A/N: Happy New Years, everybody! My present for 2009. I'm going to stop apologizing for taking so long, because I clearly have an issue with getting things done on time, and the chapters are just going to have to be slow. My thoughts are jumbled and unorganized and it takes a while to get them out in a coherent fashion. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and I love seeing new people alert this story. Makes me feel selfishly accomplished. :-) Have a wonderful break.

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Chapter 4

They stood there for a few moments—moments that seemed to last for several days—just staring dumbly at each other. Rei had imagined a joyous reunion, where all the wrongs of the past years would be fixed by this one correction. She kept glancing nervously over at the beautiful female demon who had a little twist of impatience on her flawless mouth. It almost hurt to look at her. She was just too stunning.

Rei was waiting for Sesshoumaru to say something, the demoness was waiting for Sesshoumaru to say something, and so of course, Sesshoumaru's evasive streak won out and he said nothing.

The three of them had since quite forgotten about Jaken's presence, whose little green head kept bobbing back and forth, bouncing between the two parties, observing with a degree of disbelief. He concluded that Lady Rei must truly have been an awesomely important person, since she had rendered even the great Lord Sesshoumaru speechless.

"I'm just going to…go now," said Jaken lamely, before scuttling away.

Every single brain cell was screaming at Rei to run away, run away. But that was what she would have done three years ago, the volatile girl who couldn't, wouldn't wait for explanations. Then again, she wasn't quite sure she wanted to hear explanations at this point, and in fact, Sesshoumaru showed no inclinations to provide them anyway. In a small, wandering part of her mind, she remembered that this was the second time she failed to say goodbye before she ran off from the village on a wild goose chase. She reminded herself not to do it a third time, but she was pretty sure at this point that the opportunity would not arise again. She refocused on what was happening in front of her.

"Um?" she said. "Can I have a glass of water?" She was feeling a little dizzy, and tacitly concluded it would not be good for anybody if she keeled over.

Mutely, Sesshoumaru snapped his fingers, and within half a minute, a mouse demon came tottering in, a priceless crystal goblet of water balanced on a tray. Rei picked up the glass gingerly, afraid to break it—it's probably worth more than my left leg—and took a cautious sip.

"Well," interrupted the demoness, finally speaking up, "this—" she gestured flippantly at the entire situation, "is wearing on me. Will somebody please tell me what is going on?" Her voice was haughty and annoyed. She said in a low voice to Sesshoumaru, "I am quite tired of entertaining these useless creatures. That child of yours is truly getting underfoot, and she forgets her place all the time. Please tell me this isn't another ward of yours." She casually flicked a glance over at Rei. "She is an urchin. She is dressed like a commoner, and completely unsuited to even be in your presence, much less mine."

I can hear you still, Rei thought angrily.

"Don't," said Sesshoumaru to the demoness.

"Then you'll tell me what's going on. Really, your silence confounds me. Who is she? Your illegitimate daughter?" she challenged. She fiddled with the carved jade beads around her neck. "You are such a bother, sometimes."

Sesshoumaru expelled a sigh, and it was such a familiar sound that Rei's eyes watered up unexpectedly. She missed that sound. "Rei," he said tiredly, "what are you doing here?"

The words hit her like a sack of bricks. Against all odds, she somehow found the lump in her throat had dissolved. "Wow. Gee, what a warm welcome. I missed you too!" she snapped. She didn't mean to be so cranky, but really, she had been expecting something a little more…appreciative. She shot an angry glare at the demoness, who she still didn't know. The demoness looked affronted.

"I—" he began, apparently intending on defending himself, before he closed his mouth resolutely and narrowed his eyes. "You were the one who danced through the front door," he said pointedly, clearly implying, I am not obligated to welcome you at all.

"I see," said Rei, her voice hard. "Immortal life, and you forget people after three years. I'm sorry that I wasted my time coming back here. I'm sorry that I cried—that I kept remembering you—for three years. I can't believe it. I thought that you might at least crack a smile when I showed up. I thought—never mind. I was wrong, obviously."

Sesshoumaru stood still as a statue, not a flicker of mercy on his cold, emotionless face.

