The End [5/12]

[Calla Lily]

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?Rin?? he asked quietly as he unwrapped the bundle he was carrying to peer into her tear-stained face. She opened her inflamed eyes and took a deep breath.

?Tell me what happened.? Her lip quivered but she didn?t speak. Instead, she clutched the blanket around herself and hugged the pillow close to her body, staring up at the moon. The Lord of the Western Lands briefly felt like Inuyasha, and how he had to deal with his own emotional human female, Kagome. But his Rin rarely cried.



?But just tell me you love me,?



Not knowing what else to do, he just sat on the roof beside her, giving her time to calm her fears until she was ready to speak to him. The dog demon sniffed the air for any unusual smells.

He picked up human scents, all mingling with Rin?s own. He recognized all of them to be the same familiar ones of her playmates in the human villages; no one had wrongly touched her? Sesshoumaru let out an internal sigh of relief. Craning his neck to the side, he took a good look at her, besides her soiled appearance and lack of shoes, she wore one of her most expensive gowns that the demons of the household had lovingly made for her? it was one she treasured above all others. Why wear such a delicate thing to play in?

?Rin?? She sniffed. ?I can?t help you if you don?t tell me what happened.? He reasoned.

?You wouldn?t understand.? She replied quietly.

?And why wouldn?t I?? He edged closer to her, letting her rest on his shoulder as her heart rate slowed down. She yawned and let out a sigh.

?Have you ever cared for someone??

?Yes.? What kind of question was that?

?So much that you wake up each morning, hoping to just get a glimpse of them??

?What are you getting at, Rin?? His suspicious golden eyes fell upon her and she bowed her head.

?Do you remember that boy I told you about??

?Yes.? The girl clutched the pillow tighter.

?Well, I?ve been his friend for more than a year and ??

Rin finally spoke about what was troubling her. It was the same story that Sesshoumaru had heard before in the demon courts and the servants? gossip. But it had gotten Rin, and it hit her hard. But her story went like this: ? a lonely girl goes to the village and is accepted by her kind. She finds friends. She?s happy. Then, one day the girl sees boy and he asks for her name. He smiles. Girl comes back the following week and asks the boy to come and play. They become fast friends. She goes to the village everyday to see her friends and that boy. Time passes. Then she realizes that she likes this boy.

?? then what happened??

?Then the girl realizes that the more she tries to ignore that queer feeling in her stomach, the more it grows and she can?t avoid it. She fell in love. Then she?s worried that he doesn?t feel the same way, and so she asks the advice of her friends. Time passes and she finally gets the courage to ask him whether or not he likes her??

?And what did that boy say??

?You know what?? Rin blurted out, ?That girl never really thought of what would come to pass if he ever said no.?

?Is that what happened?? Sesshoumaru whispered to the breathing air.

?Yes. And her heart broke.?

?That wound will heal.?

?Not completely.? she quickly became defensive, ?this was her first love and first heartbreak, and it will never really heal.? For once, the youkai became confused and he too became defensive.

?But the feelings weren?t returned, how could one call it love??

?Just because it?s unrequited, doesn?t mean it can?t happen.?

?You?re still young, Rin. You have yet to know what love truly is. I?ve lived for many years and I?ve seen it before? the young mistake love for lust.? When he turned to look at her, he saw that her eyes had a depth to them that he hadn?t seen before. In the dark of night, it seemed that they had become the silver of the moon.



?And you are only mine?



?You know what I think?? He nodded and continued to stare into her eyes. ?When a young person first realizes it, they know the dangers and how unstable it can be, but they choose to ignore it for they know deep inside that there?s no feeling that can substitute how much they feel for that person. If you truly care for them it makes you happy as well. But as you get older, you realize that not everything you touch can be blessed, sometimes it goes horribly wrong. It is then that you realize that the young love too freely while the old hold it in, waiting for a sign that will tell them there?s a chance of lasting happiness amidst all the chaos.?

?You?ve been reading too much romance novels, Rin.? And for the first time that night, she laughed.

?Blame it on Kagome, my Lord. She?s the one who first got me reading them.? And then she smiled.

They stayed up on the roof in silent company until the stars started to wane and the moon disappeared beyond the shadowy mountains in the West. Sesshoumaru stayed awake and let his mind wander, Rin dreamt silently on her make-shift bed. At last, when the last evening star had melted into the sky and the clouds were tinged pink with the coming of the sun, did he decide to take his ward back to her room to get a good day?s rest. She would not be going back to that village yet.

?My Lord?? she yawned and tried to open her eyes against the creeping sun. Sesshoumaru pulled the blinds over the windows and tied the drapes shut over them. ?Yes??

?Have you ever loved someone, but were afraid that they didn?t feel the same way??

It should have been a simple question to answer, but it was a few moments before Sesshoumaru could think of a reply.

?No, Rin. I don?t think I ever had.? An unusual feeling of despair settled into his gut as he watched her yawn and close her eyes.

?That?s too bad? perhaps one day you will??



?And our love will go on 'til the end of time.?



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