Chapter Ten

He knew that she must have told of his secret... he just chose not to believe it.

They had been lying on the floor for an hour.

Rin couldn't bring herself to move.

Soon after she had begun comforting him, he shifted, onto his side to look at her curiously. She blushed slightly, but was determined to not be deterred from her actions. Sitting up halfway she pulled herself closer to him, resting one of her arms on his waist lightly.

He simply eyed the appendage, before switching his gaze back to her eyes.

"Let me help you." She whispered, moving closer and hoping that he wouldn't push her away. Hesitantly, she rested her head against his collarbone, resting in the crook of his neck gently. Her arms wrapped around him and she let out a soft sigh, almost imagining that she could feel his flesh tremble slightly. With eyes falling closed, she stilled, wanting to comfort her lord.

This was all she could do for him.

Offer him her . . . her love.

But what did he need?

And tentatively, she felt him shift again, before an arm wrapped around her waist, drawing her ever closer and she could feel his chin resting against the top of her head.

". . . Thank you."

The gesture meant more than he could possibly know.

And she didn't want to move from this position. She felt safe, protected, calm. . .

She felt loved.

But as all moments do, this one had to end as well.

"It would probably be wise of us to get off of the ground now."

She could feel the sound of his voice reverberating (A/N: I'm not sure if I used that word right...) off the top of her head. Once his words registered, she frowned.

"Why? I like the ground."

"Rin."

His tone was authoritative, and she grumbled, rising softly. "I'm getting up, I'm getting up."

Setting her foot on the other side of his leg to steady herself, she sat up completely, facing him. She was straddling one of his legs, and she looked down at their position, blushing lightly.

"Ah, sorry!" She spoke, but made no move to change the situation.

He raised his upper body off of the ground, eyeing her warily.

With him sitting as well, they were much closer than they were both comfortable with.

"Rin. . ." He sighed, raising a hand to his head as if to ward off a headache. Worriedly she wondered whether she had gone to far. She opened her mouth to apologize once more, and was about to move when she heard the next statement that came out of the demon lord's mouth.

"If you continue these careless actions I don't know how much longer I'll be able to control myself."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, a scarlet blush curling across her cheeks. She dropped her gaze, choosing instead to stare at her hands.

"Uh, um . . . I . . . I'm not sure what you . . ."

She cut off in surprise when she looked up and noticed how much closer he was to her.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru . . .?"

Slowly, almost nervously he brought his hand to her cheek, cupping it in his palm gently. Without realizing, she leaned into his touch, her eyes wide with curiosity.

With the same hand, he ran his thumb over her lips, causing them to part slightly. Unconsciously he came closer, his eyes glimmering with an emotion that Rin could not name.

"Rin . . . what do you think of me?"

For the third time in five minutes, another blush dusted her cheeks.

"Ah!" She gasped. "W-why do you ask?"

"Rin . . ."

Her eyes darted away frantically for a moment, and when she looked back the demon lord was even nearer, his eyes daring her to break contact. She was entranced by his expression, the color of the stripes on his cheeks. By his very being.

When his lips were just a hair's breath away he paused. She could feel his breath brushing her lips every time he exhaled. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't suppress the shudder running down her spine.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru..." She whispered, her breathing accelerating slightly. He dipped his head lower, and she could almost feel the sensation of his lips on hers.

He was too close.

Too close for her to handle.

She could feel her heart begin to beat faster and she let out a shaky breath of anticipation.

Then the contact ended. He pulled back abrubtly, reluctantly allowing his hand to fall away from her face. She found that she wasn't capable of forming coherent thoughts at the moment. He slid out from under her, standing to his full height. Rin stared up at him, still shaken up.

"I apologize." He stated.

He turned to depart, walking swiftly out of the study, and it took Rin a few seconds to realize that he was leaving.

"Lord Sesshomaru, wait!"

She stood up quickly, stumbling slightly before running over to him. He refused to meet her eyes and after a few moments of staring at his face she looked down. It was obvious he didn't want to speak about what had just occurred. But . . . what had just happened? It was so unlike him that she was almost tempted to ask if he was feeling alright, though she couldn't say that she hadn't liked it.

"Um . . . I mean, can we go to the library again? I'd like to borrow another book, if you don't mind."

"Hn."

He nodded, beginning to lead the way, presumably, to the library.

Rin bit her lip, attempting to make sense of all the thoughts racing through her mind.

He . . . he had almost kissed her . . .

Almost being the keyword.

She put a hand to her mouth at this thought, brushing over her lips slightly. What was that about? Why did he . . . why did he do that in the first place?

. . . Why did he pull away?

"We are here."

