A/N: Oh yeah, I know I am evil. Yessss! It feels so deliciously good! Hehe. But now your torture is over, here is the conclusion to last chapter's cliffhanger. I promised you it would come soon, I had it ready and waiting in the wings. A thought for all of you!!

I have been considering my next projects after Runaway and I Miss You are completed. I do need to consider Mad Season (which functions as a oneshot right now) and definitely Women In Black, but I like dabbling with the universe I've created in Hanyou, With Our Arms Wide Open, and now Runaway. I'd like to keep expanding it and this was my first rough idea:

(Title may change) Innocence: After the fall of Naraku, Miroku and Sango's beloved--and perverted--daughter Kasai has become a demon slayer with her older brothers. Koinu, Inuyasha and Kagome's son, is smitten with Kasai, but she just can't--or won't--see it. When Kasai is kidnapped to be sold into prostitution, it falls to Koinu to rescue her--and prove himself along the way.

So what do you think? Drop me a line if you like, or even if you don't and have better suggestions. I am always listening.

Disclaimer: nope, don't own Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, but Koinu, Akisame, Kohimu, Tisoki, Kasai, Masuyo, Tsukiyume, and Ginrei are all mine.

Last chapter: The fox spoke to Tsukiyume, and Tsuki hatched a quasi-plan to save her brother and return Rin to Sesshomaru. Daken, Sesshomaru's messenger and spy, returned with word that Rin and Tsukiyume had beaten the hell out of some bandits earlier, en route to the coast. This tipped Sess off—the only place he knew she might be able to be safe was at Inuyasha's home, near the coast. Tsukiyume told Rin that Ginrei is pregnant. Rin wants to go and "meet" Ginrei. She gave blades to Inuyasha and Miroku and Sango for their protection of her during her time there. Miroku and Sango left with Rin, so did Shippo. After they left, Inuyasha found he had an intruder in the house a few hours later, Sesshomaru. Sess now holds Koinu ready to kill him unless Inuyasha talks.
The Promise

"Get your fucking hands off him!" Inuyasha repeated, tensing as if about to step forward to wrestle Koinu out of his older brother's grip. Sesshomaru had only one hand, how could he stand a chance? But forcing Sesshomaru to give Koinu up could hurt the boy. Inuyasha kept himself in check—barely.

"Dah-dah!" Akisame screeched. The toddler rushed on her unsteady but strong legs, moving with all four limbs as if she were a dog. She skirted around the futon and launched herself at Inuyasha's legs. The hanyou noted that Sesshomaru tracked the tiny child's progress carefully as well. At first Inuyasha was certain he was considering harming Akisame as well, but then he caught the flicker of a muscle in Sesshomaru's jaw.

In the heat of the moment, Inuyasha could never know that his older brother was seeing Inuyasha's black-haired, golden-eyed daughter and wondering if his daughter with Rin would look the same. In fact, when he'd entered the room to snatch up the children, he'd intended to take Akisame because she was smaller and weaker, easier to hold with his single arm. But when he'd see his niece, unexpected emotions overtook him. Tenderness, regret, melancholy…and then Koinu had woken and screamed and Sesshomaru had instinctually taken the boy, leaving Akisame.

"Get behind me, Aki." Inuyasha ordered her through gritted teeth. She obeyed, but she was babbling and sobbing Koinu's name repeatedly.

Koinu's small claws were digging fiercely into Sesshomaru's forearm, into the meaty part of his palm. The boy was also squirming and moving his mouth, trying to bite Sesshomaru's hand. Sesshomaru shifted the boy, squishing his little back into the spikes of his body armor along his shoulder. Koinu squealed behind his hand. His tiny ears quivered.

Inuyasha made a sound in his throat, a cross between a hiss—as if Koinu's pain had been his own—and a snarl. "Damn you Sesshomaru! Koinu has nothing to do with your stupid bitch! It's me you want, dammit!"

"Where is she?" Sesshomaru growled, deeply. His eyes were still golden on the outsides, but inside they were burning red.

