Four months later:

Rin looked pale and frightened, sitting on the well kicking her feet. Kagura touched down and took in the young human with worry.

"What's the matter, Rin?"

Rin looked up with tears in her eyes.

"Something is wrong with me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sick…maybe I'm even dying…But I can't tell Kagome, I don't want to make her sad…she's still sick…Granny Kaede is worried that something is wrong with her, and now something's wrong with me…I'm so scared!"

The girl suddenly burst into heart wrenching sobs. Kagura tried to sort out what she had said, and found herself worried about Kagome. Was something wrong with the baby? Had she miscarried? Or was her pregnancy caused illness simply dragging on longer than it ought to? Still, despite that she liked Kagome and hoped she and the baby were alright, it was Rin she felt the most affection for. She'd come to think of Rin almost as her own daughter…if things had been different, maybe she could have been, in a sense. The pain returned sharply, but Kagura brushed it aside. Now was not the time to be thinking of what could have been.

"Rin, kid, what's the matter with you? You look a little pale, but other than that just fine."

Rin was crying, softly now. She stood up and motioned downwards.

"See?! I'm dying, I just know it…"

Kagura took in the blood staining Rin's kimono and had to fight very hard against the urge to laugh. She didn't want to make the girl feel silly, but it was just so funny. She could well remember the first time her blood had come; she'd known it would happen, what with having been created a full grown woman with all the knowledge necessary to be one, but it had still surprised and rather frightened her. She could easily imagine how much worse it would be if one wasn't expecting it.

"Oh, Rin, hasn't anybody thought to explain this to you? Here, sit down, I'll tell you. First off, nothing's wrong with you…"

…..

Sesshoumaru caught scent of Rin's blood and internally panicked for a moment before he realized the difference. He'd been around enough women on their bleeding spells to know that there was a slightly different scent between blood from an injury and the natural flow of a woman's cycle. He smiled then, at the bittersweet reminder than Rin was becoming a woman…As far as he knew, this was the first time she'd bled. He ought to get her a gift, he decided, something to mark her entrance into womanhood.

As he got closer, he smelled the salt of her tears, and it occurred to him that perhaps in all the fuss about Kagome's pregnancy, no one had thought to warn the girl of the impending changes to her body. The idea that he might have to be the one to explain it to her was rather horrifying.

Then, Kagura's scent reached him.

Pain and joy and self-directed anger all surged through him instantly. What an idiot he had been, letting her go, four months ago. He could have told her he loved her, could have asked her to be his mate…but he had chosen instead to let her go, to remain the person everyone thought he was. He had wanted to track her down, to make amends and confess to her the truth; that he loved her with all his heart, that he had even before her death, that he wanted her for a mate…but he'd had no idea where to search for her and it was impossible to actually track her since she was usually flying, not leaving a trail of scent.

They were sitting on the well together; the only two people in the world he really loved. Kagura had wrapped one arm affectionately around the human girl, and was speaking in a low voice. He heard Rin laugh a little through her sniffling. Good. Kagura must have done the explaining and the comforting. He was struck by the strange way Kagura seemed to accept and care for Rin. Many demons thought it odd and even shameful that he had in essence adopted a human child. He understood their point of view perfectly; once, he would have, and often had, mocked any demon who cared in any way for a human. Then Rin had changed all that with her sweet heart, her adorable smile, her beautiful laugh, her sparkling eyes. Still, it was somewhat odd that Kagura, a full demon, seemed to love the girl. Especially seeing as how Kagura was normally somewhat rough and opinionated; seeing her comforting Rin, mothering her, was both an odd and touching sight.

Kagura stood and tugged Rin to her feet. Sesshoumaru watched with a little more interest than he would like to admit, even internally, as Kagura undid her outer kimono and took it off, then took off the blue kimono beneath it, wrapping it around Rin. He spotted the stain on Rin's clothing and understood that Kagura was giving her covering, probably to shield her from InuYasha's insensitivity…The hanyou wasn't such a moron as to mention the scent of blood, but he almost certainly would have pointed out a stain, the idiot. Sesshoumaru was suddenly shocked at how tall Rin had gotten. Kagura's kimono was barely too big for her lengthwise, though he could hear both females laughing quietly at the way it seemed to swallow Rin's still mostly shapeless form, as it had been designed with Kagura's beautifully curved body in mind. Kagura slipped her outermost kimono back on then, covering up the thin, tightly fitted green garment he had been rather enjoying. He decided that it was as good a time as any to make his presence known.