Rin stopped her train of thought for a moment, looking up to the door he had opened for her. She smiled brightly at him, trying to hide the inner turmoil she was feeling. She walked over to the bookshelf she had found the first book she had borrowed. Pretending to browse, she went over the thoughts in her head, attempting to make sense of them. Now she was definitely certain, that she was in love. At first it was just a thought, a little inkling she had. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. But this... this made her absolutely sure.

"How?"

She turned around, to see Sesshomaru standing now directly in front of her.

"What do you mean, my lord?" It was too late before she realized her mistake. "I-I mean, Lord Sesshomaru!"

"That." Was his simple response. "How? How can you not be disgusted, repulsed by me? I am a monster."

Rin blinked slowly. "What . . .? . . . A . . . monster?" She repeated. He cast his gaze downward. Rin frowned, advancing towards him slowly. "Lord Sesshomaru, you are not a monster."

His looked towards her and a glare was sent in her direction. She gasped softly.

"I'm not, am I?" He snapped. His voice raised a notch, the loudest she had ever heard him. "Then what would you call me? How do you describe someone like me! How would you define me? . . . I am . . . a beast." The demon lord's head slumped onto his shoulders, his elegant posture dropping. Long silver bangs covered most of his face.

At his words Rin found her eyes softening, giving him a look of sympathy she knew he would not want. She took another step forward. This time he made no attempts to stop her. She continued, slowly, until she was standing directly in front of him. She tilted her head to the side slightly, desperately wanting to help the demon lord. She copied his motions from earlier, placing her hand on his face gently. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she felt a drop of moisture slide down her finger.

Gently, she lifted his head up, placing her other hand on the opposite side of his face.

He looked at her, with what appeared to be his normal stoic expression. But she could see past the façade. His eyes were glistening with moisture, and they held so much pain Rin felt her heart aching for him. The slouch he had allowed his body to fall into made it much easier for her to bring her face to his, staring into his eyes.

"You," She began, whispering as she brought their faces closer together. "Are beautiful."

Her eyes fluttered close as she pressed her lips against his.

His amber orbs widened slightly in surprise, before he allowed them to fall close, tentatively placing his arms around her waist. Her hands slid down to his shoulders, and she gasped as his mouth rolled against hers. She parted her lips slightly, allowing him to slip his tongue into her mouth, languidly running it over hers.

A small gasp escaped her and she pulled her lord closer, pressing herself flush against him. She fisted her hands into his long, platinum-colored hair.

She desperately wanted to show him, to prove to him, that even monsters can be loved.

They parted after what seemed like an eternity, both of them panting softly.

He looked into her eyes, his tinged with a hint of curiosity. Four hundred years of pent up emotions had all come flowing out at once, and he couldn't quite make sense of what he was feeling now.

"I don't understand . . . why are you not like her? She . . ."

"Her?"

For a moment his gaze turned wistful, before a word was whispered from his lips, so quietly that Rin almost didn't hear it.

"Kagura."

And then everything clicked into place.

"You . . . you were the one that fell in love weren't you?" Rin asked hesitantly.

He nodded, his hold on her tightening slightly.

"That's why you kissed me that day. You thought . . . you thought that I was her. Her eyelids lowered almost imperceptibly as she took in this new information. This was why he acted as he did. Why he put a mask over his true face and never allowed anyone to see it off.

He didn't want to be hurt again.

And she knew then exactly what she could do for him.

Exactly what he needed.

"You two are very different." He stated. "I guess that somewhere along the line I realized that . . . she would never, could never return my affections." His eyes strayed over to the window, gazing out of it almost mournfully. "I simply did not want to admit it."

A small smile began to grow on Rin's face, and she buried her face in his chest, turning her head so that it was lying just under his collarbone.

"Well then I guess that's another thing that makes us different." She stated vaguely. He glanced down at her, a fine silver eyebrow raising slowly. Rin tilted her head up, looking into her lord's eyes with a courage that she hadn't possessed earlier.

"I . . ." She looked away for a moment, before staring back at him determinedly, fixing her gaze on his eyes. "I love you."

"W-What?" He choked out, attempting to hold back his surprise. Lord Sesshomaru had never stuttered in his life.

Another blush splashed across her face.

"I love you."

She tightened her hold on him, resting her head back on his chest. "I love you . . ."

He was silent for a moment. All was quiet in the library, and the books themselves seemed to be leaning in to catch a whisper of their voices.

And then she felt a strong hand under chin, tilting her head so that her eyes could meet his.

"I love you, too."

Then for the first time in centuries, Lord Sesshomaru smiled widely.

And they lived happily ever after.

PLEASE READ:

Foxgirl: That's not necessarily the end, I was planning on adding an epilogue about how the curse broke, but I don't know if I should. So I'm leaving it up to you guys! What do you think? Oh! And I really wanted this chapter to be perfect... so if anyone spots ANY flaws, or something that would be better changed, please let me know! ^_^ Thank you for reading!