"She left a while ago!" his ears flattened, his fists clenched up. Akisame was screaming behind him, actually using full words and sentences, and Koinu was crying in Sesshomaru's grasp, and Kagome was missing. All of it weighed on Inuyasha, half-overwhelming him. It was no wonder that their father had had only one pup and one mate at a time. "Put Koinu down, you fucker!"

"Let go Kooo-nu…!" Akisame was howling.

Sesshomaru blinked, scrunching up his face. His niece's wails were affecting him as well. He had been into the room where Rin had stayed; he'd scented her time there, her changing scent over months. He knew she was still pregnant and still healthy. Soon there would be a daughter like Akisame in his world, and the knowledge alone—and also the fact that he was not inclined to kill helpless youngsters—had filled his system with a paternal, protective drive.

This room stank of sweat and tears—but also of the family's shared blood. Inutaisho's line continued in Inuyasha's offspring. These were his kin. He couldn't escape it. Even Koinu's tears made his skin bristle and crawl. It was impossible to kill any of one of them.

Inuyasha was breathing thickly; his eyes were wide and round with desperation and panic. He licked his lips and blurted everything he knew regarding Rin's whereabouts. "She's on the road going to the Middle Lands! Tsukiyume is with her—dammit—put him down, you bastard!" he edged forward two steps, his arms made partial reaching motions, as if he would reach out for his son.

Koinu whimpered and let go of his uncle's wrist to reach for his father. His little blue eyes squeezed out more frantic tears. Blood trickled Sesshomaru's wrist where Koinu's small but tough claws had pierced the skin.

Sesshomaru hesitated a moment, then moved his hand, releasing the boy's mouth and gripping him more by the shoulders instead. He brought the boy out a little and narrowed his eyes at his brother's son, almost curiously. The boy had inherited almost everything as far as his father's appearance, but while Inuyasha at a similar age would've fought and cursed, this boy glared back with an almost hurt expression in his blue eyes.

And then, abruptly, the boy's mouth worked and he made a sound like a cough—and a wad of bloodied spittle hurtled onto Sesshomaru's chin. As Sesshomaru recoiled instinctually, loosening his grip on the boy, Koinu grabbed at his uncle's armor and seamlessly lowered himself to the ground in the blink of an eye. Inuyasha was fast to move in and snatch his son from the floor hurriedly and into a crushing embrace. The boy clung to his father, crying soundlessly. Akisame reached for her brother from the floor, calling his name concernedly.

Having wiped away the spit, Sesshomaru faced his weaponless brother and his two young, vulnerable offspring one last time. A distant part of him might've desired to make some sort of apology, or to thank Inuyasha for taking care of Rin and for telling him where she was. A part of him might've felt, for the first time, a small twinge of regret for their violent, unfriendly history with one another. As a father, Inuyasha had a lot to share with him…

But they were beyond that. Now the only thing they shared was their father's blood and his genes. And Inuyasha was too young even to remember their father—if he had been able to remember, he would've been unnerved by Sesshomaru's armor and the way he had tied his hair back.

Inuyasha spoke then, growling, "Where's Kagome, you fucker!"

Sesshomaru was unmoved and unworried. "You mean your mate?"

"Where is she!"

How strange, Sesshomaru thought, they mirrored one another's questions now. "I have done nothing to your mate, little brother. Step aside."

Inuyasha growled fiercely, but as his brother took a step forward, the hanyou gave way, stepping over his daughter and kneeling to scoop her up with his other free arm. It left him absolutely defenseless to Sesshomaru, if he had attacked, but it was clear just where Inuyasha's concerns lied, and they weren't for himself. He moved into the hallway and out of Sesshomaru's way stiffly.

"If you're lying, Sesshomaru…" he muttered, "I'll kill you myself."

Sesshomaru didn't stop walking and didn't turn to look back. "The same goes for you, little brother."

He disappeared outside the front door and Inuyasha collapsed onto the floor exhaustedly, giving in at last to the shaking of his muscles, the pull of his adrenaline. In the days before he'd taken Kagome as a mate and wife, he'd never imagined there could be anything worse than Naraku, anything worse than having lost Kikyo, or worse than having Kagome or his friends nearly die. Yet, with the births of his son and daughter, he'd found the worst possible loss—that of a child.

