with the icy currents. He emerged out of the water up to his midsection when he heard a "SNAP!" come from the trees nearby. Someone was watching him.

Was he really so engrossed by his thoughts that he let his guard down? He gnashed his teeth. The cold water must have also dulled his keen sense of smell. Never before had he been caught in such a vulnerable position. The prospect made him absolutely furious. "You have one opportunity to show yourself, otherwise you may as well consider yourself dead."

The only sound that responded to his decree was the calm rustling of the trees as the wind picked up. He readily ignored the cold air as it danced past his wet flesh, and withdrew his hand from the water. He tensed his fingers, poised to strike at the next detection of movement. Even if he couldn't easily subdue his own mind, he would readily annihilate anyone who thought they could get away with sneaking up on him.

Suddenly, he caught a scent on the wind. An enrapturing, floral scent...

Rin's figure emerged from behind the trees. Her frightened eyes were fixed on his hand, but her cheeks were flushed a rosy pink. Her gaze shifted from his hand to his eyes; they seemed to regard her almost despondently as he slowly eased his hand back into the water. The wind caused the top of her kimono to fall down her right arm again, revealing her bare shoulder. She absentmindedly pulled the fabric back into place without withdrawing her eyes from Sesshomaru. Her attempt to adjust it failed and it simply fell again, but she didn't seem to notice.

Her knees felt weak, and this time it wasn't because of an inability to walk. She was quite simply mesmerized by the mere sight of him.

Sesshomaru's anger drifted into an unnerving sense of curiosity. He could feel a change in Rin's demeanor as she observed him. She was noticeably terrified at first, but now she seemed almost enamored. He realized then that only the lower half of his body remained concealed by water. He considered retreating back into the pond, but there wasn't much of a point now. She had already succeeded in stumbling across him in this compromising position, to fall back now would only make things more awkward. He chose instead to stand his ground...though admittedly, this was difficult to do when her eyes began to wander, and she made no visible effort to disguise it.

Rin watched on captivated as droplets of water worked their way down Sesshomaru's body, hugging the crevices of his muscles as they traveled down his chest and stomach and eventually rejoined with the pond. She bit her lip as she looked at him. She couldn't recall ever seeing Sesshomaru disrobed before. The sight was perplexing.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Sesshomaru spoke. Being discovered in an undignified situation like this did not put him in the best of spirits, even despite her outward fascination. In fact, somehow this only made his already foul mood worse.

"Well?" he asked, more bitterly than intended.

Rin snapped out of her daze and she lowered her eyes immediately. Her hands instinctively began to fumble with the tie of her kimono as she stammered a nervous reply, "I...I wanted to tell you that Master Jaken and I are prepared to leave at your will, mi lord."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened in disbelief. He was amazed at the sheer stupidity of her actions. She had traveled all this way, through dense woods and without a guide, simply to tell him that? Not to mention that she was invading his privacy when he clearly wanted to be left alone. Hell, he almost killed her just now, and she seemed completely oblivious to the fact. She merely stood before him, a bit nervous but unaware, and awaited his response.

He thought at first that he might scold her. Was she really so naïve to see the unnecessary danger she put herself into? And how could she simply stand there staring at him when his intentions to kill were so obvious?

But his eyes were suddenly drawn to the contrast of her milky pale shoulder against the deep brown fabric of her kimono, and then to the graceful arch of her collarbone. His impulse to yell at her faded as his gaze continued to the curve of her breasts that were barely peering from behind her top. Her downcast eyes allowed him to do this without restraint. However, he quickly averted his eyes, and finally responded to her statement with a simple, "I see."

Rin was certain that he must be angry at her. She didn't really think about the consequences of her actions. She merely wanted to get away from Jaken, and she supposed...well, she supposed she could spend a moment alone with him. Maybe even inquire about her transformation and what sort of Priestess they'd need to find to reverse it. "I'm sorry that I wandered off alone, Lord Sesshomaru. I know you must be disappointed in me."

Sesshomaru was far more than disappointed with her actions, albeit faintly impressed that she managed to ambush him when so many others before her had failed. He supposed it was better that she was the one to do it; had it been anyone else, they would already be dead. Still, the idea of a human gaining the upper hand left a sour taste in his mouth. He shook his head. This encounter had gone on long enough, he decided.

It was time for them to move on, and time for him to shake off these useless thoughts and desires once and for all.

