Chapter 2:
By the time Inuyasha had regained consciousness, he was still against the tree with a pounding headache.
His back had begun healing, and he felt the snap of his spine pull back together. He gritted his teeth and reached for his sword, but it wasn't there.
Inuyasha looked up and noticed night had fallen. In the center of the destruction was Sesshomaru, his sword was stuck in the dirt in front of him and his brother's sword with it. Both blades together made an 'X' shape.
Sesshomaru sat cross legged without his armor in front of both of them. As Inuyasha approached, he noticed his eyes were closed with his hands resting on his knees facing outwards. Almost as if he was meditating. Inuyasha cautiously made his way in front of him and made a move to grab his sword.
"Stop" order Sesshomaru still sitting with his eyes closed. "Sit down Inuyasha."
Inuyasha bared his fangs and continued to reach for his sword, Sesshomaru growled and Inuyasha felt an invisible weight pull him to the ground.
'How the fu-' thought Inuyasha.
"Just sit down!" barked Sesshomaru.
Inuyasha felt the pressure ease up allowing him to get to his knees but go no further, grumbling as he sat down.
"How the hell are you able to do that?!" he yelled.
Glaring at Sesshomaru who glared equally back, "Put your hands on your knees as I am."
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, "Why. Forgive me for not being willing to do as you say since you tried to kill me. Again."
The corner of Sesshomaru's eyes began turning red as he bit his lip to try and contain himself.
"Make no mistake. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. Now put your hands on your knees." He gritted out.
"I'm not your ward who will follow you without question. What are you trying to do here." said Inuyasha cautiously.
"We are going to speak with Father." he said as if the dead man who sired them was alive.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to remind him of dear old dads' demise when Sesshomaru spoke again, "Put your hands on your knees."
Inuyasha knew that was the best he was going to get and decided to listen to the crazy bastard.
'He's lost his mind, might as well humor him,' he thought.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes again and Inuyasha felt paralyzed once more before a bearer surrounded them.
Then it was as if they were transported and sitting in place of the swords was the dead man himself.
He wore no armor and had a sage smile on his face. Inu Taisho turned his face to his left to look at a shocked Inuyasha and to his right at sour-faced Sesshomaru.
"I see my boys are finally getting along."
He turned to Inuyasha again, "Hello son, it's nice to finally meet you. I've watched over you for some time."
Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and Inu Taisho turned to him.
"Ah Sesshomaru it is unlike you to contact me, but I can see why you would. You are here to ask about the girl I assume."
Sesshomaru said nothing but continued to stare at him.
Inu Taisho turned back to Inuyasha with a sigh, "Always so dour, isn't he? If you met his mother, you'd understand but he means well."
Inuyasha seemed to come out of shock, "Means well? Before or after he tried to kill me."
Inuyasha didn't know what to say to this man who sired him but at least he was very different from Sesshomaru. He even smiled. This situation was odd enough, so Inuyasha decided to just go along with it.
Inuyasha thought, 'Odder things have happened.'
Inu Taisho threw his head back and laughed, "He was just testing you and you've grown strong because of it. Don't be to hard him, your brother isn't good with words, another trait of his mother"
Sesshomaru grumbled but remained silent.
"Speaking of which, how is Inukimi, Sesshomaru?"
Sesshomaru rolled his eyes again, "I'm not here to talk about Mother. Will you help me or not?"
If Inuyasha thought his long dead father in front of him was weird, the absolute sarcasm that came from Sessomaru was another.
Inu Taisho grimaced, "Ah so she's still the same then. As for the human girl I have been searching for her ever since your reign of terror happened, but she is not in the netherworld…but somewhere different. I cannot reach her."
Sesshomaru stared at him, "You are of no help."
Inu Taisha snapped his head toward his eldest son, "Sesshomaru where that woman is…it is a dark place. She is not dead but even I can't reach her, and you will not be able to either."
Sesshomaru kept eye contact, but Inuyasha could see the sorrow in his eyes, as well as the rage. Inuyasha loved Rin. She has become a sister to him as she grew up, he felt a kinship to her, but he knew if Sessomaru couldn't reach her neither could he. Sesshomaru had ripped Rin from the Netherworld twice, but he couldn't get to her this time.
"Tell me what you know," said Sesshomaru.
"Sessh-" Inu Taisho was cut off.
"I have to know." replied Sesshomaru.
Inu Taisho took a moment and just stared at Sesshomaru. His emotionless son who never cared for much of anything, his son who looked torn to shreds over the loss of a human girl. Inu Taisho closed his eyes sadly.
"I do not know if your Rin was taken or accidentally fell to a place not meant for humans or demons. What I do know is that if she returns, she will not be the same Sesshomaru. Years there can change the soul and body of a person regardless of species."
Inuyasha cut in, "She's only been missing a year."
Inu Taisho continued, "Time works differently in there. One year here could be decades there. I've only ever seen one person from the netherworld come back from that place and what felt like minutes here was months there."
Inu Taisho sighed, "You cannot reach her Sesshomaru but that doesn't mean she will not find a way to return. I've watched the girl turn into a woman and she only ever wanted to be with you. Perhaps that driving force will bring her back. If she is to return again, I warn you she will not be the little girl who traveled with you. Nor will she be the same woman from the village."
Inu Taisho looked from Sesshomaru to Inuyasha, "I don't have much longer but I will leave you with this Sesshomaru, Rin has waited years for you in that village. Now you should do the same for her. My sons, you may not like each other but you are brothers. Be kind to each other at least. Farwell."
As rapid as Inu Taisho appeared, he disappeared. Both Inuyasha and Sessomaru remained silent neither moving.
Inuyasha was the first to get up, he grabbed his sword with his head hung low and left back towards the village.
As he got closer to the village gate, he heard the sorrowful roar of Sesshomaru and for the first time he felt truly sorry for him because this time Sesshomaru could not save Rin.
Two years passed, Inuyasha noticed that Sesshomaru was never far from the village. True to his father's words, Sesshomaru was waiting. Inuyasha didn't tell anyone of the events that happened that night, not even his wife. He couldn't tell Kagome that Rin might never return or if she did, she wouldn't be the same girl they watched grow up here. It seemed too cruel.
Kinta, the one who had asked for Rin's hand in marriage, moved on quickly, he married a woman named Memika and they have two boys. They left a year ago to some village far north of here.
Kaede was as composed as ever, she had mourned Rin and accepted that she was gone. Yet, the old priestess still believed that one day Rin would return to them and perhaps she was right.
Kagome and Songo grieved for months, in a way they still are. More times than not both women ended up crying on his shoulders, both never straying too far from the other. Rin had left a hole in their hearts that would never be filled and everyone who knew her felt the loss of the lovely woman who could do no wrong.
Inuyasha had made a habit of seeking out Sesshomaru; they often spent the last two years in awkward silence. Sesshomaru after the first few times of lashing out at him with words, fangs, and claws eventually gave up. So, they just sat in silence every few months looking at the stars, never speaking but an understanding had been made between the two brothers.