A/N:

The timeline of this story is pretty messed up... anyway... Rin was around 16 in human years when she came to Kaname... Please be considerate, vampires' lives are measured differently. So I guess Rin would be around 26, but younger in vampire years... sorry about that.. hehe

Kain shut the door, eyes quickly focusing and finding Rin's sobbing form in the dark. He stood with his back against the door, unsure of what to do. His heart pounded in his ears, while beads of sweat formed on his brow. This is completely what I did not expect, he thought, the feeling of being insecure mounting inside him.

He had to sit down, after standing quite a while. He walked across the room and sat on her four-poster bed, watching her sob from across a gap of carpeted floor boards. Her slim legs were stretched in front of her, one arm hugging herself around the waist while the other entangled its fingers in the hair which hid her face from him.

The presence of the silence hiding menacingly beneath every soft sob was too much to bear. So he asked the only question he could think of, the one with many answers.

"Why?"

He was answered by more sobs, but like the creaking of a door slowly opened, she spoke. Her words consumed him.

20 years ago

Six-year-old Rin ran through the maze of stationed Gypsy caravans, easily finding the one which belonged to her family.

Their caravan was old, but still in good shape, having been passed down through generations of Kage sorceresses, or as the Gypsies called them,ababina. The Kages were of a strong bloodline, all the members women who married men from other families. All the children ever born with Kage blood were girls.

As Rin climbed the steps to the caravan door, bucket full of water drawn from the trough, she heard voices inside. This was normal, except that the voices were raised and angry. The curtains just barely muffled the angry yells coming from inside, the sound of breaking china becoming an accent to the noise. Rin stopped, her young eyes flickering back and forth as she hesitated.

"Mama!" she cried, suddenly flinging herself at the door as she heard her mother scream. She tore the door open, throwing herself in, watching in shock as the bucket flew in with her, the water spilling and soaking her skirts. She looked up from her kneeling position on the floor, eyes wide with fright as she met the glare of eyes with different colors. A tall, handsome man held her mother by her upperarm, his grip causing Rin's mother to wince in pain, eyes flashing with indignation and something Rin had never seen in her mother's eyes: Fear.

"So, Tade, this is the result of your breaking with tradition?" he asked, brows rising as he regarded Rin.

"Tradition had nothing to do with me and Kuro."

"On the contrary, Tade. You broke tradition and married him instead of me."

Rin's eyes watched their every move, ears ringing with words too grown-up to understand.

Rido caught her stare, and held it tightly, chuckling softly to himself.

"Look, Tade. Your daughter doesn't understand."

"There's nothing to understand, Rido!" Tade turned to face Rin, her face marked with sympathy. "Rin, run to Kasha's caravan, quickly, and tell her you are to stay there for the night." Seeing her daughter's reluctance to leave, Tade looked into her daughter's ice eyes, pleading with her to go. "Please, Rin…"

Rin turned, about to do as Tade said, before a flash of pain starting from her scalp jerked her back.

Rido had her by her hair. Still holding Rin by the hair, Rido slowly turned to face Tade, who was cradling her stinging cheek.

"Please, Rido, let her go."

"You know I can't Tade. You owe me at least this much, after the heart-rendering pain you caused me."

"NO!"

Rin quaked in fright as she saw Rido bend down, fangs exposed. And suddenly, everything was pain, as he bit down, her fiery blood spilling into his mouth. Everything was pain, the whole world veiled behind a red haze which filled Rin's eyes. There was screaming in her ears, and she realized the screaming was in her throat, too, wrenched from her vocal chords by the excrutiating pain caused by Rido's fangs. She fell to the floor, and when her eyes finally cleared the first thing she saw was her mother, who was also on the floor, blood spilling from the crack between her lips. Mother and daughter shared their last moment together, with Rido standing above them.

"Rin…"

"Mama… It hurts…"

Rido bent down curling his long fingers around Tade's neck. Slowly, he started to squeeze. Tade's brows furrowed as her whole body spasmed, but she never drew her gaze from Rin's.

"Mama… No…"

Tade coughed, more blood trickling from her mouth as she was prevented from breathing. She tried to speak, her last words so quiet they were barely audible.

"Eyes of ice…"

Rido heard, his vampiric senses picking out the finest detail.

"What did you say?" he said, quickly withdrawing his hand as if he had been scalded. He replaced his hand with his boot against Tade's collarbone, his toes nudging her chin.

"Eyes of ice… Consciousness of steel… The hunger for blood you shall not feel…"

Rido glared down at Tade, incomprehension clouding his brow. He started to step down harder, putting weight on his foot. Tade gasped with pain, but she didn't stop.

"Until… Until… Th-the fire forms… your heart's… s-seal…" Tade's eyes locked into Rin's, the two of them holding each other's gazes as they wished to hold each other with their arms. Rido sneered, incomprehension frustrating his ego.

"Is that all?" He said mockingly allowing his hand to fall on her chest, removing his foot at the same time. His hand slowly sank into her skin, going through her until he was grasping her heart.

Tade looked at him calmly, her expression as smooth as glass.

"You're a fool, Rido."

"And then there was blood and tears. He tore out her heart, Kain. Her heart. But I felt as if the heart were mine, only I lived." Rin lapsed into more sobs, her body shaking with sorrow.

Kain was silent, shocked by what she had told him. He felt embarrassed. The only thing he had done was ask a question. And now he was about to ask the same question. How stupid.

"Why, though?" He asked, the added word only an excuse to tell himself it wasn't exactly the same.

Rin was silent for a while, before speaking again.

"I asked the same question, before."

So she told him the answer.

MWAHAHAHA! I HAVE TRIUMPHED OVER THE FIFTH CHAPTER! MWAHAHAHA!

(sorry about that... my sense of accomplishment is always pretty strong... XD...)