Title Making the Most of Mortality
Author landofthekwt
Rating K
Prompt" God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr
Word Count 569
Warning none
Summary Sesshoumaru ponders his life with Rin
Sesshoumaru stared at Rin. She was already in her eighth month. Soon she would deliver his heir. He risked losing her to childbirth if he trusted her care to Inuyasha's miko. He risked losing her to his enemies if he entered the Western Shiro with her in tow.
Death he could not control. His mother had warned him that if Rin died again, Tenseiga would not bring her back. His own midwives had centuries of experience with youkai births which Kagome could not match. Rather than trust Rin's life to a miko still in training, it was an easy decision to opt for the more experienced care givers.
As for the threat at the Western Shiro, he could handle that. So long as he never left Rin's bedside, no harm could befall her. None dared challenge him knowing that anyone foolish enough to do so would be missing their head before they could touch a hair on Rin's head.
He knew that he wanted her the moment he saw her. His mother might call his choice strange but to him. It was only natural. Rin's life belonged to him from the moment he brought her back to life. Her death in the underworld had only brought home the point to him that he could never risk her life again. Rin was simply too precious to him.
Now she was his Body,,mind and spirit. He was not foolish enough to believe in happily ever after. Someday Rin would die of old age and there was nothing he could do about it. Neither the Meidou Seki nor Tenseiga could turn back the hands of time. Humans were mortal Rin was human. He could not deny the truth of the syllogism that Rin was mortal.
Most youkai stayed away from mortals for this very reason. Being immortal they did not deign to mix with mortals. His father had. His mother thought it strange. She was above all that, but he was not. He was his father's son Rin might have been chosen by Tenseiga to teach him the lessons of fear and mercy, but she had taught him so much more.
Until Rin no one had ever loved him. His father and mother cared for him, but youkai do not understand human love. He had no doubt that his father understood what he was feeling. Izayoi had affected him so profoundly that he was willing to sacrifice his own life so that she and Inuyasha could live
Rin was the beginning and end of all things. When she died, a part of him would die with her. What he could do was return her affection so that she would know that she was loved. For ten years he had let her stay in the human village. For ten years he had been missing part of his soul.
No more. Rin had chosen to go with him. She had chosen to bear his child. He would make sure that she was protected. She and their children would lack for nothing. He was not sure that a youkai could love, but he would make sure that Rin knew exactly how he felt.
They had wasted too much time already. Sesshoumaru intended to make sure that he and Rin made the most of their time together so that when she died they would not have any regrets that their time together had been too short.