"Sesshoumaru…"

Kagura didn't seem surprised to see him…he supposed she'd sensed his aura. Rin smiled and waved at him, her tears dried and a strange happiness around her. He wondered if ought to mention anything about her bleeding, but decided not to, at least for the moment. Among his kind, a female's first bleeding was a special thing, often celebrated by her entire family. Among humans, however, it seemed to be something more embarrassing, so he decided to refrain from speaking of it. As he approached, he saw the sadness in Kagura's eyes and hated himself for it.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you haven't come is so long!"

"There was a disturbance on the border of my territory…an oni family thought to live off killing humans in the area. It took a while to be rid of them all; their den was well hidden. I came to visit you as soon as they were dealt with, Rin."

Kagura was eyeing her bare feet as if they were of great interest. Sesshoumaru idly noted that they really were very pretty feet. He nearly rolled his eyes at the nonsense in his head. Kagura spoke up now, addressing Rin.

"You'd better go tell Kaede or Kagome what happened, Rin. They'll fix you up so you don't have any more problems."

Rin paled, no doubt suddenly recalling that she was still bleeding, and ran away quickly with a hasty goodbye. Kagura sighed and sat down on the well edge again, watching the girl leave. Sesshoumaru longed to sit down beside her and wrap an arm around her, but instead simply moved to stand nearby.

"Thank you for taking care of Rin, Kagura."

She shrugged, not meeting his eyes.

"No problem. Poor kid thought she was dying…Do you know what's up with Kagome? Rin said something about Kaede being worried about the pregnancy or something."

"I was last here some three months back. The hanyou's mate still seemed ill, but the pup's life was strong, as was hers. I do not know if anything has changed, but I'll be going into the village…would you care to accompany me?"

"Yeah, I think I will."

She moved to walk by him, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to hold her again. He reached for her, and then it was as if no time had passed, as if they had not been separated, as if he had not foolishly let her go. She showed no hesitation, no resistance; instead she responded with a passion to equal his as he insistently explored the heated cavern of her mouth.

"Sesshoumaru…that's enough."

He didn't let her go when she tried to pull away, and she glared at him, anger burning in her red eyes. He was surprised to find that her eyes were filled with tears, though there they stayed, as she fought valiantly to keep them from escaping down her cheeks.

"Let me go, Sesshoumaru. I won't let you have this power over me. I won't let you hurt me. Don't you think I've hurt enough? Don't you think I've been under someone's thumb enough? I understand that you can't love me, but at least let me be free! Don't keep making me want things that can never be!"

She turned from him with a rough, abrupt movement, wiping her eyes angrily. His inner beast was whimpering and growling; angry at himself and saddened by her pain. Everything in him demanded he comfort her, demanded he make his mate happy again. He resisted, watching as she walked to the edge of the field and leaned her back against a tree, crossed her arms over her chest, and regarded him coolly. Her tough girl front was back in place, he realized. It had been a long, long time since he'd seen her with that attitude so firmly in place: probably since before her death.

Suddenly he couldn't take it anymore; the howling in his brain, the pain in his heart. His logic was washed away on a tide of once hated emotions and he lunged at her in a blur of motion, letting the demon take him. It could say what he couldn't. He went from the well to where she stood and grabbed her into his arms in a mere second. She stared at him wide eyed as he kissed her roughly, dominatingly. He eased up when he tasted blood from a tiny scratch he'd caused with his fangs, pulling back from her and staring into her puzzled eyes.

He nuzzled into the side of her neck, kissing her softly, and then nipped at her earlobe, finally speaking in a rough, hoarse whisper.

"My mate."