Okay, this is IT. Finally, after A YEAR, I am DONE with this story. For real, this time. I just want to thank everybody who stuck with me through all the delays, and all the angst, and everything. Also I want to thank my mom for reading the story and animebookworm211 for helping me edit this chapter to make it the best it could be. I really hope you all like the ending, after all I've put you through to get to this point (hehe) but if you don't, please keep in mind that I have known that this would be the ending even before I began writing, back when this whole thing was just an idea that came to me while I was folding laundry.

Well, here we are. It's very long, so sit tight and enjoy it. I know I did.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters, but this story is mine.

The Guardian: Chapter 12

4 Years After Rin's Death

"I'm very sorry, Yunosuke-sama," the young girl told her companion, "but I can't marry you."

The young man's round face fell. "But Rinko," he pleaded, "I promise you, I will make you happy! I vow to do all in my power!"

She laughed, a charming, feminine sound that cut her suitor's pride to the quick. "I have no doubt that you would try. But dearest Yunosuke-sama, you would fail. We are not suited, you and I. There are many girls who would be delighted to marry you; who could make you happy, in return."

"None of them are you, Rinko-chan! There is no woman in this entire village who can compare with you!" Yunosuke, earnest and eager, was all but groveling now. "Have you forgotten that I am of the headman's family? We are very well suited, you and I!"

"Yunosuke-sama…." Rinko began.

"I'll commit seppuku," the ruddy-faced man threatened darkly. "Would that make you happy? If I were no longer?"

Rinko sighed. "Always the dramatic one, aren't you, Yunosuke-sama? Your father Ichiro-sama would cringe at your antics. Even I, a woman, wince at this display."

Thwarted, his pride bruised, young Yunosuke stormed off.

Giggling, Rinko skipped back to her home, where her father met her at the door.

"Rinko-chan," Kohaku said with a smile on his lined but handsome face, "What was that commotion I just heard?"

Rinko tossed her long, wavy black hair. "Oh, nothing, Oto-san. Just Yunosuke, the headman's son, being infantile because I rejected his offer of marriage."

Kohaku's jovial expression left his face at once. "Oh, child," he said wearily, "you must stop turning down every fine upstanding young man who asks for your hand! What will become of you when I am gone and you have not yet found a husband? Who will take care of you?"

"I shall take care of myself," Rinko replied firmly, "Until I find the right man."

Kohaku sighed heavily. "You are completely unlike your mother … in everything except beauty."

"I thank you," Rinko said stiffly. "I suppose that means I will not die young."

Her father looked sadly at her. "Come inside," he finally said. "Have some supper. We've all been waiting for you."

Still sullen, the seventeen year old followed her father into the house, where her nieces and nephews played and screeched all over the floor, grabbing at each other's food, and her elder brothers laughed at their children's antics as they were served steaming food by their beautiful wives. Everyone else in her family was happy and settled… why couldn't she do the same? That's what they were all thinking, and Rinko knew it.

"So Rinko-chan," said Miyuki cheerfully, "what did Yunosuke have to say for himself?"

Rinko recounted the events of the day in an offhand manner that suggested she crushed men's hopes every day… which in fact she did.

Kohaku put his face in his hands and groaned. "She's going to be the death of me," he said to no one in particular.

"Oh nonsense, Oto-san," said Minako. "She is just waiting for a man who reminds her of her wonderful big brother Rafu, and she hasn't found him yet." She reached over and tweaked her husband's cheek, and he grinned.

"No," Miyuki disagreed. "She's waiting for a man who is just like her terrific brother, Yukio!" She leaned over and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Actually," said Rinko, "I am waiting for someone." She regretted these words the moment she said them, for instantly her whole family, including Kohaku, were looking hopefully at her.

"Who is he?" Her sisters-in-law asked breathlessly.

"Never mind," Rinko replied hastily, "I just said that so you leave me alone. There isn't anyone I'm waiting for."

Later, though, as she tried to fall asleep, she thought of him. Maybe it was foolish of her to pin all her hopes on him… a man who was not a man at all…

The night her mother died…. She hadn't been able to able to sleep, and so she had gone for a walk. And on that summer night …

… She heard an anguished howling… not that of a wolf, but somehow canine and human at the same time. It was like nothing she ever had ever heard before. It chilled her to the bone, and yet she instinctively knew that the being making it meant her no harm. It was a sad but resigned sound. It brought tears to her eyes.

Shivering in spite of the pleasantness of the air, she started to head back to Rafu's house. If the howling had woken him, he might find her gone and worry. But then Rinko heard the crunching of sticks and leaves. Someone was coming. She would have hidden, but she didn't have time.

