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

"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out."

~ Roy Croft quotes ~

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 Three – Embrace our destiny *****

The smell is of burning wood in the air, black soot flying all over the place, people blowing into the furnace to spread the fire or increase the fire rate. The sounds of knives coming in contact with the cutting boards, the low whistle from boiling water in the kettle, and hot oil crackling in the pans are clearly audible. This is the environment of a kitchen; it is always a busy life, noisy and packed.

Rin works as a kitchen helper. She alone handles the entire cooking task from morning to evening, She is not required to work at night times because the task of serving food will be handled by a different group of people, unless there were things which the kitchen required urgently to be attended to, then she will have to work more hours into the night but that only happens on rare occasions. Most of the times she gets to leave before night fall and she would have her entire night time dedicated to her son Aito.

Rin was advised to work here by Tusyu san 2 years ago when Rin realized that the food she used to hunt outside was no longer enough to sustain her son a proper meal to ensure her son grew up healthily. Foods like eggs and rice are expensive for it to be purchased by her so she would help in the kitchen and in exchange she would get her meals covered fully. This meant she would have breakfast and lunch while she will get to pack her dinner back home and dined together with Aito. Most of the time Rin would choose to save her lunch portion by drinking water to muffle her hunger, because Aito has started to grow up and he needed more food, which is why she would save her lunch as her 'dinner' and let Aito have the original dinner portion. Sometimes she would even allow Aito to have half the portion of her regular food quota. This is why Rin is getting skinnier compared to herself before she delivered Aito because she only took 2 small meals in a day instead of 3 meals. Tsuyu who works as the leader in the kitchen knows very well that Rin would sacrifice everything just to ensure her son could sleep with a full stomach every night. This is also why sometimes Tsuyu will give her lunch to Rin, and would even ask Rin to take Tsuyu's share of the dinner home too. Tsuyu did not have the need for that food as she would take breakfast at home, besides her son-in-law usually makes her lunch bento and she would have her dinner at home with her family. Like how everyone in the kitchen always says, Tsuyu and Rin look like mother and daughter, they are close and seen everywhere together.

Unlike the usual day's routine, Rin is assigned to prepare a fish dish today, she started to clean the fishes since morning and have it seasoned before she prepares to fry it. Her pace is uncharacteristically slow today as her thoughts are elsewhere. She is worried about her sick son. Aito is sick since a few days ago. He has a serious fever due to the nasty rainy season. His body temperature doesn't seem to going down even after giving him a variety of herbs which were provided by Rin's friends in the kitchen. If he is still showing no signs of recovery she might have to send him to the nearby physician, but then again how will she manage to pay them? Although she can choose to take Aito to the miko hut and get Kaede to heal her son, she was not allowed to take a day off since the kitchen is expecting an important guest for the entire week. So Rin has little choice but to pray for her son's speedy recovery.

Rin was too preoccupied with her worries as she did not realize the fish that she has placed for frying has over fried. The burning smell spreads rapidly around the kitchen catching Akemi's nostrils by surprise who is busy preparing miso soup nearby. She promptly investigates around the kitchen and notices the burning smoke is coming from Rin's area. How could this girl just stand there and do nothing? She wonders.

"Rin! The fish are burning!" Akemi shouted as loud as she could to catch Rin's attention. Her high pitched shout snaps Rin out from the deep thoughts back to the reality, as Rin stares down at the fish her eyes widen and her jaw drops.

"Oh my goodness!" Rin was stunned for a moment to see the fish is spoiled. She quickly covers her nose with her hand and is taken aback as she catches sight of the fire flaming on top of the fish's surface. She manages to move away and get some help. Akemi already arrives on the scene with a pail of water and pours directly onto the fish. Rin surprised by Akemi fast response affords a smile of relief but at the same time she also smells disaster coming her way.

"Rin did you just plan to roast and have yourself nicely served on the plate for our honored guest tonight? Do you realize how dangerous it could turn out? You can never allow the slightest lack of care to happen in the kitchen because it could harm everyone in here." Akemi warns Rin with a sarcastic joke.