Akisame and Koinu still clung to him, crying and sobbing, but their cries didn't bother Inuyasha any longer, in fact they were a comfort. Those were ordinary sounds. His children were alive…

He cradled them to his chest until they'd both fallen asleep in that position, and he was still awake, watching over them when footsteps came at the front door again. A light, gentle female tread that Inuyasha recognized from the moment he heard it. Kagome entered the house, pausing worriedly when she saw that the front door was wide open, and then she stopped dead when she spotted Inuyasha with their babies cradled and sleeping in his arms.

His expression was dark, angry.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered, stepping forward and kneeling at his side. She saw the bruises on Koinu's face, the blood on his lips and from his nose and gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "What's happened?"

"I fuckin' told you. I fuckin' told you so many times, Kagome…"

She stared at him, wide-eyed and shocked. "Inuyasha…?"

"That bitch Rin." He snarled bitterly. "You wanted her here even though I told you it was fucking stupid. And now that she finally left—guess who walks right through that same damned door you just did."

She already knew, and couldn't say it aloud, but her lips moved, forming the syllables.

"So fucking stupid…" he repeated, wrenching his eyes closed. His clawed hands moved tenderly over Koinu and Akisame, stroking the hair on their sleeping heads.

Tears clouded Kagome's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha. I…" her shoulders began to shake and she reached out tentatively toward their son, trying to see the wounds on his face. Her hands shook. "Are they okay?"

"They'll be fine." He growled, and pinned her firmly with his angry gaze. "But maybe next time you'll listen when I tell you something is fucking stupid. Because next time…" his throat closed, cutting off his words. He couldn't say it aloud, couldn't say that maybe next time it would cost them a child's life, maybe both, or maybe they would lose each other. There was a lot at stake.

When he turned his face away from her, Kagome saw clearly the glitter of unshed tears in the hardened, stolid hanyou's eyes.

"Oh, Inuyasha." Kagome at last gave into her sobs as well and through her arms around his shoulders, pressing him and their children to her in one motion. "I'm so sorry…"

The village that Miroku and Sango choose for the night was very close to Kaede's village, a sort of sibling village, they were only a short ways downriver. In a distant future these villages would grow together and become the city of Tokyo someday. The inn that tried to house them used two rooms to do it. One for Miroku and the boys, the other for Sango, Kasai, Tsukiyume, Rin, and the baby Masuyo. Because the women got the slightly larger room, they ate there, together.

The room was loud and rambunctious as the meal was served. On the road Kohimu, Kasai, Shippo, and Tisoki had been well behaved and proper, now they gave in and acted like children again.

"You know, Kasai likes Koinu." Kohimu announced to the table while gloating at his younger sister proudly.

"I do not!" the girl screeched back at him, frowning.

"Kohimu's right. You spend a lot of time touching his ears. Uncle Inuyasha thinks it isn't very nice because Aunt Kagome is always doing it to him. And you know she doesn't just touch his ears." Tisoki grinned mischievously.

"Of course I touch his ears!" Kasai shouted irritably, "He has really soft ears!"

"See what I mean?" Tisoki asked, looking from his older brother to Shippo knowingly.

Miroku had taken note of his sons' conversation and sighed, rolling his eyes. "Tisoki—stop teasing your sister."

"But she just said it's true! And Kohimu started it!"

"Yeah," Kohimu put in smirking, "But you're the pervert, so you get in trouble."

Tisoki wasn't ready to give up yet. Frantically, he pointed toward Shippo. "Why don't you like pulling on Shippo's tail, Kasai? Why is it always Koinu that you touch?"

Shippo scowled. "Hey—no one touches my tail."

"I bet there are little village girls and stuff that do." Tisoki gloated, snickering as if he were very clever indeed.

The kit was unimpressed. "You know—you're just like Miroku used to be, but dumber."

This made the children break out laughing and Tisoki's face reddened at once. "I am not!"