A tall figure came out of the bushes to her left, walking slowly and unsteadily, as if he were drunk. When he stepped into the moonlight, she gasped. He was all silver and white, and he glowed. He turned his head towards her sharply, startled by the sound, and she clapped her hands over her mouth, too late. A moonbeam crossed his face and she gasped again, taking a step backward. She was not sure whether it was his beauty, or the purple markings on his face that startled her more.

"Demon," she whispered. She tensed, readying herself to scream.

He moved impossibly fast to her side, covering her mouth with his hand, leaving her no time to be afraid. "Please," he said in a hoarse, deep voice. "Do not fear me.'

Somehow, someway, she realized that this impossibly handsome demon was the source of the pitiable howling. She did not struggle under his hand.

When he saw that she did not mean to scream, he dropped his hand and stepped back from her. His silver hair fell over his face as he bowed his head in an exhausted gesture.

"Who are you?" Rinko asked in the silence, fascinated by his strange and beautiful features. She felt a strange urge to touch the pointed tips of his inhuman ears. "Are you the inu-yokai my brothers talked about?"

He looked over at her. His golden gaze was emotionless and tired.

"It appears we know each other, Rinko." His voice sent chills down her spine.

"So you are inu-sama."

"My name is Sesshomaru."

"That's a rather scary name."

"I am a rather scary person, Rinko."

"I'm not scared of you."

He smirked. "Indeed. You have much in common with your mother, then."

She did not ask questions. She was curious, but she was too busy staring at him to think of anything to ask. He noticed her wide-eyed gaze and his own eyes narrowed.

"Why do you look on this Sesshomaru so?"

A quaint way to speak of himself, she thought. Aloud, she said merely, "I have never seen a demon like you before. I thought all demons were ugly." She blushed.

"And I thought all humans were cowards or fools," he quipped, but softened these words with the ones that followed. "You, however, are neither."

He started to approach her. Her heartbeat picked up. He stood before her, towering over her. He slowly reached out his hand and caressed the side of her face with the tips of his clawed fingers.

His touch was gentle… so gentle that Rinko, who had never expected to be looked at this way by a demon, felt no fear. Not then, nor when he bent to close the considerable distance between their heads and touch his hard lips to her soft ones.

Rinko felt a warm rush of physical attraction race through her. She reached up to cover his hand on her cheek with her own smaller hand. Sesshomaru's kiss deepened… became more insistent…

Suddenly he pulled back, straightening to his full height. She was dizzy and confused at his sudden abandonment.

"Not yet," she heard him muttering darkly to himself. "She is not yet ready." He laughed softly and said in a mocking tone, "Your mate is not yet ready, Sesshomaru!" He laughed again, unsettling her. It would certainly be a misfortune if the beautiful demon who intrigued her so much turned out to be insane.

He turned his cold eyes back on her. "You should go home. This Sesshomaru doesn't trust himself with you any longer tonight."

"Will I see you again?"

"I will be around, Rinko."

"Do you promise, Sesshomaru?" Her eyes flashed, challenging him to trifle with her emotions.

The corners of his perfect mouth lifted slightly. "I promise." He hesitated, and then bent once more and pressed a brief kiss on her forehead, as though sealing the agreement. And then, with a rustle of silk, he was gone.

Maybe it was foolish of him to have expected her to wait, but she had.

Sesshomaru was startled that Rinko didn't forget him in the intervals between his visits. He had been half-afraid that she would take one of the clumsy clods who asked to marry her up his offer. But she had rejected every single one.

He filled her thoughts just as she had filled his in the past four years. They had been years spent fervently restoring his home; making it a suitable place to bring a bride. When he returned to visit Rinko, he had to hide his presence from her family… neither of them thought Kohaku was ready for the shock.

Sesshomaru was, above all, amazed that Rinko was not repelled from him the moment he told her the whole sordid story of his past, and his treatment of her mother. He was startled that she didn't send him packing the moment he explained all the hardships of being romantically involved with a demon, or simply reject him for the cool, taciturn nature that would he knew would never change.

But Rinko forgave him everything, and told him she loved him. It was so much more than he deserved.

All the love that Sesshomaru had cruelly withheld from Rin, he was now waiting to give to her daughter. He had not been capable of realizing his feelings for Rin. He had not been capable of giving her what she deserved. He had not had enough confidence in his own ability to love. But he had loved and suffered enough over the past decades to know what he was capable of giving to those he allowed himself to care for.

And he knew what he needed. He needed someone to love. And he was here, today, on the appointed day of their meeting, to ask her if she could accept that love for the rest of her life.

He stood before Kohaku's house, waiting breathlessly for its occupants to wake up. He certainly wasn't going to go barging in… he didn't want to give Kohaku a heart attack.

