The Lily of the Valley signifies "The Return of Happiness"

Disclaimer: The depictions of the characters in this story are completely fictitious. In no way does this represent the views or the story arcs as envisaged by the original copyright owners of this franchise and its characters. The ownership if the characters and the original concept are sole properties of Rumiko Takahashi.

*****Chapter Two – "Rin I have returned"*****

4 years pass by …

It was a sunny day the blue skies are clear and the sunlight shining through the trees lighting up the path in the forest. There are birds in the clear blue heavens, several movements upon the lively green earth surrounding by cherry blossom trees. Sesshomaru's gaze is fixed upon the northern horizon. Out of the blue heavens three little specks appear which increase in size with every passing moment, approaching rapidly. They speedily resolve themselves into three large brown birds which start circling over the head of the little kappa, and then they settle upon some rocks overlooking the kappa. All in all, this is an absolutely beautiful morning.

After traversing through several paths, the Bone Eater's well is now visible. Sesshoumaru slows his pace, and gazes at the group of kids who are playing around the well. The little kappa follows curiously. He is at a loss as to why his lord had to return here again. But sensing that his lord was not in the best of moods, he keeps the thought to himself. They continue on and reach the sacred tree. Standing in front of the sacred tree, Sesshoumaru observes the surroundings attentively before turning up to face the cloudless heavens and murmurs to himself… "Rin I have returned"…..

7 years ago, when Rin reached 14 years of age, Sesshoumaru had come here to ask Rin if she decided on living with her own kind or to continue travelling with him. She had chosen to continue on with her lord without hesitation. It was her wish after all to live with her lord forever. Rin was brought to the western land, to his castle, where he could ensure her safety. At the western fortress she had begun to take up lessons, to enhance her reading, writing and learn simple self defense skills. Sesshoumaru wanted Rin to become bit a stronger and proper women, certainly for a wife to be. Rin surprised Sesshoumaru with her level of intelligence when she mastered those skills in less than 3 months. She had proved to everyone in the fortress that she is not merely some simple weak human being. With that Sesshoumaru had many such reasons to be proud of her.

Rin had an innocent and kind hearted nature. She was adorable to everyone in the entire fortress. She could befriend almost anyone in the fortress with the utmost ease, be it a maid, a gardener or a simple kitchen helper. To her everyone in the castle had the same level of status. Rin never differentiated people by their work or roles within the fortress. She certainly didn't hold herself in higher regard above the rest, even though she had Sesshoumaru to back her up all the time when things went wrong. Her smile was thoroughly contagious; she always smiled so freely to everyone she encountered. Like her trusted maid claimed, it always felt so comfortable to have Rin around, even Sesshoumaru himself did not deny this. Whenever he had a tough day's duty, Rin's infectious smile with her sweet scent tranquilizing the ambience always felt calm and relaxing. This explained as to why the Lord of the Western land would find himself visiting his ward chamber whenever he returned from his duty.

After a year Rin seems to have grown fonder with everyone in the fortress. The western fortress had become her "home" while Sesshoumaru never considered his fortress as his home. But Rin's presence in the fortress had certainly changed Sesshoumaru's mind. The castle definitely felt like a home, a garden with all the colors present in it to invigorate the mind, the voice of a young girl heard singing in every corner of the castle, the sweet cherry blossom scent lingering in the air and the most importantly the beautiful smile of a young girl always spotted in the castle.

Apart from growing fonder with everyone in the fortress, Rin seemed to have built a strange gap with Sesshoumaru. She felt she could no longer freely be herself in front of her lord. She would not turn to Sesshoumaru anymore when she had a problem bothering her. She felt like the adoration that she had for her lord had slowly thawed and a new feeling has developed pretty quickly in her. Her blushing when their eyes met, the uneasiness during their simple conversations, the strange feeling whenever she looked at her lord, she just couldn't look away from him and her heart beat raced. A minor mistake in the choice of words from her would cause Rin to spend hours to think about it and the episode was followed by a few sleepless nights. She just couldn't explain this reaction and the feeling of being embarrassed. When Rin finally brought the matter to her trusted maid's attention in a discussion, she finally realized that she had grown a strong affection towards Sesshoumaru. Yes, she had fallen in love with her lord. Poor Rin, that mysterious change was too subtle and too gradual to be measured by dates. Least of all did the maiden herself know it until the touch of a hand set her heart racing within her, and she learned with a mixture of pride and fear that a new and a larger nature has awakened within her.