"I am sorry Akemi I was just...I mean I did not intend to..." Rin just couldn't finish her sentences as tears start to roll down her cheek, she knows what she has done is totally unacceptable, but she really did not want it to turn out in this way.

"What am I going to do now? The fish preparation is ruined, what are we going to serve the guests tonight?" Rin continues as she uses both her palms to cover her already tear soaked face.

"Come on Rin, lets report this to Tsuyu san, she might have an idea to fix the problem, now wipe those tears away else Tsuyu might think am bullying you, you know how pitifully your face turns into whenever you start to cry." Akemi is teasing Rin as she tries to cheer the girl up. Rin smiles back at Akemi's words as she wipes her tears with her sleeves before both of them head out to the worker's cabin to meet Tsuyu san who is having her lunch at the time.

When both of the girls made their way to the worker's cabin, Tsuyu has just finished her meal. She watches as Akemi rushes into the room followed by Rin who seems to have just cried a moment ago. Instantly she knew that something must have happened in the kitchen but she can't help herself but burst out in laughter by looking at both of their dirty faces. Akemi has minor dark spot on her nose and on the cheeks, while Rin has almost her whole face covered in blackness with only her eyes and teeth visible….

"Girls, what happened to both of you! You both look… err… messy." Tsuyu asks curiously as she moves closer to the girls and takes a closer look at them.

"Tsuyu san I am so sorry, I did not pay much attention while I fried the fish, I was so worried about Aito's condition and I have burned those fish, now we don't have any fish left, what am I suppose to do?" Rin says it with a rather shaky tone as tears start to stream down her face again. Tsuyu san knows that Aito has been sick for a few days now, if the geisha house owner was not expecting some important guests Tsuyu would have Rin take a day off to take care of Aito. Which mother will not worry for her sick kid anyway? So she completely understands Rin's situation now. Tsuyu takes out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wipes the dirt from Rin's face. Poor girl... She whispers to herself.

"Rin look at me, I know what you have been going through in these past few days, less sleep and less food, so now clean the dirt off of your pretty face and don't worry I will figure out a way ok?" Tsuyu reassures Rin as she hands her the handkerchief.

"Yes Rin don't worry about it, the worst thing that could happen is they will just roast me and serve those guests, they won't roast you as I have much more meat than you hahaha." Akemi interjects in a humorous manner and it makes Rin smile slightly while Tsuyu gives Akemi a stern look.

"Akemi you seem to have lot of energy to joke isn't it? Now I have a task for you, it will test your energy levels. So Rin I want you to return to the kitchen and take over Akemi's previous task. Akemi, you will follow me, we need to fix this fish issue." Tsuyu makes herself clear as she grabs Akemi's arms and they both make their way out of the kitchen immediately while Akemi is still unsure with what she is going to do.

Several hours have passed after Sesshoumaru chose to pursue with the main path. They both reach the village that the two villagers mentioned earlier. Sesshoumaru chose to not inspect the smaller village because his instincts told him that if Rin were to stay nearby Inuyasha, it would be close to impossible for not having Rin's scent linger around the miko girl, as both Rin and the miko girl were as close to each other as sisters. So Sesshoumaru decides to move on. They spot the huge plantation. Half of it has been destroyed while the rest seems to have some healthy vegetables growing on it. So the men were right about the bandit attack. Sesshoumaru inspects around the plantation, he is hoping to spot a familiar face, although he does not really expect to see one. He spots and walks over to a few houses located not far from the plantation.

Sesshoumaru instructs Jaken to approach the local villagers to seek more details hoping they will get information on Rin's whereabouts. The little toad walks down the path and reaches the house. As he steps into the house he catches the sound of footsteps rushing to his direction. Without being able to look properly, he gets a glimpse of two ladies running quickly past, who causes him to lose balance and twirl around. The ladies are heading into one of the houses without noticing the little kappa's presence. Jaken grimaces in frustration and starts mumbling to himself. Trying to regain balance, the little toad curses the ladies as he continues to walk in the same direction that the ladies had just taken. He looks around the house area and sees no one there; he continues to move on to the next house, he once again catches the sounds of the same running footsteps rushing in his direction. This time Jaken is determined to stop at least one of these ladies in their tracks. He stands firm in their path, with a look of unwavering seriousness on his face his eyes squinted to mimic that of a tough guy. He is ready for them. Akemi is the first one to show up, she has a bucket of fish in her hands and she runs at the same speed like she did earlier, expectedly she doesn't notice the little toad instead she even steps on the poor fellow.

