He'd been too quiet for days, trapped within the maelstrom of his own thoughts. He would stay away for long hours, returning with a small pouch of herbal tea to ward off infection, or some clean bandages to re-wrap her wound. He even brought a watermelon once, and she found no small amount of amusement in watching him slice it into bite-sized pieces with two quick swipes of his claws. But he'd kept his distance, and with each day that passed her heart sank further, weighed down by the inevitable truth of their slow-motion separation.

He came to her one night, after the stars had already come out, and asked her to come with him. She took his hand, enjoying the way it curled possessively around hers. And when he lifted her and flew, she rested her head against the sturdy perch of his shoulder—a small indulgence after what had felt like days without a true connection between them.

He set down some time later atop a cliff that looked out over the ocean. The air smelled of salt and seaweed and she breathed it in deep as she stepped away from the safety of his arms to take in the view of the endless night sky from the cliff's edge. It seemed to stretch out toward infinity in all directions, a brilliant canopy of twinkling stars. Sesshomaru stood at her side and joined her in staring out over the open waters.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" she gasped and turned her face to smile up at him.

His eyes lingered on hers, saying more than he ever could with words. Losing her nerve, she shyly looked away. It had always been her dream to see the ocean and now he had given her that, too. She laid down atop the ground so she could stare up at the stars overhead, intent on absorbing as much of it as she could.

"What are you doing?" he asked, though there was more curiosity than judgement in his tone.

"Watching for shooting stars," she replied.

A moment later, with a rustle of silk and armour, he laid down next to her. What she wouldn't give to be able to keep hold of this memory forever, to play it over and over again, seeing each twinkling star as clearly as she saw them now, knowing she was safe at his side. The Milky Way galaxy stretched across the sky overhead brilliant and vast, an impossible magnitude of stars.

When she was just a girl, her father had told her the tale of Orihime and Hikoboshi. She'd always found their love story to be as beautiful as it was sad. It made her heart ache to imagine two people who loved each other that much being kept apart for all but one day a year.

"Orihime and Hikoboshi met on opposite sides of a river, too," she said with a soft smile. "Have you heard the tale?"

She glanced over at Sesshomaru in time to see his head shake 'No'.

"Orihime was a princess. She was hardworking and loyal. And Hikoboshi was the boy who loved her dearly. The two of them were happy for a time, but then Orihime's father separated them and only allowed them to meet for one day each year."

It hadn't occurred to her until then just how closely the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi resembled their own. An otherworldly prince and a simple girl, destined to be separated by a meddling father. She couldn't help but wish that however their story turned out, it wouldn't be nearly so tragic as that of Orihime and Hikoboshi.

"Why did he separate them?" Sesshomaru wondered and turned to face her.

"Orihime was so happy with Hikoboshi that she stopped fulfilling her duty to weave beautiful cloth for her father. He became so angry that he separated them as a punishment."

Sesshomaru responded with a quiet grunt.

Silence settled over them and she waited until she had seen three shooting stars stream across the sky overhead before speaking again. She turned on her side to face him and tucked her arm under her head to use it as a makeshift pillow.

"We won't be going back together, will we…" she said quietly. It wasn't so much a question as it was speaking aloud the fear that had settled beneath her breastbone since the moment his father had arrived and disturbed their peace.

The set of his mouth hardened, and she knew then that she had her answer. She wasn't angry, but it didn't mean her heart didn't ache at the thought of being parted from him.

"What did your father say to you the day you returned Tenseiga to him?"

"That there would be dire consequences if I continued to defy them." The look in his eyes communicated what she'd suspected for several days now. His parents saw her as an obstacle or a distraction and they would come after her again, or maybe send others to complete the task in their stead. Her life was expendable to them, just another human among thousands. And without her, Sesshomaru would more easily bend to their will.

"Tenseiga can only restore a human life once," he warned, his voice sounding weary. "There are always limits on such power."

"So, you brought me here to say goodbye," she concluded.

His eyes held hers, and this time she did not look away.

"I will not condemn you to live in fear."

She knew he meant well. There was honesty in his gaze, and reluctance, and regret. It was all there, swirled together, and she found some small bit of relief in knowing this hadn't been an easy decision for him. That even now part of him wanted to refuse. But he wouldn't take that chance. He would break her heart instead and call it 'mercy'.