"Do not go out on your own anymore. You put yourself at unnecessary risk when you do so. That is all I will say on the subject. We have more pressing matters at hand, as you already know. Now, turn around."

Rin looked up at him, not understanding the nature of his request. Her eyes took in the masculine angles of his body for a final time before she realized that he needed to get dressed. She opened her mouth as if to say "oh!" and hurriedly turned her back on him. She supposed that all of her gawking must have made him feel uncomfortable. Though, did Sesshomaru ever feel uncomfortable?

A sudden gust of wind behind her sent her hair into a tangled mess over her face. Sesshomaru had dashed with demonic efficiency out of the water and begun replacing his clothes without a moment's hesitation. Rin pawed through her hair to set it back to rights again. As she flattened out a final tuft of hair with the palm of her hand, she quickly peeked over her shoulder to see if she could catch a glimpse of him. Disappointingly, he was already dry besides some dampness at the ends of his hair and completely clothed. Well, he was a demon after all, and hopelessly fast at that.

She cocked her head in surprise as she analyzed her own thoughts. Why would her lord being in a state of undress mean anything to her? She'd never even thought about it before today. Somehow, her curiosities about him extended into a new realm that was completely foreign to her.

She was snapped back into the present as Sesshomaru's voice broke the silence once more. "We will retrieve Jaken and AhUn and fly to a village that I've heard may be able to aid you. It's not from here. I will assume you have no objections."

Rin looked down at herself to reaffirm that her body hadn't mysteriously transformed back to normal and was greeted by a top view of the swells on her chest. She nodded in affirmation, though a small part of her still remained unsure.

Sesshomaru gave a slight nod back. "Very well." He opened his hand palm-faced-down and summoned a cloud for them to travel on. He stepped onto it with graceful ease and extended his already open hand to her without looking at her. His brazen eyes appeared to be fixed on some large mountains in the distance. Rin assumed that the village he spoke of must be in that general direction. She looked at the cloud with some uncertainty before taking his hand and allowing herself to be hoisted onto it.

The structure of the cloud felt unstable beneath Rin's feet and she immediately stumbled forward. She was not accustomed to traveling this way as she typically would ride AhUn. She gasped as Sesshomaru's arm quickly enveloped her and pulled her close to him. She looked down at his hand, which was now wrapped tightly around her waist, then up at his face, which still seemed to disregard her entirely. He wore a cold expression as the cloud began to make its ascension into the sky, and his concentration switched from the mountains to the woods where Jaken and AhUn awaited them. This was an expression that Rin knew all too well.

Yet somehow, Rin took comfort in this expression. Though his features were stern and cold, and his words were often colder still, the way his arm held her tightly to him as they made their way over the woods told a different story. She eased her stance and allowed her limbs to relax. Slowly, her eyes closed and she laid her head contently against his chest. She knew her lord would not let harm befall her, and she took comfort in knowing that despite his outward callousness, he cared for her more than maybe even he himself realized.

Sesshomaru could feel her body go limp against him. He looked down at her finally, and thought she must have fallen asleep. Well, that was a silly thing to do. Jaken and AhUn were but a short distance away, she would have maybe a minute at best before they were on the ground again. But he supposed that today was hard on her, especially as she was human. He often forgot how frail humans really were.

The way she pressed her face into his chest was not unlike other encounters they might have had before today. Often at night, she would wander onto his lap and curl up peacefully to sleep, with her little face pressed into his chest much like it was now. He had objected at first, but after while he became accustomed to these nighttime occurrences. In fact, he even began to look forward to them in a way. He had felt a sort of satisfaction from the warmth of her small frame curled up against him, he supposed there was no real harm in that. Was now really so different?

He continued to stare at her, observing her feathery black lashes as they lay against her cheeks. Her lips were parted slightly and they attested to the fact that she really was asleep. Below the chin, her over sized kimono granted him full viewing access to the top of her breasts being pushed firmly against his armor breastplate. His heart lurched.

He pulled the cloth of her kimono up over her shoulders as best as he could do with one arm, and accidentally brushed a few strands of her hair into her face. As he watched the flowing strands dance across her nose, he felt compelled to brush them back behind her ear. It was a sign of affection that he was not used to showing. No, he supposed now was different than the other times.

"It's time to cast away these useless thoughts and desires once and for all," a biting voice inside his head reminded him.

Sesshomaru wrinkled his nose in disgust with himself, and left the strands of hair as they were. He looked to the woods. The cloud had finally begun its descent.