Though initially offended at Sesshomaru's suggestion she needed a bath, once submerged in the hot water, Rin was thankful he'd thought to suggest it at all. She groaned as the heat soothed her travel weary muscles and sank deeper into the tub. The prickling heat of the hot water against her skin was a welcome reminder that she was alive and breathing. Her fingers ran across the invisible gash where her life's blood had poured out only hours ago. There was no blemish on her skin, not even a slight impression—so perfect was his healing.

It was difficult, even now, to believe it had happened. But it had. Sesshomaru had saved her life. She sank lower into the tub and blew out a sigh of frustration. How far did the scent of human blood travel? And how fast could a demon run or fly? It'd been months since she'd last seen him at the river. She'd returned to the spot for weeks in the hopes he would return, but she eventually gave up hope of ever seeing him again.

Then he was there, and so devastatingly beautiful while saving her life. She would have convinced herself she'd imagined it if he hadn't waited for her to wake. Her mind kept turning it over again and again, but she couldn't escape the question of why he'd been so close to her family's shrine that day. The timing was too auspicious to be a coincidence. He'd been close enough to smell her blood and reach her within seconds. Close enough that his was the last face she saw before death took her. Had he been keeping watch on her from a distance...?

An embarrassed blush coloured her cheeks, and she shook her head. It was a silly idea. He hardly knew her and always seemed to be annoyed by her. It must have been nothing more than dumb luck that he was close by at just the right moment. He hadn't given her any indication their meeting was more than a simple coincidence. Like meeting him in the woods that first morning by the river…

Coincidence or not, he'd opened her eyes to the world beyond her family's shrine. Until that morning, she'd spent her whole life letting others decide her fate. Meeting him had given her the strength to choose a path for herself. She'd chosen adventure and the unknown, and it'd brought her to the top of a mountain and a demon palace in the sky. She could scarcely imagine where their next adventure would take her. That was, if he didn't mind her tagging along. He didn't seem to mind. At least, she was reasonably certain he would have abandoned her long ago if her questions annoyed him half as much as he pretended they did.

The door to the room abruptly opened, and two servants entered to help her out of the bath. Rin sighed and reluctantly stood. A servant handed her a robe to wrap herself in, and they helped her out of the tub. Her stomach was growling fiercely by the time they finished polishing her. She looked at herself in the mirror and found the face of a stranger staring back. She never would have recognized herself, even if she'd passed close by in the market.

She reached for her hair, which they'd styled into an elaborate knot, and ran her fingers across the ornaments tucked inside. The kimono was expensive too—a far cry from the rough, homespun material of her shrine maiden attire. Her hands skimmed over the soft silk, admiring the simple yet elegant pattern of alternating indigo and gold waves. She felt a bit ridiculous as she examined the elaborate bow they'd tied the obi into. She wasn't a noblewoman, but being dressed up as one almost felt like an insult. It was as though they were mocking her meagre human origins. The servants hadn't even asked if she'd wished to keep her clothes before tossing them on the fire. Their message had been clear—here, she was utterly out of her league.

When the dinner chime sounded, the servants ushered her out of the room and into the hall where Sesshomaru stood waiting. He had changed as well and was now dressed in a formal jacket that draped over his kimono. She liked the red accents at his collar and how they brought out the golden colour of his eyes.

He continued to be the most beautiful creature she'd ever laid eyes on. She'd never understood the old tales about women falling in love and losing their hearts to demons before meeting him. She'd always pictured some grotesque being and couldn't possibly imagine it, but she could now. If other demons were even half as beautiful as he was, she thought it would be a rather simple thing to fall in love with one.

Sesshomaru stopped in front of her, and she held her breath as he scrutinized her attire from head to toe.

"Well?" she asked. "How do I look?"

He sighed and instructed her to hold out her hands. He reached for the ornaments in her hair, removing them one by one to place them in her palms. She held still, frozen in place by the tingle of awareness that rushed through her as he withdrew each ornament from her elaborate hairstyle. He then reached for the pins they'd tied her hair up with and removed those as well. With a pull of the thread left holding her hair in place, the bundle came loose and fell in long, silky waves about her shoulders. Her hair was healthy and shining in appearance thanks to the special attentions of the servants.

"Better?" she wondered as she set the hair ornaments aside on a nearby table.