He didn't have long to wait before light footsteps pattered to the door, and it was flung open to reveal Rinko. Bathed in early morning light, she had never looked so beautiful or ethereal. Even with Kohaku's distinctive freckles dotting her nose and cheeks, she was every inch her mother's daughter.

She saw him, then, and her eyes widened. "Sesshomaru? You're really here!" Rinko exclaimed, leaping off the threshold and running to him. Her eyes aglow, she enfolded him in an impulsive hug. "It's been a whole month," she whispered against his chest. "I missed you so much."

He struggled for words, then finally decided none were necessary. He touched Rinko's hair.

"Rinko, what's going on?" Kohaku came to the door. At the sight of his daughter with Sesshomaru, he turned pale. "You!" He exclaimed, his tone accusatory. His fists clenched. "What are you doing here?"

Sesshomaru felt incredibly awkward, a feeling he was not accustomed to. "This Sesshomaru realizes this may seem all rather sudden," he said. "There is much for him to explain."

"Well, maybe 'this Sesshomaru' should start explaining then," Kohaku said sharply, his color returning in a rush of angry red.

The old Sesshomaru would have killed a man for speaking to him in that tone, or at least considered it. The new Sesshomaru accepted the fact that he deserved it. He was going to keep his temper today no matter what it cost him in pride.

He looked up, conscious of Rinko's gaze on him. "Kohaku, this Sesshomaru has come to ask your permission to marry your daughter."

Kohaku staggered, his face turning sheet-white again. Rinko looked up at Sesshomaru with shining eyes. "Really? You mean it, Sesshomaru?"

Kohaku stared at him. "You mean to tell me," he said in a deadly voice, "that you really intend to take my daughter as your wife… or … whatever it is that demons call it? That you love her? That you will provide for her and be faithful to her as long as she lives? Have you told her the risks? Have you thought this through at all?" His chest heaved with anger.

"Oto-san," Rinko in a soothing tone. "Please don't get upset. Sesshomaru has told me everything. I accept it. I love him, Oto-san."

"What guarantee do I have that you won't break her heart the way you did her mother's?" Kohaku's words shocked even himself.

Sesshomaru was still. "I suppose my word of honor wouldn't be sufficient," he mused.

"Damn right," Kohaku agreed.

"Please, oto-san," Rinko begged, "don't make this hard on me. Don't you trust my judgment? Haven't I always made good decisions in the past?" She paused to let that sink in, then plunged on. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

Kohaku stared at his daughter, and was suddenly struck by her resemblance to her mother. Her brown eyes pleaded with him expressively. She clutched at Sesshomaru's arm, and, taking her eyes off her father for a moment, looked up into the demon lord's eyes.

Kohaku was at a loss for words. The look that they exchanged spoke volumes louder than any words could have. The expression in Rinko's eyes matched the one Rin had had when she told Kohaku she loved him… for the first time.

Finally, Kohaku spoke. "I tried to keep your mother by force," he said in a shaky voice. "I don't want to make the same mistake with you." He swallowed hard. "Rinko-chan… be happy."

Rinko's eyes brimmed. She ran and flung her arms around her father, and they hugged each other tightly. Then she returned to Sesshomaru's side.

"Kohaku… I thank you," Sesshomaru said in a low voice, looking the man who had once been his rival directly in the eyes. And then, he bowed deeply to Kohaku.

And finally, for the first time, Kohaku trusted him.

Later…

A light breeze ruffled his white hair as he bent his head to pray. The smell of incense floated in the air. As he pressed his hands together, Kohaku smiled. He opened his eyes and looked down the hill to spot where Rinko and Sesshomaru sat, surrounded by his grandchildren, who were pulling the demon lord's hair. The sight made Kohaku chuckle.

"Yes," he said softly, "she's finally happy." He was warmed inside by the sound of Rinko's laughter and the sight of Sesshomaru's small, reluctant smile. "I actually believe this could have a happy ending." He sighed.

"I miss you," he said frankly to someone only he could see. "Especially now. Every time they smile at each other… every time I see Rafu laughing with Minako or Yukio hugging Miyuki… even when Chiyo scolds Ichiro and he comes here to sulk… it makes me miss you even more."

"Yes," he said, "I'm glad Rinko is finally spoken for. Now I don't have to fear for her anymore." He smiled. "I'll see you soon."

He smiled as the warm sun caressed his cheek. "I know, Rin," he whispered, closing his eyes tighter. "I love you too."

Fin

Well... umm... love it or hate it, that's the end. I feel free. I'll definetly have some more stories up soon, maybe in a fandom I've never tried before... in any case, I'm really glad that this one is over. Please tell me what you thought of it!

Love and peace, Ichigo