Miroku worked very hard to pretend that he hadn't heard them. At his side Sango was mashing food up for Masuyo and feeding it to him carefully. As Masuyo took in some food and swallowed it, she grinned down at him and tickled his stomach. "What a good little boy you are!"

Masuyo gurgled and smiled back at her—then hiccupped and spit up part of his previous mouthful.

"Let's not have anymore boys, Sango." Miroku sighed, leaning to whisper into her ear.

"Boys are fine." She answered, still grinning as she used her fingers to clean up Masuyo's messy face and chest. "Just no more perverts."

Though they hadn't noticed it, Rin was watching Sango and Masuyo carefully. Rin had never seen how to care for a baby, her own mother had never taught her. Sango's feeding was educating Rin though the demon slayer would have no idea. Rin could feel her daughter moving inside of her, kicking strongly. Her belly had grown larger than ever before in her life, and now she felt the baby moving on a very regular basis.

Beside her Tsukiyume picked over her food slowly, and with unusual silence. She made simple answers to everyone, even to Shippo when he tried to engage her in conversation.

The maids came to take their trays away. When one knelt beside Tisoki the boy reached out and caught her hand before she could take his tray. "Miss, you're really pretty." He grinned stupidly at her and continued holding her hand.

The woman blushed and then glanced toward Miroku and Sango uncertainly. "Thank you…"

"Will you kiss me?"

"I'll take your food away, how about that?" she tried very hard not to laugh.

Tisoki's shoulders sagged. "I guess that's good." He let go of her hand and watched her walk away as if he were still hungry.

Kohimu was laughing, "Tisoki—you're nothing but a little kid! You could be her son!"

"You're just jealous!" Tisoki harrumphed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting suspiciously like Inuyasha.

"Why would I be jealous of you? I'm the one with the talent and the looks. You're like my perverted sidekick." Kohimu beamed arrogantly, looking down his nose at his younger brother. "Besides, I'm older than you anyway. Older brothers always kick ass."

Tisoki frowned and turned toward their parents. "Mom! Kohimu said ass."

Sango ignored them, letting Miroku deal with it instead. "Kohimu, you know you're not supposed to say that."

"Uncle Inuyasha says it." Kohimu grumbled.

"Uncle Inuyasha's cooler than you." Kasai added, giggling.

Kohimu lunged for her angrily. "No one asked you!"

Now at last Sango looked up, setting aside the chopsticks and the bowl of mashed food she'd been feeding Masuyo. "Kohimu," she called, stopping her son in mid-motion, "If I hear you saying bad words again, and if you try to hurt your sister like that—I'm going to make you change and wash Masuyo's diapers. Do you understand me?"

Kohimu settled back into his spot at the table and lowered his eyes defeatedly. "Yes, Mother."

Sango turned her attention on Tisoki who was snickering victoriously. "You, young man—how many times have I told you not to emulate your father?"

Tisoki blinked at her. "What?"

Miroku answered him, throwing Sango a small, pained look as he did so. "Your mother means stop talking to women that way—and never touch them."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Tisoki complained, "I just told her the truth! And what's wrong with touching her hand?"

"Not her hands, son." Miroku elaborated, leaning forward, "Other places, like her—"

Sango elbowed him in the chest, cutting him off. "Her hands are fine, Tisoki."

Outside, in the courtyard, a woman cried out. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Rin lifted their heads, taking swift notice of the sound. "Should we investigate?" Miroku asked.

"It's probably nothing." Shippo started, only to stop as another scream came to them, shouts of alarm from outside.

Wind rattled the screens, shaking them loudly. Tsukiyume flattened her ears; her heart took off with fear as she thought she caught something in the breeze, a scent. Sesshomaru…

But she wasn't imagining it, Shippo's face blanched as well and he looked directly at Tsukiyume and Rin. "I think Sesshomaru's found you."

Rin had frozen, stiff as a board. Her heart and her daughter moved inside of her, but Rin felt as if she had been removed, hollowed out, left with nothing but fear burning madly at the edges of her mind. She closed her eyes, fighting sudden tears. A voice escaped her lips that she couldn't recognize as her own. "Please…don't let him take me…"

Miroku and Sango had changed gears, moving for their weapons in one corner of the room. Kohimu and Tisoki had quieted and moved to do the same. Shippo rose from his seat and moved toward the screen door. He didn't open it, but instead knelt, closed his eyes, and vanished.