She stared at him, willing him to crack, show just a little bit of warmth. She noticed that his left arm had grown back. Painfully, memories rushed back of him teaching her how to use a sword, guiding her with one hand, her anger at Inuyasha for hurting his own brother, her pity, the first time she felt that spark…

"Your arm grew back. That must be nice. Congratulations, I guess."

He didn't smile. The demoness nudged him with her pointy elbow.

Standing there, watching him ignore her, was finally enough incentive for her heart to let go. The desire and hope seeped tiredly from her body, replaced by a lead-like numbness.

"Go home, Rei," he said softly.

She heard it, but it floated around in her brain like fluff, unable to be comprehended in her unfeeling state. She was strangely unaffected by the statement. Vaguely, she was disappointed that she had made such a big fuss to come back, just to hear those two words. She could feel three years of tightness, unhappiness, drain out of her. Suddenly, she was exhausted, but also soothed. "Okay," she heard herself say. "Can I know who that one is over there? The one who thinks I look like an urchin?"

Sesshoumaru hesitated for a minute.

She swallowed and breathed and felt quite normal. "Because honestly," Rei continued in a conversational tone, "I think she is incredibly stuck up. If that's your new woman, then I seriously suggest you rethink your standards in females."

Rei looked toward Sesshoumaru for a response, and to her surprise, he did not seem insulted at all. For the first time, Sesshoumaru looked as if he were about to burst out laughing, but was holding it back.

The demoness looked furious. "Why—how dare you? Sesshoumaru, tell her—are you laughing? Stop it!" She positively looked like she was about to slap him.

Before he could respond, Rei heard somebody stomping into the room behind her. "Lord Sesshoumaru! I can't handle my tutors anymore! They're all mean to me, for no reason. I need new ones. And I need new clothes too. You haven't let me see the seamstresses for weeks. It's so unfair. Please? Oh, good afternoon, Lady Grandmama."

Rei turned around and saw a thirteen-year-old girl, her skinny arms crossed around her narrow chest staunchly, her eyebrows knitted together angrily, and her nose up in the air. It was Rin.

"Oh, please, for goodness sakes, Sesshoumaru. Make her stop calling me 'Lady Grandmama.' I am not her grandmother. That child is no relation of mine," the demoness whined. "And I'm not that old," she added as an afterthought.

"Rin!" Rei cried out and crushed the thin girl to her. Rin was up to her shoulder now.

"W-what? Rei? Is that you?" the surprised child sputtered.

"Yes! It's me! I've missed you so much! And you've grown up so fast. You were so little when I saw you last." She finally let go and stepped back. "Just look at you."

Rin looked a little jarred and breathless, but had a wide smile on her face, the same bright smile Rei remembered. "I'm so glad you're back," said Rin happily. "You'll make everything right again. Lord Sesshoumaru's been in such a soggy, depressed mood since you've been gone. And then Lady Grandmama came to live with us, and she's such a stiff too. The two of them could cause a thunderstorm by frowning. They just kill my mood every day."

At this point, Sesshoumaru put a hand over his eyes, as if he wished he could just sink into the ground. Without a word, he stalked out of the room. The demoness looked miffed, but elegantly, seated herself and began examining her sharp fingernails. She was clearly not inclined to talk to the two humans left in the room, nor did it seem she even realized it would be a necessary thing to do.

"Come on," muttered Rin, tugging on Rei's hand. The younger girl led her through the corridor and into the back courtyard, up an elegant set of carved wooden steps. There was a wraparound railing on the second floor, with rooms all around. Absentmindedly, Rei trailed her fingers on the lacquered wood of the railing, soothed by its smoothness. Before she knew it, they'd ended up at a door on the corner, nondescript. Rin pushed it open, and Rei was surprised by the expansiveness of the room that revealed itself. It was large and spacious, a big canopied bed in the center. The bedposts were the same dark cherry wood as the rest of the house. The sheets looked like a fine woven silk, pale pink, like a princess's. A filmy, airy material of the same color was draped across the frame, so that it looked like a gossamer mosquito net around the bed.

Rin went over and plopped down on the bed. She looked over expectantly at Rei and patted the spot next to her. "Sit down."