"Stupid human where has your manners gone? Didn't you notice am here! Nonsense!" Jaken yells at Akemi as he turns to his side. Tsuyu comes running so fast in his direction and this time Jakan stretches the "staff of two head" out and manages to catch Tsuyu's right foot, she trips and falls on the floor with the bucket plashing on the grass.

"Damn it my fish! Stupid little demon why can't you just play elsewhere? Look what you have done now. Didn't you learn some manners from your mother?" Tsuyu shouts at the little toad furiously as she quickly gathers all the fish back into the bucket and readies to leave before Jaken interrupts her.

"Manners you said human? It is you who needs to learn manners! I was here before you came running like a mad cow barging out of the house, you are the one that caused me fall on the floor and your friend even stepped on me, speaking of manners I guess you humans will never have that." Jaken shoots back in furious sarcasm while looking at the lady who has started to move away from him in haste.

"Huh? So Akemi stepped you? Thats great isn't it? Besides you just can't blame us for not noticing you with your size right?" Tsuyu replies back with words laced with insults in a way that's enough to make his blood boil inside as he prepares to slam the lady, she has already left him behind.

"COME BACK HERE bitch! How dare you insult me?" Jaken continues yelling with no one present to listen but himself…

Tsuyu didn't care what that little toad was yelling, she runs as quickly as she can to catch up with Akemi, and at the time Sesshoumaru comes to check on the little toad, that little kappa is sure taking way too much time to get such a small bit of information. When Tsuyu runs past in front of Sesshoumaru, a light breeze blows into his face and he catches a scent. Rin. He quickly turns to the direction where the lady was heading. She disappears very quickly from his sights. Sesshoumaru hesitates, he knows that was Rin's scent although it was mildly mixed with the scent from the fish, but with his keen and highly heightened sense of smell, he is sure that he has caught Rin's scent on that lady. Without wasting time, he paces in the direction where the lady was headed he knows that his odds on finding rin are very high at this point.

Akemi is the first one to reach the kitchen, she stops at the main entrance and tries to catch her breath, Tsuyu arrives shortly behind her, and she is also trying to catch her breath.

"Your energy levels are acknowledged now." Tsuyu teases Akemi who is still panting.

"Thanks for that, I have never doubted my strength. Rin could never handle this heavy lifting, and running without rest. You have picked the right person." Akemi replies proudly with a smug grin as Tsuyu laughs at her words before she turns and pick up the bucket and moves into the kitchen, Akemi follows closely behind. As Tsuyu and Akemi enter the kitchen, Rin's eyes widen so much to the point they could pop out any moment as she spots both of them are carrying a bucket full of fish. There are at least some 6 fish in each bucket.

"How did you both manage to catch so many fish in such a short time?" Rin asks in awe.

"Catch? Hah! I don't think I have the skill to able to catch a fish, not even a rabbit I can manage to get a hold off." Akemi replies with a big laugh escaping her mouth.

"Those fish are from my house; remember I told you my sister in law is a fisherman? He came and visited me with my sister last 2 days and those fish were a gift from them, I still have tons in my kitchen ya know." Tsuyu explains as she puts the bucket on the floor and instructs two more girls to help Akemi to clean the fish.

"Thank you so much Tsuyu san, am sorry to cause you so much trouble, if only I pay a little attention in..." As Tsuyu interrupts Rin from completing her sentence, instead she moves closer to Rin's side and places both of her hands on Rin's shoulders.

"Rin, we have sorted the matter now and stop blaming yourself, like I said earlier I know how you feel right now. Go on and finish up with the soup, make sure that the soap looks as pretty as you and tastes as sweet as you, ok?" Tsuyu says it in a little teasing tone as she smiles at Rin who is now blushing.