"Kasai, watch Masuyo." Sango ordered sternly. Kasai nodded wordlessly and moved to pick up her infant brother.

Miroku took up his staff and then left Sango as she readied Kohimu and Tisoki for a potential fight. He crossed the room discreetly and knelt beside Tsukiyume and Rin. "Please, I must ask you ladies to leave us. Sesshomaru has no need with us, he's after you."

Rin's eyes were wide with terror. She shook her head helplessly, like a frightened child being told that her parents were going to give her away or sell her. "Please…"

Miroku pursed his lips, his jaw clenched down firmly. "I am very sorry. My wife and I cannot stand between you and Sesshomaru. You must understand…" he looked back at his sons donning their gear: Tisoki with the sickle that had been Kohaku's chosen tool once upon a time, and Kohimu with the bow and arrow. Kasai was huddled with Masuyo, smiling and making faces at her little brother to keep him from worrying.

Rin's shoulders shook, but she nodded. "I understand…" she swallowed nervously and rose slowly to her feet. Tsukiyume did the same, acting as a crutch for Rin.

More screams erupted from outside, now the voices had an audible word that they were repeating, "Demon! Demon!"

Hearing it, Rin felt dizzy, weak. She pulled away from Tsukiyume and grabbed Miroku's arm instead. "Please, my sword. Please…"

The monk raised his eyebrows at her incredulously. "You intend to kill Sesshomaru, Lady Rin?"

Rin closed her eyes and shook her head, but in truth she was lost, the word was a haze, a fog. She was unable to walk through it, unable to see beyond it. Fear twisted her world. The power and weight of the sword in her palm would steady her, give her clarity. At least that was what she told herself.

The baby inside her seemed to be doing cartwheels, moving and swimming frantically, as if trying to communicate with her, or sharing in her mood somehow.

Miroku nodded and moved away from her, back to the corner with their things. He dug through the bags, searching for Rin's blades. There were still several inside the saddlebags, but there was one—Hikitsuru—that he recognized. He picked it up and crossed the room to her again, holding it out to her. As it entered Rin's hands the weight was too much, it slipped out of her fingers and clattered onto the floor. She whimpered pathetically with despair.

A loud, crackling sound came from right outside their room. Through the screened windows, as they turned to look, they saw a neon green glow rising. It whirled in a long, glowing line. A whip.

Rin collapsed onto the floor, quivering like jelly. She fumbled for the sword. "He'll kill me…"

Tsukiyume hovered next to her, gripping her arm. "He won't kill you, Rin. He won't. You have to stop him—only you can do it! Please…he'll kill everyone else until he finds you, until you go with him!" the hanyou girl started to cry, then to outright sob. Rin stared at the other girl confusedly, as if she'd never seen her before. "You have to make him spare shishi-sama!"

Rin's hands closed over Hikitsuru. "Shishi-sama…" the baby fluttered inside her belly, as if calling out to its father. Rin felt her face burning. Everything I am…it's impossible to get away from him. Impossible. Even when I was a little girl, Death itself couldn't keep him away…

And she knew it was true, suddenly, deception or not, with his wicked power or even the threat of bloodlust or madness, Sesshomaru and she were bound together. The child kicked in her womb, eager to meet her father.

Someone screamed outside, nearby, in the courtyard. Sesshomaru had tracked Rin to this inn, but amidst so many humans finding her was like picking a single ant from the ant nest. Wood splintered somewhere as Sesshomaru burst into a room, using his whip. A woman screamed wildly in fear.

"We can't let this go on anymore." Miroku announced, gritting his teeth. Sango moved with him and together they slid open the screen door and rushed out as one into the courtyard. Rin stared out through the doorway and saw the flash of neon green, her mate at war, in bloodlust.

"Tsukiyume, you're free." She told the hanyou girl, "Go back to your brother. Thank him for me, apologize too." Rin shuddered, closing her eyes, and pushed herself upright at last.