Feeling like a little girl at a sleepover again, Rei jumped onto the bed and crossed her legs carefully. "Well, Rin. Here we are again. Except we're both older, and this is your room, and you live like royalty."

The thin, thirteen-year-old waved her hand impatiently—even behaving like royalty, thought Rei—and shook her head. "But what about you? Where have you been? How have you been? Why didn't you say goodbye?"

Rei was a little bemused by this gush of questions. "I've been at home. Five hundred years in the future. You knew that. I'm not from this time. I've been fine. I went to college—got an advanced education," she hastily amended upon noticing Rin's confusion, "just been living my life like a normal person that doesn't time travel. And I did say goodbye. I told Sesshoumaru to tell you I was going. Didn't he?"

"That's not a goodbye. That's secondhand and doesn't count. Plus, you could have come back and visit."

"No, better not. Things are…weird, you see. But I did miss you." She smiled, crestfallen. "But, it's okay. I'm here now, and we can talk."

Rin turned her head away and stared at the wall. "There's nothing to talk about. Everything is perfect. Just like it was. It's beautiful here, isn't it? It's unreal. Like living in paradise. I couldn't ask for anything more."

Sympathetically, Rei put a hand on the younger girl's back and rubbed it. It was getting dark now, she noticed, as she glanced out the window, obscured gently by lacy curtains. She was a little uncertain as to what to do. She kept her hand on the downcast girl and regarded her with pity. She must be lonely sometimes in this big complex. Rin slumped into Rei's side and closed her eyes. "Mmm. I missed you, Rei. It was different without you," said Rin, a bit muffled, sleepy.

"Me too." She shifted her weight. "But I have to go home, still."

Rin bolted up, her eyes wide. "Don't."

"I have to."

She shook her head vigorously, and Rei was afraid she might have given herself whiplash. "You can't."

"Look, Rin, I'd love to stay, and it would be wonderful to catch up with you. But I'm not welcome here, and that's the fact. I don't want to offend anybody. What happened back then was in the past, and God knows, I was foolish and tried to tether myself to it. It's okay though. It happened, and it was fine, and now it's time to move on. Oh come on, don't look at me like that. Of course I missed you, and I feel horrible for not really saying goodbye. Situations change though, and it's better if I leave." Rei was impressed. Her words sounded a lot braver out loud than she had trusted them to. She swallowed. Her throat was strangely absent of a lump. That was good though. Just odd to get used to.

Rin's voice was quiet. "You don't know what it was like when you left. Sesshoumaru didn't talk at all for weeks on end. Just silence. I started talking to objects just to fill the empty air with something, anything at all."

"He's always quiet."

"He didn't talk, Rei. Not a single word. Not even to me. I asked him where you were, and he didn't tell me until two months later and that was out of the blue. He killed a lot of things, actually. He went hunting all the time. Instead of letting minor demons pass, he slaughtered them as if they were in the way. He couldn't stand demons within a five-mile radius of anywhere we were. He was obsessively rigorous with getting rid of threats. And then we came here. He got better. I had no idea that this place even existed, that he had a house. I guess it would only make sense. So then we lived here. And I had the best of everything. I had the best tutors, and he never let me skimp on my studies. Every day was a new discovery. There was so much here to see. Once, Sesshoumaru asked me if I wanted to go back to a human village. I didn't miss humans. Most of them thought I was strange. I said no. He didn't ask again. Only assigned a legion of servants to me. I was never at a want for companions."

"Sounds like a wonderful place." Rei smiled.

"It was. But Sesshoumaru didn't have companions. He talked to me, and it was like old times. Sometimes, I could even make him laugh. But he was mad. I could tell. He was always mad at you. It was like, for once in his life, he didn't get what he wanted, and he was furious. It came more easily to him than sadness. He didn't want to mope like he did the first couple of weeks. One day, Lady Grandmama came."

"Is 'Lady Grandmama' Sesshoumaru's mother?"

"Oh yes. And she hates it when I call her that, so I do it all the time." She giggled. "I certainly don't hate her. She's…lovable isn't quite the word for it…anyway, I like her. She's funny."

