A/N: Hi everyone! I'm updating on time this time! Yey! Hurray for me!

Thanks a lot, again, for all the favs, follows and reviews, they make my heart swell with happiness and give my tired eyes enough strength to read this over and over until it pleases my OCD and I'm capable of considering it might be what you deserve to read… anyway… enough drama.

This is developing slowly but I have no choice, the story is writing itself and I can tell you, it's been a bitch about taking care of certain things before we get into the sticky part (and I don't mean sex) so I can only say… I will give my best to make these chapters interesting and give you enough fluff and cute moments with my beloved Sesshomaru.

Anyway… read ahead, if you like it, review! If you don't like it… review! And if you're not sure… REVIEW!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 4

The road ahead of us

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Sesshomaru felt cold as morning came, his fur was slightly crisp because of the morning dew and early morning cold wind. He moved slightly sliding his paws to the front in a stretching movement that relaxed all the kinks in his body until he felt ready to prompt himself with his back legs and up on all fours. He looked around the clear and tried to figure out what time of the day it was, it seemed early enough for the humans to still be sleeping but he couldn't be sure whether Rin would still be resting or not. The girl had way too much energy for a human her age.

A few days had passed since he came to the village, and he felt rather comfortable with his newly found schedule and pastime. Watching the girl move about was something he had always felt comfortable with, it gave him a sort of peace he couldn't acquire through meditation or anything similar, simply put, just looking at her live her own life gave him a liberation of his own preoccupations that nothing else ever did. Still… life inside the human village wasn't so pleasant for the young human woman; this had been brought to his attention since the first day he entered the place but it became excruciatingly obvious as days passed by.

The humans feared her.

He knew humans feared demons, halfbreeds and other creatures they didn't understand or weren't able to control, and it seemed Rin had fallen on the last group. For what he could tell from fragments of conversations between the dwellers in Inuyasha's forest, Rin had grown studying the arts, nicks and knacks to become a demon slayer, hence her warrior aptitude and preparation. Also, she had received preparation to become a priestess, a job she was currently performing around different towns surrounding the demon slayer's village. She had been gone for 5 years already and this was the first visit she had given the couple who helped raised her since she left. It was obvious she had dreaded coming back and with reason; not only the human woman was insisting on the young girl's marriage and the half breed was insisting on her behaving more like a human but also the villagers knew of the powers she possessed and were not only scared but frightened to the point of plotting against her and diminishing their closeness with Inuyasha's mate. Such a dysfunctional relationship would turn out to be dangerous one day for Inuyasha's cubs, and the older brother was sure Inuyasha knew it very well.

In face of all this Rin only seemed impassive, she had dismissed all allegations and reprimands from both surrogate parents and was insistent on letting the topic drop every time the couple tried to bring it up… along with the matrimony thing. She seemed tired of it and Sesshomaru was surprised she had decided to linger for so long in the village just to visit them, then again, the human girl had always been fond of them and too sweet to leave in just a couple days knowing the older woman missed her so much.

Sweet… yes... since very little she had given trust and love so openly, always acting so… sweet…

An image of Rin's alabaster skin shining under the moonlight appeared unbidden in his mind for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to make him lose his balance as he was moving closer to the other side of the hut, nearby the door. In the end he managed to regain his footing but had to remain plastered against the earth for quite a few minutes to avoid been discovered by the idiotic half breed if he were awake.

Anyway, by the second week she had been ready to leave and the night before she had prepare herself a bag with food and other supplies she could be needing, as well as said her goodbyes to a couple villagers who knew Kaede before and were less aggressive towards her.

His pearly white fur was still covered in droplets and after stretching one more time the demon in wolf's skin shook himself as strongly as he could to rid himself of the annoying wetness that was covering him. It apparently worked since he no longer felt as humid as he had been feeling since he woke up. Then another sound called his attention back to the hut, a door opened on the side of the construction and he moved closer to the bushes nearby to observe what was happening there, voices could be heard coming from the interior.

"I think I'm ready Kagome-sama, there's no need for more… if I carry anything else I won't be able to make it to Sango's in time… I do not wish to face any storm with this amount of baggage."

"I understand… it's just that…" the older woman looked away trying to hide the tears moving dangerously close to the corners of her eyes "I just haven't seen you in so long and… you've changed so much, it's hard to accept watching you go alone… on your own"

Seshomaru looked up to Rin's face and could tell the young woman was just waiting for the speech that was about to come, she didn't want to look ungrateful and he knew the emotions building up inside very well, but it was obvious there was a frown about to mark her forehead. Yet… the voice that for a moment had sounded cracked and watery started to sound a little stronger and with purpose. "Well, now you're so big and grown… I remember well I was even younger than you when I myself started my own travels and adventures" said the older priestess finally.