"While I can ensure you the soup will look tasty I can not promise to make the soup taste sweet, miso soup should taste salty not sweet." Rin pedantically points out as she grins slightly with Tsuyu laughing out loud. They both turn around and continue with their own tasks.

Sesshoumaru has followed the scent from the lady and it has brought him here to this small town. He continues searching until he reaches the Geisha House, the scent of the lady he encountered earlier is lingering strongly around in this place. Sesshoumaru frowns in disfavor, he doesn't care to know why the lady's scent is caught around here but what concerns him is why will Rin's scent hang around this lady? Is Rin also working at this place? What the hell has happened to Rin? How did she end up working at this bloody, dirty and cheap place? He clenches his fist till they bleed. His blood is boiling in his veins just by picturing the scene of Rin being manhandled by those bastards in bed. Whatever the reason is, he is certain that Rin was being kidnapped and sold out to this place, whoever the bastard is, he is definitely not going to let him live peacefully. I will make sure they have plenty of extra pleasures with my sharp poison claws! Sesshoumaru thinks to himself as he lets out a low growl. He does not break into the Geisha House as his heart desires, instead he chooses to observe the surroundings, hoping to catch Rin's sight. After several minutes of inspecting, he sees no one. He comes to a decision that this place will only function after night fall, which means the lady that he saw a while ago might be a kitchen helper. Sesshoumaru decides to wait until night fall, He moves to the nearby tree and sits there, raising his right leg up, he rests his right arm on top of his right knee while he has the Geisha House view fully in his sights, this time there will be no mistakes, he needs to get Rin when she shows up.

Hours pass by and the sunny clear blue skies are replaced by the orange-yellowish hue of sun set. Rin has the miso soup done an hour ago and she is helping the others to clean up the kitchen, she has finished gathering all the garbage, sweeping the floor and cleaning the entire equipments. She is quite handy when it comes to cleaning. After she is done with the cleaning she takes out a floweriest design cloth and wraps her lunch and dinner bento elegantly, once that's over she moves to the rest room and removes her kappōgi and has it folded neatly after which she hangs it on the wall. Akemi is there having her dinner when Rin starts to leave the kitchen.

"Thanks for your help Akemi; you are my life saver today." Rin declares with a large smile on her face. Akemi always found Rin's smile were warming, it can melt anyone's heart.

"It's not a big deal at all Rin, we will be here to help you when you are in trouble." Akemi replies with a muffled voice as she has a mouth full of rice. Rin couldn't help but to laugh at Akemi's funny facial expressions. She waves at Akemi and says good bye. She proceeds to head out from the kitchen. As she reaches outside the kitchen, she hears Tsuyu san voice calling out her name.

"Rin wait a while!" Tsuyu san shouts as she comes running to Rin.

"Yes Tsuyu san, is there anything I forget to do?" Rin inquires nervously as she is afraid she might have missed something again.

"No nothing like that, it's just that I had brought you these herbs, my sister told me this was used to heal her son's fever all the time, so please give this to Aito. I hope he will get well soon." Tsuyu replies as she places a small bottle onto Rin hands.

"Thank you so much Tsuyu san" Rin thanks Tsuyu san and they both exchange hugs before Rin continues to head home. As she has passes through several trees in the forest, Rin stops and admires the beautiful sunset, holding the bento in her arms, she grins happily. The sunset is overwhelming, it feels so warm, it feels like her Lord is watching over her from somewhere around the trees like he used to do when she was still a child. Rin shuts her eyes while trying to picture Lord Sesshoumaru's face. Unknowingly she starts to hum her favorite song.

In the mountain, in the breeze..

In the forest, in my dream..

Lord Sesshouamru where are you..

Jaken is serving under you too...

The moment she completes singing the last lines, she hears a familiar strong manly voice calling out her name from behind.

"Rin!"

Chapter End Notes:

Thank you to those who reviewed my chapter, it means so much for me to move another step further in enchancing my way of writing.

Upcoming...

Chapter 4 - Joyful yet in pain (story under progress)

Love,

Jenni