Sesshomaru reached into his jacket and retrieved a length of yellow silk ribbon.

"Tie your hair back with this," he said, holding it out to her. The colour matched her obi perfectly! She wasted no time gathering her hair together and knotting it in place. Sesshomaru waited until she'd finished, then led her to the dining hall.

"Come, or we'll be late," he advised.

Rin followed, stopping only briefly once she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked even more beautiful than before, but also more like herself. She grinned as her confidence soared, then scurried after Sesshomaru so as not to fall behind.

oOo

Sesshomaru's mother had already taken her place at the head of the table when they arrived. She glanced disapprovingly between them, displeased to see that they had arrived together.

"I see you did not care to wait," Sesshomaru intoned and knelt at the table. He gestured discretely for Rin to occupy the space next to him. She did as he said and knelt atop the small cushion. His mother's eyes pinned her in place and she kept her own lowered, staring silently at the tabletop laden with food.

"Your human. Does she speak?" his mother asked, then addressed her directly. "Human girl, can you speak?"

"Of course she can speak," Sesshomaru replied, his tone dripping with disdain. "Her name is Rin."

Rin couldn't help but dart a quick glance at him. It was the first time he'd ever spoken her name aloud. The sound of it sent a rush down her spine and she bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling.

"It's not like you to be so indulgent, Sesshomaru," his mother taunted. "If she can speak, maybe she can tell me why she has chosen to tag along after you like a lost pup. Do you plan to eat her, perhaps?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed and drank down a healthy measure of whatever was in his cup. A servant appeared to refill it, then quickly stepped back again.

"Suit yourself," his mother replied with an indifferent shrug. "I was only curious. Can't a mother be curious when she has not seen her son in nearly three years?"

Rin darted another quick glance at Sesshomaru. He was more rigid than she'd ever seen him. His hand was clenched in a tight fist atop his thigh, and it looked as though he were scarcely breathing. He appeared to be using all of his willpower simply to maintain a veneer of indifferent calm.

"Well, then. Tell me, Sesshomaru, what has finally brought you home after all this time?"

"Why ask questions to which you already know the answer?" he replied.

"What else do you propose we talk about? Your little human, perhaps?" She rested her cheek atop her fist and studied her with an unrelenting gaze. "Wherever did you find her?"

Sesshomaru pulled in a deep breath and released it slowly. Rin followed his lead. She was tempted to reach for her cup, simply to wash down the taste of fear that lingered in the back of her throat, but wasn't entirely certain what most of the items in front of her were. Were they even safe for humans to eat? As if reading her mind, Sesshomaru reached out and moved her cup closer to the edge of the table for her.

"It is safe to drink," he assured her, speaking low. She reached for the cup and took a tentative sip. It tasted of nothing, but it soothed her throat as though she'd drank from the freshest mountain stream.

"Human girl, where did my son find you?"

Rin glanced at Sesshomaru. With a subtle nod, he gave her clearance to answer. It seemed they lifted the rules against humans speaking when one was addressed directly.

"At a shrine," she answered succinctly, then took another sip from her cup.

This seemed to amuse Sesshomaru's mother, who popped a piece of fruit into her mouth and chewed it slowly as she surveyed her. Rin promptly shrank under her probing gaze.

"Whatever was he doing there?" Her eyes shifted to Sesshomaru, directing the question at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied sharply and glanced at the space where his left arm had once been.

His mother's eyes brightened with amusement and curiosity. "And you helped him, didn't you?"

Rin swallowed down a nervous gulp.

"You saw a wounded bird and tried to mend its broken wing." She chuckled low at the thought of her son receiving any sort of assistance from a human.

"I helped him as I would help anyone," Rin replied, answering his mother's question even though she was fairly certain it was meant to be rhetorical. Next to her, Sesshomaru paused with his cup to his lips, listening.

"But, as it turned out, Lord Sesshomaru did not need my help."

"Of course not. A greater demon would never require aid from a human."

She said the word with such disdain that even Sesshomaru scowled. He set his cup down more forcefully than was necessary and waved off the servant who attempted to refill it. Rin hurriedly took another sip of her drink to avoid the burning gaze of Sesshomaru's mother. It was little wonder where Sesshomaru had inherited his dislike for humans. It only made her wonder all the more what made her different from the rest.