With a quiet sigh, she moved closer until her body lay next to his and her head rested against the soft pillow of the fur stole that wrapped around his shoulder. His body stiffened at first, unused to her being so bold, and then she felt him relax, one muscle at a time, until his hand came to rest overtop of hers on his chest.

"Maybe we can be like Orihime and Hikoboshi," she suggested with a wistful sigh. "We can return to this spot to meet again year after year."

He said nothing, but his cheek came to rest against the top of her head and she wondered how different things might be if he'd been like Hikoboshi, a simple cow herd rather than a prince. She couldn't picture him that way. His nobility was as much a part of him as his demonic markings and the way he carried himself. There was no removing one from the other. Not even when it meant a painful separation for them both.

"Do you wish to return to your family's shrine?" he asked, and she enjoyed the way his voice reverberated beneath her ear.

"No."

It wasn't a decision she needed to dwell on. She'd decided some time ago that she had no desire to return to that life. The only way to move on without him was to move forward, and that was what she intended to do.

"I will catch a boat," she decided. "I'll go to the southern islands, or maybe to the north, and see what is there. Those islands must hold a hundred sights waiting to be discovered."

"And you will see them all," he determined.

His quiet assertion brought a smile to her lips. She would have been quite happy to spend the remainder of her days exploring the world with him. Now she would do it alone, but he would be ever present in her thoughts.

"You should know…despite everything, I'm still really glad I met you."

She heard the soft catch of his breath, and his fingers tightened around hers.

"Will you promise to remember me?"

"Always," he replied.

She smiled at that. It felt like their own sort of rebellion to keep one another in their hearts. Together, they would thumb their noses at those who sought to drive them apart. And maybe someday they would meet again, beneath a starry sky as vast and magnificent as this one.

oOo

When morning arrived, she spent a long time sitting at the edge of the cliff. She stared out across the ocean while the waves crashed lazily beneath her feet. Sesshomaru sat beside her, and though she was tempted to reach for him, she kept her hands at her sides.

Neither of them had any desire to rush their departure. They'd been sitting in the same spot since before sunrise. They'd watched it together, the steadily lightening of the sky and the breaking of a new day over the horizon. In time, a ship appeared on the horizon. It became larger as it drew closer to shore, a merchant vessel returning from bringing goods to the northern island.

With the ship's arrival, she felt their time together draw to a close. Though it wasn't until the ship reached the pier that she asked if he might bring her there. He did so without a word of objection, and the two of them stood facing one another atop the soft sand.

He wordlessly handed her a small pouch, heavy with coin, and she tucked it into her kosode.

"I feel strange that I don't have a gift for you," she confessed as the wind blew cool salt air off the sea all around them. After thinking on it a moment, she pulled the yellow ribbon from her hair and held it out to him.

"This one was always my favourite because it was the first gift you ever gave to me. Maybe someday, when we find each other again, you can return it to me," she suggested, and he reached to take it from her. "Will you keep it safe for me until then?"

He nodded and tucked the ribbon inside his kimono jacket. In the distance, the shipmaster announced the boat would depart soon. If she didn't catch this one, it might be hours or days before another merchant vessel arrived. Sesshomaru kept his eyes on the boat, as though he were sizing up its suitability to transport her across the strait.

"I guess I'd better go…" she said, with a reluctant glance at the boat.

The wind wrapped around them in another gust, blowing her loose hair about her shoulders and into her face. Sesshomaru's touch was gentle, lightly tucking a few wayward strands behind her ear so he might see her face one last time.

"Be careful," he insisted, and she promised she would. She forced a broad smile to her lips so the last memory he held of her would be one that might warm his heart, then dipped into a low bow.

"Thank you for everything," she said in a rush, then ran towards the pier. She barely made it aboard the boat before they cast off from the dock. She stood at the rear of the ship, closest to the pier, and waved to Sesshomaru. He stood on the beach, unmoving, and watched the ship pull away until it had gone beyond the shallow waters of the inner harbour and reached the dark waters of the open ocean.

"How far away do you think demons can smell tears?" she asked the merchant seated next to her, her voice sounding as far away as the beach in the distance. The man gave her a quizzical look and walked away in search of a different seat.

In what felt like no time at all, the beach was no longer in view. It was only then that she allowed herself to admit that he was gone. The emotions she'd worked so hard to keep under control overwhelmed her, like a riptide pulling her further and further from shore. Lacking any fight to keep standing, she slumped into the empty seat, buried her face in her hands, and wept.