Chapter 62 - Always

The night was quiet, almost... peaceful. A soft breeze blew across the grassy plains, making soft swishing sounds as the blades rubbed together. On either side of the grassy meadows which they walked, mountains rose high above, soaring amidst the clouds. Faintly, nighttime bugs sang their earthy songs of praise, musicians of the most base type. Amidst the raw and wild beauty, the equally raw and wild Sesshomaru walked with his head held high. Behind, came the rather intimidating looking two headed dragon, an ugly little imp, and a curious but sweet human girl who skipped happily amidst the grasses. It would have been an almost comical sight, had anyone been there to witness such a thing.

Without wavering, Sesshomaru led them directly northeast, intent on locating the hidden Naraku as quickly as possible. Every so often, he would pause for a moment, and sniff the air, assessing whether InuYasha had been nearby anytime recently. So far, there had been no sign of his half brother, or his little group of humans. Sesshomaru wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or if it meant that InuYasha had gotten much farther ahead, while the yokai had been dealing with saving Rin and Jaken. Eventually, they would either pass the other party, of end up having a head to head meeting. Sesshomaru was positive of it.

A sound at his side, the soft padding of barefeet in the grass, drew Sesshomaru's attention down to Rin who skipped to his side. She looked up at him with wide smiling brown eyes. "Lord Sesshomaru - thank you so much for saving me."

Shifting his golden eyes to meet hers, they softened infantismally. For a moment he was silent, watching her, as she simultaneously smiled up at him. "You need not thank me. I told you before Rin." He turned his head fully, focusing all of his attention on her. "I will always come when you call me." Rin nodded slowly, her eyes casting away for a moment. Sesshomaru waited, watching her face for several seconds before speaking again. "Why did you wait to call me?"

Though she had turned her face away, he sensed the heat rising to her cheeks. "You were so intent on catching the insects... I was afraid to call for you." Slowly she tilted her head up to meet his eyes again, a flush still coloring her cheeks. Silence fell heavily betweehn them, only the sound of their footsteps in the grass, and the heavier footfalls of A-un behind, broke the stillness. It was a long moment before she broke the silence, and spoke again. "I was afraid."

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows a fraction, urging her to continue wordlessly. His Rin was never afraid, it was so strange to hear her say such a thing. When she didn't offer an explaination, he decided to prod her gently. "What were you afraid of?"

"Well... I..." Rin's fingers played with the green obi tied around her waist without thought, tugging at the fabric with her fingertips and tracing the grain of the stitches. "I was afraid Jaken would die. I've seen too many people die... I couldn't think of anything else other than saving him. I thought I could be brave and save him. I didn't think of anything else until the moment I fell from the cliff... and then all I could think about was how sad I would be if I never got to see you again, Lord Sesshomaru." He remained silent, listening. Rin stopped speaking for a moment, then sniffed quietly as if holding back tears. As far as he could tell, her cheeks remained dry. "You must have come for me - I don't remember what happened."

The moment replayed in Sesshomaru's mind. Seeing the tiny distant figure, clad in orange and green falling from the side of the cliff. The sound of her screaming his name rang in his ears. "I heard you call." He looked away, eyes moving to somewhere familiar, the moon shining overhead.

"Thank you for catching me, Lord Sesshomaru." Rin's voice was soft, almost a whisper. Her eyes downcast to the ground. Had Sesshomaru not known better, he would have believed it was a behavior of almost... shyness. Surely his rash, bold Rin, wasn't feeling bashful.

"I will always be here, Rin. When you need me." He felt the need to comfort her, though he couldn't explain why. As if, he needed to reassure both her, and himself, that he had already made his choice to be her protector. Though he never would have used that word aloud. Sesshomaru looked down at her, as she walked by his side, gold eyes intent as if to silently communicate his meaning.

The sweet joyful smile melted across Rin's face as their eyes met again, all her fears now seemingly fully dissolved. "Yes, my Lord." She ducked her head shyly again. "I won't wait so long to call you next time. I promise!"

I certainly hope there is no next time, Rin. Sesshomaru thought to himself grimly, his lips setting in a firm line.. The anxiety he felt, when she was in trouble, was almost more than the yokai knew how to deal with. As one, who had never had to grow accustom to human emotions before, it was quite overwhelming. Emotions are troublesome. How do humans manage to deal with them so efficiently?

From behind Jaken began grumbling. "If it was up to me - we would have taken the night off after such a trying day! After all. Lord Sesshomaru must be tired after having to save everyone." Rin giggled and gave a cute little roll of her eyes up at Sesshomaru, where the imp couldn't see. Then she turned and skipped back to where Jaken walked, leading A-un. Her laughter wafted through the breeze along with the scent of lilacs. At least for now, Sesshomaru's world was at peace.