Through the well and back again

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter 18:

~Rin and Sesshoumaru~

Rin felt cold all through her body, her mind, her heart, even her soul. This is the place her lord had been trapped in for weeks on end? She knew that he was strong and could even heal quicker than her kind and half demons but this place... it sucked the very life out of you and took the reason you stayed alive away from you. It didn't give you a choice in anything.

Spotting her lord chained tightly to the hard, icy ground she ran over to him, forgetting everything else except for bringing him back. She had expected his eyes to be closed and showing a pain of some sorts but instead, what she saw terrified her. His eyes were very much open and blazing a crazed dark red. His normally elegant purple stripes that marked him as who he was were jagged and sharp looking. His long past his waist length silver moon like hair was tangled and seemingly destroyed and it broke her heart.

She couldn't stand seeing this powerful being look like this. It wasn't natural.

Slowly, she walked up to him and sat as close to him as she could while he was in the state he was in. No, she didn't fear him but she didn't want to make him feel like she was a threat to him when she was trying to do the opposite and bring him back to himself.

Rin quietly thought to herself and made sure she said all the right words that he both needed and wanted to hear before saying anything out loud. She couldn't fail. She only had a certain amount of time with the flower that was allowing her to remain here and it was doing all it could to protect her and her lord from withering away into nothing and dying in this unruly and unwelcoming place.

Finally, she spoke and in her heart, she knew these were the right words that needed to be said.

"My lord, please come back to me. You are no longer this demon you used to be and you are strong enough to fight this. You have always been strong enough. Remember your pride and please, please don't let your strong and beautiful soul be taken and tamed by this curse. You are and always will be above this kind of evil and... I love you my lord. I will always love you, no matter where your heart takes you."

Deciding to throw all caution to the wind, Rin leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the side of the lips, taking his outstretched claws in her hand and not caring how they dug into her skin. She would do anything for this demon lord, this much she knew. Her heart, her soul and her body would always follow him to the ends of the earth and she knew she never wanted to see him like this again. She missed seeing his calm and collected self.

This demon monster, this thing was very much the opposite of that yet she still loved him. Seeing him at his very worst would never change her mind. She knew that when she went back in time and saw his past and she knew it now.

After saying her part, she knew that it was the only thing she could ever say to him that would hopefully bring him back to her. And so, knowing this she sat with him, holding his clawed hand for how ever many days, she didn't know but at the same time she didn't care.

For some time, Rin felt as if she had dozed off with her eyes open. She thought about the time he had saved her from Kohaku and had stood there beside her and the boy, waiting for the boy to make his move in order to take her life. In the end, he hadn't and she remembered how happy she felt and how safe when she was able to go back with her lord and continue traveling with him in one piece.

She remembered all the times Kagura and Naraku had kidnapped her in order to get to her lord and she remembered how each time, her lord would come for her and bring her back, seeming to not care about his much cared for pride but letting it shine through all at the same time. That was also why she loved him.

She could sit there and name all the reasons why but she didn't want to or need to. She knew how her heart felt and soon, she finally fell into a fitful sleep and hoped that the flower wouldn't run out of time in order to safely bring them back but in the end, if the land of the living wasn't where they could be happy then she was determined to think that they could be happy in the world of the dead.

At first, the thought of possibly dying scared her to no ends but then, she was able to lift her spirits up by telling herself that she would not be dying here alone and that she would be dying next to someone she loved...

And then she had to pull herself out of the even harder and scarier part of the whole ordeal and had to tell herself that they were not going to die.

In fact, she was so lost in thought she almost didn't notice when her lord finally woke up and returned to her...

He placed one normally returned clawed finger against her soft cheek and wiped away a falling tear. Almost like when he had revived her as a small child, he reached behind her with his other hand and pulled her up close to his chest and looked deep into her eyes and placed a hard, needy kiss on her even softer lips and growled his pleasure into them.

Even with all the reason why he shouldn't have Rin as his mate, at this point he did not care. This young woman had traveled through the depths of hell for him and he respected that. It put her on the same level as him.

So, in order to respect her and show her how much he appreciated and loved what she did for him and kept doing for him, he would make her his mate when they returned to the living realm. Picking her up bridal style, he closed his eyes along with her and they both prayed in order to help activate the flower and once again, they were returned home in a bright flash of light and even then, he didn't put her down. He didn't want to and never wanted to be separated from her again.

He regretted being so stubborn about his feelings for her and felt as if that had been why they had gone through so much hell in order to get to this point. He kissed her again and ran his long strong fingers through her soft and beautiful hair. He would never admit to his brother and fathers actions for falling for a human and maybe that made him a hypocrite or just too stubborn for his own good but he knew that this woman was right for him, whether she was human or not, he would never wish to change her.

Her big, cheerful smiles brightened his day and wanted him to be better and do better just for her. He would never say such a thing out loud or to anyone else but her and that was how it was supposed to be.

He would find all the ways he could to forever thank her for bringing him back and to make her just as happy and cheerful as she always was and hopefully in the days to come even more so than ever.

His beloved was crying happy tears and if he wasn't so prideful, he would have smiled and shown her the way she needed to be shown that he was happy for her. He knew that she respected that he would probably never be able to do so but still, he tried his best and gave a small crooked smile of his own before finally putting her down.

A minute later, a large demon cat came springing towards them and Sesshoumaru snarled and shoved Rin behind him, his eyes beginning to blaze that terrifying red when he heard Rin trying to hold back her hysterical giggles behind him. He turned and gave her a questioning look when she began to explain the situation for him. When he had thought the worst and had tried protecting her from the large animal, she had de-transformed and hid behind the large bush that was the farthest away from them.

"There's no need to worry, my lord. Kirara is harmless and helped me get here in order to bring you back. She's a friend, I promise." After saying so, Rin walked over to the brush bush her feline friend was hiding in and slowly began to coax her out from behind it. Once the now small cat was fit snugly into her arms her lord began to relax and Rin leaned down in order to whisper into the cats small ears.

"You can return to your masters, my friend. Thank you for helping me find him." She scratched behind the animals ear and set her off and hoped that Inuyasha and his friends would get the message and not come running for her rescue, for she did not need one because she was once again reunited with her lord and that made her happier than she could ever be...

~With Kagome and the others~

"Oh, thank the gods!" Kagome sighed with relief and sank to her knees onto the ground when she saw Kirara leaping towards them, looking well and unharmed.

"Rin must have found him." Sango said, while grinning and picking up her best friend and only tie she had left to her family. Kohaku died in the final battle but she was determined to be strong for him and knew that he was no longer suffering.

"Keh, well at least now we don't have to worry about getting torn to pieces." Inuyasha muttered.

A long time ago, Kagome would have thought he was being harsh and uncaring but now she knew that this was his way of showing that he did care so she just smiled at him and entwined their arms together and leaned her head gently on his shoulder.

"Be happy for them, Inuyasha because your brother finally found someone who loves him unconditionally and do you know what I think?" Kagome paused and waited for her mate to answer her.

"What do you think, woman?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Kagome grinned and answered him: "I think he loves her just as much."

And with that, Kagome let go of his arm and skipped ahead of him, feeling happy for herself, her friends and ultimately Rin and the great demon lord of the west, Lord Sesshoumaru.

A/n: A double update! How cool is that? :) Honestly, I think there will be one more chapter for this story and that will be the end of it. It's really hard for me not to just end it here because I really love the ending to this but well, I also feel like there is a need for one more chapter. Lol. I'm so very proud of this, I know I keep saying that but this is the first ever story that I've ever finished and not given up on! :) haha. Thank you all again sooo much! Love you all! Muah! xoxo. :)