Having taken notice of Rin's sudden change, Sesshoumaru silently observed her, His youkai senses picked up her rising pulse each time they spend time together. It was kind of a strange feeling but it was a sweet moment to see how the girl struggled to respond to those changes in her. So the bud blossomed into a flower, and the sight of a little girl singing and dancing freely was replaced with a taller and feminine looking shy woman. Sesshoumaru used smirk to himself sometimes when he thought about it, but concerning about her reaction, Sesshoumaru did not wish to tease the girl further. As much as he hated to allow anyone get closer to him, he seemed to be quite comfortable to let Rin know him inside out. At one point he even allowed the girl to read his emotions on many occasions. With the feelings constantly changing between them, Sesshoumaru decided to end the girl's inner torture by allowing her to open up about her feelings.

One warm night during the late autumn 5 years ago, when everyone in the fortress were busy celebrating the Lord of the western land's victory in defeating the phantom demon who showed up at the border, Sesshoumaru had brought Rin to his private garden, his personal bed chamber, the place where he allowed himself and Rin to share their little secret, a heart to heart conversation while slowly dancing under the moonlight, holding each other tightly like there's no tomorrow. That was when they sealed their first kiss. With the stars twinkling above, they treasured that moment until they were lost in a world of their own...

"Keh what are you doing here Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha sarcastically interrupts and brakes Sesshoumaru's wandering thought.

"Don't tell me you have started to develop an emotion towards me!" Inuyasha continues his annoyance while Sesshoumaru returns his half demon brother a stern look.

"Of course we are not here to visit you, who do you think you are? My Lord was just passing by and about to leave so stop bothering us Inuyasha!" Jaken slams Inuyasha furiously before Sesshoumaru interrupts him.

"Let's go Jaken!" Sesshoumaru turns away from the sacred tree and gets ready to leave the spot before Inuyasha continues his sarcastic insinuations.

"Keh what an arrogant brat, judging by your emotions now I guess you have not found Rin yet. Don't tell me that you have traveled the lands from north to east and to the south for this long and still unable to locate a human?"

Sesshoumaru stops in his tracks, he did not feel like arguing with his brother. Perhaps what Iuyasha said is right, what is the point in being the strongest demon when he failed to find Rin. He has left his land behind in the search of Rin for almost 5 years now, he just couldn't trace her. Quick thoughts run through his mind, Does she intend to avoid me? Why did she want to leave me? How did she manage to get away from the castle without anyone noticing her? Sesshoumaru closes his eyes and sighs. He couldn't think of any reason for Rin's disappearance, not with what had happen that night.

"I will definitely find her, it is a matter of time and I shall spare your life today as I don't want this stupid business to delay my chances in searching Rin. Rest assured that I will return one day to make you pay for your words today" Sesshoumaru declares with a growl before continuing his steps. As he walks past Inuyasha, he spots the Miko girl Kagome who seemed to be rushing to catch up with the duo. The little kappa follows his Lord closely.

"Keh what kind of attitude is that? I guess losing Rin doesn't seem to have educated him much. I am glad that Rin didn't stay to witness this brat's pathetic ego. " Inuyasha mumbles as he crosses his arms and turns to face his wife Kagome who has just made it to the sacred tree.

"Hey Inuyasha, why is Sesshoumaru leaving so fast? What have you told him? You must have said something that is bothering him." Kagome inquires while she is still trying to catch her breath. She moves to sit beside Inuyasha who is now throwing himself onto the grass with both his arms and legs stretching wide apart.

"Give me a break Kagome; you sound like I have hurt that Sesshoumaru? He was the one who started it." Inuyasha turns his head in the opposite direction of his wife displaying his dissatisfaction towards Kagome statement.

Kagome shakes her head in resignation, she knows that Inuyasha never got along with Sesshoumaru, but she sincerely feels sorry for Sesshoumaru. He despised humans his entire life, but now he has turned down his ego and has been on the search for Rin for a long time.

"I feel very bad to have hidden Rin's whereabouts. Maybe I should have told Sesshoumaru about it" Kagome states with a sad tone while her sights focus on the direction where Sesshoumaru was headed to.

"Say Inuyasha..." Kagome looks her husband lovingly batting her eye lashes.

"What?" Inuyasha turns and looks at Kagome's face. He notices her eyes are watery. He rises from the grass and places his right hand on top of Kagome's left shoulder.

Kagome affords a sad smile to Inuyasha. She brushes away the tears on her cheeks. She swallows hard as she shuts her eyes and continue.