"Kagome-sama?"

"I know I've been hard on you Rin-chan, pushing against your will a future you clearly do not want and I will pursue this no longer. You are a grown woman Rin and I am proud of how you've come to be" she hugged the smaller woman and smiled through unshed tears as she spoke in a low whisper "I hope you find on your way whatever it is you are looking for"

For a long moment the other didn't know what to answer or how to react, it took a lot of different expressions out of her to finally leave behind the upsetting turn of her lips and the tremble of a pair of glistening tears falling down her face.

"Rin is still the same Rin… Kagome-sama"

"No…. sadly you're not" Kagome interrupted her as she hugged her yet again "He changed you with what he did… whether you accept it or not, you were different when he was around than when he disappeared."

At this the brown haired girl looked down to the ground but held her head high, an interesting combination of reactions of which Sesshomaru could gain very little understanding. Yet, Inuyasha's mate apparently understood Rin much better than he. For a moment this caused discomfort and annoyance but quickly he made up his mind with the knowledge that after all Rin was still… somewhat human and had enough humanly traits for the human priestess to understand her better than any youkai would ever be able to. Although, in his mind he was sure, given time he would always know better than anyone else, after all, there was nothing the girl had ever hidden from his sight.

"Won't you go looking for him?"

The question called his attention back to the couple still standing in front of the door. They seemed about to break apart and so they did, the rest of the community was waking up and Rin's time was about to end. Still, the question hanging in the air didn't make the other girl happy, this caused even more discomfort for the ex-taiyoukai who was having an extremely difficult time understanding not only the change of emotions from the Rin he used to know to the one he was looking… but also his own wretched, mortal heart.

"I have nothing to do with him, for all I know he can live his long and prosperous life away from me"

A pang of pain he felt going through his chest but he ignored it. The young priestess seemed angered this time and Kagome smiled tenderly and calmly as she got closer to her again, this time they didn't hug, she simply whispered softly on her ear.

"Don't listen to Inuyasha on this, listen to me"

"Kagome-sama… please" the other pleaded with barely concealed tears in her eyes.

"I understand child" the other responded and seemingly free from whatever torture she was under Rin smiled and turned around to face the forest slowly illuminated by the rays of the sun.

"I'll come back to visit the first chance I get" she rouse her voice and spoke clearly while she walked.

"In another 5 years?" her surrogate mother answered with laughter, earning a little giggle from the girl who turned around again lifting her hand and waving it in the air.

"Not a chance Kagome-sama, I'll come back after spring with Sango and Miroku for the little one's birthday"

"I'll see you then, take care, sweet child"

While the youngster moved farther and farther away Sesshomaru observed her form move slowly closer to the forest, trying to better shape the puzzle of a woman he had had in his life for so long without realizing it.

Why was it so difficult for him to understand her actions now? He used to know everything that happened and went about the little child so why were things so different now?

Conflicted by these feelings he didn't noticed the woman moving lethargically towards the hut until she opened the door to go in, but he did notice one thing. He's ears perked up when he clearly heard her say in a low raspy voice.

"I can't decide for her anymore… I think I never could… it's on your hands know, I hope you know what you're doing and don't regret the outcome"

Then the door was closed with enough force to close it but softly enough not to awaken those inside. Sesshomaru was left standing there on his four legs, wondering what had all that been about, did the woman know he was there? Did she know it was him trapped in animal form? Kami-sama knew he didn't really understand the spiritual powers the woman possessed but he could also guess they were far beyond his understanding because of its nature, like the power the witch had seemed to possess, something he couldn't understand, nor control; something raw and not only powerful but overwhelmingly so.

It was only seconds after when his thoughts directed him back into the forest, following the trail left by the girl's scent. He was even able to catch her last words as she looked back at the village and more specifically at the human woman's hut and said in a tender voice.

"Take care… mother"

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The sun had been movingly lazily in the sky as they walked through the foliage without stop. He was able to study with attention the movements of the burning circle to learn how to discern the time without looking at the color of the sky. One side effect of his transformation was the loss of his ability to see colors, now that he was color blind he couldn't detect certain things with just his eyes like he used to. For example, all edible things had to be further inspected before ingested since he had to first check with his smell if said things were edible or poisonous. He didn't like this but it was close to the only aspect of his transformation he wasn't so offended by.

Not being able to look at the sun's color and its changes, or the sky and its amazing range of variations in tones and shades, was nothing he couldn't live without. But he discovered soon enough that it did bother him not to be able to look at Rin's natural colors like he used to. Her dark burnt caramel hair or her deep chocolate eyes, or her beautiful sakura like skin. He remembered the tones well but it wasn't the same. Constantly he found himself trying to revise if said colors had changed like her body shape had. It was frustrating and annoying.