Kohimu and Tisoki were just outside the door now, staring at the source of the disturbance with huge, terrified eyes. Partly their shock stemmed from this demon's appearance—they were accustomed to dealing with insect youkai and petty human criminals. This was a greater youkai, and undeniably he looked like Inuyasha. Another aspect of their awe was that their parents had willingly chosen to engage the demon, dragging his attention away from searching the rooms of the inn for Rin.
Sesshomaru regarded the mortals that had come to threaten him and—to his surprise—found them mildly familiar. At some point he'd run across them. The man was dressed in the robes of a monk; the woman was in the tight fitting suit of a demon slayer, complete with armor. They were swift-footed, in good shape for humans.

The woman hauled a large curved bone and let it fly at him. Again Sesshomaru found that this attack struck a memory. As it wheeled toward him, he sidestepped, faster than the mortals would be able to see, and allowed the bone to fly beyond him. But it was a boomerang; it would return and try to cut him down on its way back. Sesshomaru listened to the thing cut its way through the air, and as it neared, he turned and snatched the weapon out of the air with his single hand. He let it drop to the ground.

The monk had slipped one hand out of his robes and dropped to one knee. He held a bow, large and powerful, and over one shoulder was a quiver full of large, intimidating arrows. This was a men's bow, made for bringing down large, powerful animals, perhaps even horses in battle. The monk took aim and fired.

His aim was good, if the arrow had hit, it would've been in Sesshomaru's neck. But, as he had with the woman's bone boomerang, Sesshomaru stepped aside, letting the arrow whiz past him. As the monk reached over his shoulder for another arrow, Sesshomaru lunged forward, crossing the thirty or so feet between himself and these puny humans in a fraction of a second.

Sesshomaru pushed the woman backwards as she drew a sword, knocking her roughly to the ground. The monk forced down and then snatched the bow away from him, tossing it carelessly aside. The monk also carried a staff. He reached for it as he fell, pulling it up and bringing it to keep Sesshomaru at a distance.

Sesshomaru leapt backward deftly, a multicolored blur. Rin's scent was near, so close. Was she hiding?

He spotted two boys, dressed like the woman in the regalia of a demon slayer. One held a sickle, the other a smaller, slimmer bow. Were they keeping Rin inside that room?

Confidently, Sesshomaru took a step forward, his feet crushing the rich mossy grass of the courtyard, and then paused, hearing the whirring of a flying projectile. He whirled away, ducking, and stuck out his hand, snatching the weapon out of the air again. This time it was a small throwing knife, a dagger. Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder and saw that the woman was back on her feet, a fierce, determined snarl set over her features.

Sesshomaru dropped the knife to the ground and lowered his arm, letting his energies flow and twist and change. The green glow of the whip started to extende out from his fingers.

"Hey!" one of the boys shouted, and when Sesshomaru turned to look back, the boy with the sickle had let it fly.

Without thinking, Sesshomaru moved away from the weapon, just as the second boy with the bow let an arrow loose. The double-attack was a microsecond too quick for Sesshomaru to evade. The small arrow glanced the armor on Sesshomaru's stomach and bounced off harmlessly.

Wasting my time. Sesshomaru thought angrily. He turned from the boys and saw that both the woman and the monk had recovered their weapons—without moving from their spots. How they'd managed that became apparent when Sesshomaru felt a puff of air near his legs, and sensed a kitsune aura…

He struck like a snake, lunging, and caught the ankle of the kitsune—only a boy. The child cried out, alarmed, and then vanished, leaving only dust inside Sesshomaru's hand.

Frustrated, Sesshomaru growled low, deep in his chest, and began moving swiftly toward the two demon slayer boys again. The monk and the woman cried out. The boomerang took off again, but Sesshomaru tracked it by ear, and as it came toward him, he let his own weapon fly, snapping the whip at the flying bone. It splintered; breaking into several pieces, and fell harmlessly onto the grass.

Another of the heavier men's arrows whizzed through the air. Sesshomaru continued on his path but at a faster pace, evading the arrow.