"Have you ever lost somebody who meant so much to you? I am sure you had a tough time to deal with your emotions when Kikyou passed away, but she was dying in your embrace peacefully isn't it? Sesshoumaru has lost Rin and he hasn't found her. He must be feeling really lonely and worried about Rin. Somehow I can feel that he is really caring for Rin. He has abandoned his land for Rin, which just shows how important Rin is in his heart." Kagome proclaims and turns to hug Inuyasha

"It is alright Kagome, if this brat was sincere in his search for Rin, he will find Rin one day besides ..." Inuyasha strokes Kagome's back and looks at sacred tree.

"If he continues with this path without changing his direction, destiny might once again side him." Inuyasha states while he shifts his sights to the cloudless blue skies.

Few hours have passed after Sesshoumaru left the miko hut. They make their way through the forests. Eventually they encounter two paths in front. One of the paths is right in front of them; while the other one is located on their right hand side.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, which path shall we take?" Jaken anxiously inquires as he turns to face his Lord who seems to be undecided. The little kappa gets busy scanning both paths attentively. He spots two men a bit far off on the right hand path. One of them seem to be carrying a basket full of herbs on their back while the other one has a basket loaded with rice. Jaken hurries himself to approach the villagers and starts to question them.

"Hey there humans, can you tell me where will these two paths take us to?" Jaken asks the villagers while he motions with his finger to the two paths. Both of these men were shocked with Jaken's sudden approach; they also stared at the scary tall white figure demon that is standing not far away from this little demon. While they did not wish to risk their lives by upsetting the fierce white demon, one of the men wearing a grey kimono volunteers to answer the question.

"Th…..this right path will lead you to a small village, there are only 3 families living there and one of the families owns the small paddy field. We use to head there to exchange some rice for herbs." The man replied with a rather unclear voice as he was quaking out of fear. The second man, who has a dark blue kimono on, helps his friend to answer the next question.

"While this main path will lead you to another village which is own by Shinobu and his family. They have a huge plantation, and sell their crops at the nearby town. That village was quite famous until two years ago when they were attacked by the bandits who killed quite a lots of villagers and most of their crops were spoiled in the barbaric attack, but they have recovered a lot in this recent year, and the latest I heard they have started to grow their plants back slowly. It will take you half day to reach that village. Did you both come here on visiting purpose? Perhaps I can help to lead you both to a proper direction if you could give me the name of your friend?" The man adds the question before he glances at both Jaken and Sesshoumaru.

"We are seeking a girl." Sesshoumaru replies stoically without looking at the villagers.

"Oh then you can proceed on the main path, because the small town which I had mentioned earlier has a famous Geisha House to which almost all demons and rich men head to have fun some. I am sure you can get any girl you desire in that house." The grey Kimono adorned man replies with a big laugh which is enough to boil Sesshoumaru's blood. He instantly moves to the man's side who is still laughing and grabs the man's neck with his sharp poison claws piercing into the man's flesh. Sesshoumaru glares furiously at the shocked man with his already red shot eyes.

"Do not compare Rin with those bitches in that Geisha house, you got it human?" Sesshoumaru's voice rises as he roars these words out. This is enough to scare the man. A curious dripping noise is heard by all present; it sounds much like liquid slowly running down and hitting the earth softly. The poor man who is in Sesshoumaru's gripe is urinating in his undergarments. He starts to apologize profusely for unintentionally insulting the girl and begs the Lord to spare his life while his friend who is witnessing this incident from the beginning has started to run like a rabbit on the escape from the claws of a fox, leaving his friend behind to whatever fate he may face. Sesshoumaru throws the man to the nearby tree without mercy. "Leave now or I will kill you." He lashes out.

The terrified man runs as fast as he can, leaving the little kappa and the angry dog demon behind.

"Serves you right pathetic humans! Don't ever let me see you again or I will roast you with my staff." Jaken loudly gloats and laughs at the runaway man, though if Sesshoumaru was not around the little kappa will not be oh so smug but rather the scared one...

Jaken moves closer to Sesshoumaru. "Lord Sesshoumaru what are we going to do now?" the little kappa looks worriedly at his Lord who still looks infuriated. Sesshoumaru turns and focuses on the paths. He is fully aware that he cannot miss out on any chance to seek out Rin, but what he does not know is that one of the paths is going to change his life forever...

Chapter End Notes:

My sincere thank you to all the readers who has chose to attempt on reading my story. Thank you so much :)

Thank you to those has review my chapter1, i always ensure myself to respond to all the reviewer as they have taken their precious time to comment on my piece of story so I need to ensure them that i had read their comment and i had taken note and it mean so much for me to move another step further in enhancing my way of writing, though it may just be a simple thank you, but it still my sincere thank you to value your reviewing.