Lost again in thought he didn't notice when the girl had stopped to sit down near a loud river. She was washing her hands and face now after which she brought out what looked like a jug to fill with water. Sesshomaru pushed his nose up in the air and saw the sun high up in the sky, shining brightly, burning his eyes a little. It was around noon and he understood it was time for the girl to rest and probably feed. An idea the ex youkai had to agree with.

Walking slowly to a few feet away from where Rin was sitting near the river he considered catching fish for his lunch when a soft laughter like sound surprised him, making him look up and towards the direction where Rin was.

"I knew you were around here, somewhere"

She was smiling happily again and he was, despite his previous history with the girl, surprised to see her interact with a potentially dangerous creature with ease and calm.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you… I mean… well, I hope you don't mean to hurt me" she spoke in a soft manner, like trying to avoid scaring him. This made Sesshomaru smirk.

She's completely right to hope for my mercy since I would still be capable of killing her in seconds. He thought to himself, although he conveniently forgot he had been the one spacing out during their trip and the one helped a few days ago by the same girl he was thinking weak and easy to kill.

"If so… then… would you mind sharing a meal with me?"

Yet she shouldn't be so familiar with wild animals… I really must stay close to take care of her until she's in the safety of that slayer's village.

She got up from her spot and moved closer to the animal but before she could have walked 10 steps she turned to the side and entered the river with a huge splash as she jumped on it. The wolf couldn't have been more disapproving of her actions and for some reason he didn't know, the moment the girl's head got out of the water and looked at him she pouted as if knowing perfectly well what he was thinking. Sesshomaru was now again covered from head to toe in water, it was a good thing his fur was practically impervious to humidity but he could still feel the cold liquid seeping into his inner fur and eventually soaking his skin.

Good then, she should feel ashamed of her actions! He thought extremely annoyed to the point of growling so she won't repeat such a stupid thing again…

The water from her jump had splashed all directions and it was clearly the reason why he was drenched again yet Rin didn't seem repent in any way as she smiled and giggled a little. "I'm so sorry" she said while she waded into a more profound part of the river. "I didn't mean to annoy you… just… I guess it's been a while since the last time I played with anyone… I'm no longer a child, you know?" after a moment she got up on her legs and stood still, looking through the transparent currents of water for the animals she was about to catch. "You do remind me of someone… but I never played games with him, he would have probably killed me that instant if I had tried to pull something like that to him"

Her eyes were glued to the moving liquid in front of her so she missed the look of hurt and anger pass through the wolf's eyes.

"No" she said after a while and now she looked somewhat defeated "he would've never done anything to hurt me…"

It was her look of pain and regret that got him to think on the piece of a memory he had thought of while traveling to meet her. Could it be that it had been him, the one to inflict such pain on her? Her words said otherwise and it didn't look like she had ever suffered something so painful. Not even the marks on her body he had seen while she had been bathing were anywhere near the damage he could have inflicted on such a delicate body if he had meant to harm her. No… it didn't look as if she had been hurt by him at all… except for that expression…

She shook her head to rid herself of her troubling thoughts and tossed a pair of still shaking fish, and then she pulled her body backwards with a huge grin on her face.

"There" he didn't look amused in the least yet inside his feelings were in a turmoil he didn't feel he could qualm at all "got you something". Her gleeful voice was a balm to his nerves and thoughts he was glad to receive but a nagging voice inside him told him he should be wary of his forgotten memories. There was a part there he was too conveniently forgetting, no matter how small, it had crippled his relationship with his ward well enough for her to think of him with despair.

The last vision he had had before he collapse that night in the forest was not a memory he decided, but could very well be a premonition of a dark future about to come to life. His insides burned with certainty and Sesshomaru was even more certain of his resolver than ever. He would travel with the young girl until he saw her to safety at the slayers village and then he would seek the witch again to kill her. Whatever she was plotting against Rin would finish then, he would not let any harm come to her… no one, no one had the right to hurt her…

Not only me…

A thought he didn't like and it was only half considered before he dismissed it completely. He didn't need to tell himself something like that, not at all. He had always been fair and good to the human, always. He couldn't remember even one moment during their many years together when he had acted wrongly towards her, she was his ward after all, his protected and so he had cared for her as he had done to other servants of delicate nature, he had even regarded her with a higher position by giving her attention he had never given to anyone… in his entire life. So no, he would never harm Rin… simply because he had always and would always no better.