Rei smirked. "She is utterly unlikable. She is just like him. I should have known that she was his mother. What a shocking resemblance. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yes. She's the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

"She called me an urchin."

Rin giggled again. "Yes, well. She's a bit prickly when you first meet her. You just have to get used to her."

"Just another reason for me to go," Rei said, standing up. "She obviously doesn't want me here, and if she tried to kill me—which it looks like she might—Sesshoumaru doesn't seem inclined to prevent her from doing it." She laughed dryly. "Don't want to die yet, and especially not by the hand of Sesshoumaru's mother."

"She wouldn't kill you. She wouldn't raise her hand to kill a fly, don't worry," Rin reassured. "It would be way too beneath her station. She'd probably ask a servant to do it," she mused, with a glimmer of a smile. "At any rate, look outside, it's way too dark out for you to go traveling alone."

She was right. It was nighttime, and even Rei knew better not to wander around at night without protection. Who was to know that she could even handle a sword with any kind of competence anymore. "First thing in the morning," she promised. "I'll go then." She glanced outside at the stars unhappily, knowing she should have gotten on her way earlier. I don't want to give that stupid bastard the wrong idea.

"Please stay," begged Rin. "Lord Sesshoumaru will come around. He always does. He's just stubborn."

Quietly, Rei said, "Maybe I don't have time for his stubbornness."

"Then stay for me! I'm sick and tired of only having Lady Grandmama around. She's such a bore, and she never talks to me. When I talk to her, she just stares at me like her teacup started talking. She drives Lord Sesshoumaru crazy; I don't know why he lets her stay. She talks to him plenty, either with criticism or gossip, and he hates both. He must really, really love her to put up with it. But you can stay and talk to me. The palace is great, it really is. You'd love it here."

"Rin," she said firmly, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, "I don't want to be an awkward third wheel."

"You won't be! You're here as my guest, not theirs. Lord Sesshoumaru lets me have whatever I want, and I want you! Please? You don't have to talk to them at all. You can be my companion. I can never have enough companions." She was as confident and imperious as any princess.

It was clear that Rin was desperately starved of attention and wasn't letting her go regardless, so Rei acquiesced and decided to stay. The palace was breathtakingly marvelous, and it might be nice to vacation here. And, as she watched Rin talk excitedly about how much fun they were going to have, Rei realized that Sesshoumaru wasn't being enough of a parent and being too much of a distant guardian. Rin wasn't denied anything. She was just a little bit spoiled and didn't know how to be a child. Rei imagined her childhood probably sucked: too much study and boredom, not enough play. In a sense, Sesshoumaru was right. Rin should have grown up in a human village with human companions, and not in a cold house of demons who didn't know the needs of a human child.

Rin commanded a bedroom to be cleared out, and within minutes, there was a room for Rei. It was lovely apple-green, with matching blankets, pillow covers, and curtains. It was bigger than any bedroom that Rei had ever slept in. She kissed Rin good night and went to take a bath in the adjoining bathroom. Rin had instructed the servants to treat Rei as they would treat herself. The silver tub was already filled with hot water—the perfect temperature. There were matching apple-green towels and all sorts of deliciously scented oils. This really is heaven, she concluded, as she soaked in the best bath she had ever taken. The mouse demon servants offered to help her bathe, and she had politely declined. She felt like a queen.

She decided, while drying her hair with a towel on her luxurious bed, that she was happy to stay—at least for a little while. She did miss Rin, and it would be good to spend time with her. And this house, this house was truly a thing of wonders. It would spoil anyone. And Sesshoumaru would not be a problem. It was plain to see that he wasn't going to talk to her, because he was just incredibly mature like that for a demon of however many thousands of years, and frankly, Rei was fine with it. She felt lighter than she had for a long time, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, or maybe from her heart. She was very ready to close this chapter of the book, and move on. That was the best thing about her return.

She found closure.

Neatly folded on her bed was a soft-as-the-sky nightgown of cream, and she put it on, enjoying the sensation against her skin. She snuggled into the cloud-like bed and closed her eyes contentedly.

She slept soundly and peacefully. For the first time in long while, Rei did not dream of Sesshoumaru.