September 4, 2007

First, I would like to offer my humble apologies for taking so long. You all have been very patient with me and I am very happy with all of you who have stuck with me and asked me consistently if I was going to finish this story. You deserve to know my reasons for putting this on such a long hiatus.

This was my first Sess/Rin fic and at the time I wasn't really putting my heart into my work. I was just going to make a typical fic that took place centuries ago and have the usual things happen like Rin being her happy bubbly self and Sesshoumaru being the cold stoic youkai who has his heart opened up by her, yada, yada, yada, and they live happily ever after. I hadn't had a clear idea for this fic that grabbed me and my desire to write that kind of standard story waned.

However, I had another idea that just grabbed me and wouldn't let go - thus "Thread Bound" was born. I tried to juggle both stories along with a third one for Samurai Deeper Kyo but it just wasn't working. I realized that I'm just not the sort of person who can write a fic without getting into the characters' heads and explaining how they came to be the way they are. Those of you who read my fics know that I heavy on character development. I had more enthusiasm for "Thread Bound" than for this because it was something that I knew I hadn't seen before and I had an opportunity to make a truly unique story, so I ran with it. However, I realized that I can't write two stories with the same characters because the two would start to bleed together and their sense of uniqueness would be lost – I'm single-minded that way.

Once "Thread Bound" was finished, I began working on a re-write for this but it still wasn't what I wanted, so I put it down and thought on it some more. I've read a massive number of Sess/Rin fics and I wanted something that would be kind of new for my fellow fans of this pairing and something that I would enjoy writing. With that in mind, I sat down and brainstormed about why Sesshoumaru might be the way he is and how Rin might act if she were raised among humans instead of youkai. How would she act? What might she think? What if Sesshoumaru is the way he is because of this or that?

Inspiration struck and I've been writing like mad since last Thursday. Hopefully I'm not butchering the characters or anything, that's not my intent. I just want, more than anything, to write a story that we can both enjoy – me as the author and you as the reader. It might be fan fiction, but I take my writing seriously.

Now for something a little better. Here's a brief preview of a scene that's going to crop up sometime down the line (I might write it a little differently when it comes around, though):

She leaned back against him and reveled in the warmth of his chest against his back. She could never get over how much heat he generated.

"You are presumptuous," he murmured, his breath tickling her cheek.

"I know," she replied, "but you knew that all along didn't you?"

"Perhaps…," he said, mild amusement in his voice.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama," she all but breathed his name, so quietly did she speak it.

"Hmm?"

"Can I see your hand?"

She felt him shift and knew that he had propped himself up to regard her for a moment.

"Why?"

"I just want to. Please."

He made a "hmph" sound before reaching around her to place his hand on the bed next to her own.

Tiny fingers began a slow exploration on his digits, tracing the tendons on the back and marveling at the contrast of the red stripes on his wrist and the pale skin beneath. Blunt, human fingers lightly caressed their way up the gently ghost over the tips of his claws before making their way down again. Working her way beneath his hand, she nestled her small fingers within the valleys between his own and folded them down so that she was clasping his hand. She paused, wondering what he would do and felt a flush come to her face as he slowly folded his fingers down so that his hand was clasping hers.

Without really knowing why, she brought their joined hands to her face, making sure to rub the back of his briefly across her cheek before she tilted her head and placed a soft kiss on his hand.