She was out of the water now and after looking around for signs of others near the river she hid herself between tall grass and long leaves to take off her wet garments, leaving herself in a sort of hakama looking undergarment. It wasn't proper Sesshomaru thought immediately and for that reason he remained looking at her the entire time… just to make sure she wouldn't be assaulted or anything. She instead, didn't care much for her state of 'almost' nudity and continued her way to place herself comfortably, bag on one side, fish resting over a bunch of leaves to finally bring out of the bag a box looking object from which she pulled with her chopsticks a ball-shaped group of rice. So she had begun eating without saying something…

I thought she knew better manners than that

Oblivious only for a moment, the young woman turned her head towards her animal companion to find him again looking at her disapprovingly (or so Sesshomaru thought she thought) so she smiled apologetically and moved her right hand towards her face while she mouthed the word 'sumimasen'. The wolf in response turned his head to the side, insulted by the girl's lack of poise and education.

She had definitely become a filthy human, he thought immensely insulted by the girl's actions.

"Sorry, sorry…" she cleared her voice from the rice and placed her plate back on the ground beside her raw fish. "All this years on the move… I guess I forgot I was with company now" surprised again by her understanding words Sesshomaru looked back at her to find her with both hands pressed in silent prayer in front of her, slightly below her chin and in front of her chest. Her eyes had been closed but the moment she felt him (again, Sesshy thought she had) she opened one slightly and after looking at him from the corner of her eyes she smiled and said in a hearty voice.

"Ittadakimasu!"

Then resumed eating as this time Sesshomaru chose to bite down on his meal after she gave her thanks, sitting only partially to eat since he still wanted to take care of intruders or anyone trying to break their moment together if such an idiot happened to appear.

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The peculiar couple was on the move again, they had been for quite some time after they finished their meal and Rin had felt rested enough to get walking again. That was one of the changes Sesshomaru realized first, it wasn't that she had more stamina or that she decided to complain less since there was no one around for her to complain to, no; Sesshomaru realized back in the village that her energy wasn't the one that had changed, he could feel it after all, it was the same amount it had always been, so the difference was that somehow, for reasons he didn't know or understand, her energy was now flowing free in her body.

Now that he thought about it, it was perhaps the reason why she could understand animals so well and even be able to read the energy around them or within them. Of course, Sesshomaru still had some of his youkai abilities for control of his own energy so it would still be pretty difficult for her to discover his true identity or to even discover he actually understood everything she said.

Good, so she won't complain anymore for stops and play times.

His thoughts pleased him only on the outside. He really did miss that lovable playful nature Rin used to exude. It was part of that innocent demeanor that had got her into his life at such a tender age. He had simply been unable to look away when she had needed him to help her, to save her, to extend a savior's hand towards the girl who thought herself abandoned by God and the cruel world she no longer lived in.

"You know… you must have lived with humans before"

Rin wasn't looking at him when she spoke, she was looking ahead at the road they were following, focused on the ground, the air, the smell, the sounds… it reminded him of their time together back when she had been nothing but a child.

"I know it"

She was as per usual (nowadays) right, he had been together with her for quite a long time after all.

"It's like, uhmmm… I can recognize when humans tame or educate something…"

What!

A fierce, menacing growl was heard and Sesshomaru noticed it was his own. The girl wasn't really affected as she only smiled apologetically again and then, still walking ahead of him, she brought up her hands like forming a question with her body, both arms at her sides, bent at the elbows, palms up.

"Hey… don't look at me like that, I'm just saying… at some point you must have had a master or owner…"

Another growl was her response and she scrunched her arms and shoulders closer to her body overreacting to his threat. Then, again, after a moment she smiled apologetically and looked back at him with curiosity.

"A companion?"

This time Sesshomaru didn't growl, he only stared at her, thinking over the words she had spoken.

Rin… was this Sesshomaru's companion?

"Alright then… a companion…" she seemed pleased by the idea so she went back to walking lightly ahead of him as she spoke "Well, it's good anyway…"

Could it be… that was what I was missing while we were apart?

"You can stay"

A companion?

Rin had stopped on her tracks but didn't turn to look and instead glued her eyes to the ground, remaining silent for long seconds before she spoke again with a voice that almost appeared to tremble with an emotion he couldn't put his finger on.

"I won't become your owner or master… and you're free to leave whenever you want to… but if you want to accompany someone… if you feel like walking with someone… well… you'll welcome to follow this path along with me"

"Lord Sesshomaru, will you remember this Rin after she dies?"

The eyes of the wolf didn't move from their focus on the slight woman as he walked slowly towards her and stopped right beside her to wait for her next action.

"I'm glad…"

She said and continued to walk together with him in comforting silence.