The woman shouted to the boys. "Run! Kohimu, Tisoki, Kasai!" her voice was shrill and panicked. She was their mother, Sesshomaru realized dimly.

The boys should've run from him, but instead they retreated from him into the room. Sesshomaru moved swiftly after them. Rin's scent rose higher and higher. Yes, it was this room…

Tsukiyume had retreated, leaving Rin on one side of the room, and she'd picked up Masuyo and taken the little girl Kasai by the hand. She hid crouched in one corner with them, trying to protect them.

Kohimu and Tisoki rushed through, panting, their faces white with fear. "Holy shit that guy's fast!" Kohimu was shouting.

"Who is he?" Tisoki demanded, seemingly of the air.

Rin was on her feet now. "He's Sesshomaru." She answered quietly, crossing the room to be directly before the door. Her shoulders were shaking. "Tsukiyume, take the boys."

Tsukiyume called out to them, "Kohimu, Tisoki, come here, don't move…"

The boys moved over beside her and their younger brother and sister, kneeling and catching their breath quietly. A green glow approached the door; they trailed it with their eyes through the other screens of the wall.

Sesshomaru was within five feet of the doorway when Rin appeared within it, her body shaking, her eyes lowered, and Hikitsuru, the most powerful of the blades he'd had forged for her, clasped in both of her hands. He halted, both with amazement and with caution. Rin's form had changed completely from the last time he'd seen her. She had hardened; he could see it even through her physical shaking. Her abdomen had swelled with pregnancy; even through her abundant robes he could see that.

From inside the room Sesshomaru could hear and scent youngsters—a human baby, a girl, the demon slayer boys and Tsukiyume. Behind him the kitsune, the monk, and the demon slayer woman had paused, watching the interaction, waiting. They were involved with Rin then, they understood that he had come for her…

"Rin." He addressed her and then swallowed gently, trying to cover the deep, scratchy tone that had emerged. "Come with me."

Her knees were shaking, and slowly, she lowered herself into a sitting position. "No." she whispered.

Sesshomaru's jaw squared tightly. She was not a child any longer. Holding her with one arm would be very hard, especially when she was heavily pregnant as she was. Physically it would be difficult to force her to come, but accepting her answer was simply impossible. As if he hadn't heard her, he repeated himself. "Rin, come with me."

Rin lifted Hikitsuru and unsheathed it, holding it carefully in her lap. "I'll come with you," she murmured shakily, "If you promise me that you won't kill anyone here and—" she stammered, "Inuyasha. No one from his family. And Shimofuri…"

Anger made Sesshomaru's face warm up, made his fingers, and the long neon green whip extending from them, twitch. "Shimofuri must pay."

Rin closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath. "No!" her hands shook as she fumbled with Hikitsuru in her lap. She held it vertical now, resting the tip on her chin. The blade was powerful; one break of the skin and it could kill her.

Sesshomaru moved to step forward, his face creasing openly now with rage and—fear. "Rin." His voice was croaking to his shame.

"Promise me that all of them will be safe from you." Rin had closed her eyes; her hands were poised over the blade. Her heart was pounding in her ears, sweat beaded between her breasts. The child danced on her bladder.

"Lower the blade and it will be done." He told her, half-growling.

Rin lifted her chin and moved the sword away. She blinked and a few tears flew away from her eyes, she let them come. "Promise me."

Sesshomaru was stiff. "I promise."

Uncertainly, Rin sheathed Hikitsuru and pushed herself clear of the floor. Without turning to look at her, she called to the hanyou girl, "Tsukiyume, the things in my saddlebags are yours. Do with them as you like."

Inside the room with the children, Tsukiyume closed her eyes tightly, fighting a sudden surge of tears. "Thank you, Lady Rin." This ending was both tragic and a bit of a blessing. Now Shimofuri was safe but Tsukiyume had had nothing really to do with it. She wouldn't need to manipulate Rin any further, or turn her over to Sesshomaru. She watched as Rin stepped shakily away from the little room and disappeared into the courtyard.

The end for now...more later of course... :-) Drop me a line if you like the idea of Innocencethat I mentioned above. Thank you!