"I've never known you to be so weak, Sesshomaru. What were all those years of training for if you're more pitiful now than when you left?"

Rin clenched her hands into tight fists atop her thighs. It was taking everything inside of her not to speak up, but she knew it wasn't her place. Sesshomaru could defend himself, and the last thing she wanted to do was offend their host. So she clenched her hands into fists until she could feel her nails digging into the flesh of her palms and waited for their awful dinner to be over with.

Sesshomaru scoffed under his breath. "I will not listen to this," he said and abruptly rose to his feet. Rin eagerly followed, thankful to be free from his mother's interrogation. Sesshomaru marched out into a garden and promptly wheeled around, coming up short when he realized she'd followed him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He glowered in the direction of the dining hall, then strode to the nearest row of flowering bushes. The blooms were the colour of a twilight sky, an otherworldly hue she'd never seen before. He extended his hand towards the bushes and she watched in shock as potent venom promptly reduced them to ash.

"Let me guess, those were her favourite?"

Sesshomaru's eyes turned on her and his scowl melted into something less fierce as he realized she'd witnessed his little display. He glanced away, looking a little embarrassed, and promptly changed the subject.

"You are hungry," he stated, and her stomach let out an audible growl in reply.

"I haven't eaten since daybreak," she confessed. "And we climbed a mountain or two today."

Sesshomaru's frown deepened. "You should have said something."

"We were a little busy."

They stared one another down until he relented with a quiet sigh.

"Wait here," he said.

Rin nodded in agreement and watched after him until he'd retreated inside. In the meantime, she took a seat beneath one of the larger trees in the garden and admired the different garden beds around her in the moonlight. She knew very little about flowers. Most of the blooms were ones she didn't recognize, but their beauty was no less breathtaking for lack of a name.

Sesshomaru returned a short time later with a covered dish and held it out to her. Rin accepted it from him and eagerly lifted the lid to find a small bowl of rice and a colourful array of cooked fruits and vegetables. Smiling as the scent of warm food curled in her stomach, she promptly tucked into her small meal. Sesshomaru sat next to her, content to be alone with his thoughts while she ate.

"Your mother sure doesn't seem to like humans," she observed between bites.

He responded with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders. "To most demons, humans are little more than a food source. For demons like my mother, they are an annoying obstacle to her ambitions."

"What about you?"

Her question seemed to catch him off guard. "Me?"

"Do you see humans as food or an annoyance?"

Sesshomaru sat quietly, letting the question hang between them as she finished her meal. Once she'd swallowed down her last bite, he pulled her hand into the moonlight to reveal the crescent-shaped marks her nails had left in her palm.

"Were you truly so afraid?" he asked. She flinched in surprise at the feeling of his hand around hers and held her breath. She hadn't noticed how deeply she'd dug her nails into her palms and felt a flush of embarrassment creep up her neck.

"I..."

"It is late," he said, cutting her off before she could say more. "You should rest."

He released her hand, and she curled it into a fist to hide her palm from view. She felt like she should say something to reassure him, but wasn't sure what to say. For the first time that day, words evaded her completely. Instead, she followed him up the engawa stairs to her room.

Sesshomaru stopped outside her door and waited for her to go in.

"I'll see you in the morning, I guess," she said, offering him a shy smile from the doorway.

He lingered there a moment, as though debating something within himself, then said, "It's neither."

"What's neither?"

His eyes met hers, then darted away to focus on something deep in the garden. "The answer to your question."

He didn't wait for a response before bidding her 'Good night' and retreating to his own room a few doors down.

Rin waited until he was out of sight, then entered her dark room and slid the door shut behind her. Exhaling a tired sigh, she shrugged out of the heavier outer layers of her kimono until she had stripped down to her under layers. She took extra time unraveling the ribbon in her hair that Sesshomaru had given her. She admired it in the dim moonlight, running the soft silk through her fingers and against her cheek before folding it carefully and setting it aside.

She could scarcely believe she had awoken that morning in her family's shrine, and would soon sleep in a demon palace. Tomorrow she would wake up to a different view than the one she had known all her life, and a world she never could have anticipated. She knew she should feel intimated by this, maybe even a little scared, but her eyes were too heavy with sleep for her to be troubled by it. Besides, Sesshomaru's room was only a short distance away. She felt certain he wouldn't let anything happen to her. (But maybe that was only wishful thinking...)