Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi, which is not me.

It's been a long time since I started writing, and my writing has changed a lot since my humble (read: terrible) beginnings. With that in mind, I decided this old one-shot needed a revisit.

This is inspired by the 'draw this again' prompt I've seen around, except that I'm applying it to writing, thus, 'write this again.'

Please enjoy! The old version is still available. If you're unfamiliar with it, check it out to see the differences. Growth in writing is always really interesting to look at.

Jaken would have liked to claim that he knew his lord very well. The demon usually stuck to his habits, save some minor deviations when he became curious about something, or when his annoyance of a half-brother was a factor. Otherwise, Jaken could generally expect the same things from Sesshomaru on any given day.

Today was different.

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, why won't you answer me?" the imp sighed. His inquiry had been repeatedly ignored, which was normal. Jaken would admit that his questioning was, on occasion, unnecessary, but this was one question he could not answer for himself because he could not for the life of him figure out what was going through his lord's head!

He stole a quick glance at the child tagging along behind him. Not an hour earlier had they encountered the girl dead from the quick work of wolves, and no sooner had his lord turned away from her corpse did he suddenly change his mind and call her soul back from the underworld. A test of his sword perhaps, but to let the human follow?! This was precisely what he could not figure out.

Since then she simply followed, neither speaking, questioning, or doing anything that was expected of a human child. Her gaze would be wandering when he glanced back at her; once he caught her looking at her hands as though they didn't seem to belong there, another time had her staring in wonder at the two-headed dragon they had found use of, but otherwise nothing. He amounted that all to having been dead not long before.

Why she didn't remain dead was something only Sesshomaru could answer, and he was being stubbornly silent on that matter.

They walked on for a bit longer, Sesshomaru proud despite his current lack of armor, Jaken questioning and sighing, and the girl still unnervingly quiet.

At least until her stomach rumbled.

Being the only sound from her since she'd started taking breath again, even Sesshomaru paused in his pace. The girl simply stared at her own abdomen for a long moment before putting her hands over it and looking up with an odd mixture of pleading and surprise in her eyes.

"…Hungry, are you?" Sesshomaru asked her, thinking back to the food she had offered him while he was immobilized. That had not been hers, had it?

It took her a moment, but she nodded in confirmation.

"Then go find yourself food," he instructed. "You are capable of that, are you not?"

She nodded again, but a small noise accompanied it this time.

"Jaken, see to it that a fire is made," he added. "We shall stop here for the night."

"Stop…?" Jaken began, though a quick look reminded him not to question orders. "Oh! Yes, of course, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Jaken quickly scurried off to collect kindling for the fire, leaving Sesshomaru and the girl behind. Sesshomaru reclined against a tree, allowing himself some rest. He had not yet recovered to the point that he could restore his armor, and he could use the time the child would need to gather food and rest to do just that.

"Se…"

He looked over at the girl, realizing the noise had come from her. Her mouth formed a tight line as she was caught in his gaze, so he turned away again.

"If you have something to say, then do so," he told her.

She was quiet for a long moment, before she tried again.

"Sessho…maru."

It was a strange feeling to hear her utter his name, and it had his gaze back to her again. Her voice was quiet and a touch hoarse from lack of use, but it was not fearful. Only hesitant.

"Sesshomaru," she tried again, more smoothly this time, slightly louder, as if she were getting used to it.

"Remember to be respectful," he reminded her. She made a small noise of surprise, giving him an apologetic look. He waited.

"Lord…Sesshomaru."

"Good," he praised her. It was unlike him, but he figured the child could use some coaxing to bring out her voice.

She smiled up at him, and he could not continue his thoughts for a moment. Tenseiga was to blame for her spared life, he insisted to himself. The sword and whatever will his father had left behind in it. The girl's smile was an undeniable factor, however. That a human child could smile at him without fear, knowing what he was and yet attempting to help him despite that…yes, it was a reason. Not the sole reason, he would continue to insist, but at least one of them.

"…Do you have a name?" he questioned her after a long moment.

She looked surprised by his inquiry, same as she had when he'd asked about the bruises that had appeared on her between visits. It made him curious about the village she'd come from, and what it must have been like for her if simple questions garnered such a reaction.

"Ri…ah…" she trailed off, unsure of her voice.

"You needn't hesitate," he reminded her.

"…Rin," she finally finished. "My name is Rin."

A full sentence, and a good name. This was going well.

"Rin," he repeated, testing her name as she had tested his. It was a simple name, short but sweet, and he found he liked it. It seemed to suit her.

"Know this, Rin," he started somewhat seriously. "You may follow me if you so choose, but you are responsible for yourself. You must find your own food, your own water, and care for yourself. You need not ask for such things, but should I give you instructions, I expect you to follow them. Your life may become endangered, should you not."

Having her follow was something he realized belatedly he had given very little thought to. It had just happened that she did, and it happened that he did not disagree with the idea. How long this might last, he was unsure. For now…

Tenseiga may have possessed him to revive her, but he could not lay the blame on the sword for this.

She stared at him silently for a long moment, processing what he had said. Then she nodded, slowly at first, then with more confidence. A look passed over her face as though she had just recalled something important, and she dropped into a low bow.

"T-Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru," she added.

"…You're welcome," he replied after a moment. Though her voice still wavered, her sincerity was clear, and he allowed himself some time to process that sincerity directed toward him. This was new, and unusual. Perhaps he could come to enjoy such things.

The rumbling of her stomach interrupted his thoughts, and she looked slightly embarrassed by its disturbance.

"Go," he prompted. She nodded quickly and turned to the forest in search of a meal, leaving him to his own thoughts.

He was not entirely surprised when she returned before Jaken, given her advantage of longer limbs and apparent knowledge of where to forage for food. It was not often he chose to have a fire burn, and setting Jaken to the task always created a delay when it came to gathering tinder, but the evenings were cooler and he expected the girl would require the warmth of one.

Rin knelt down, careful to keep her collection from spilling out of the basket she'd created using her tattered clothing. That would need replacing, he absently noted. She took to laying out a few large leaves and placing mushrooms and berries on each, before pausing on the third. A quick glance directed at him told him she had considered food for him yet again; this despite her previous efforts going to waste had him questioning her reasoning.

"Um…" she started somewhat hesitantly. "Lord Sesshomaru…does not eat human food; correct?"

The more progressive sentence let him know that the child did indeed possess the ability to speak despite her muteness before her death. She also remembered his words; she was observant, a quality the child would have to possess if she chose to follow him.

"Correct," he affirmed.

She nodded once to herself, but he could see by the look in her eyes that she questioned what he would eat instead.

"…Is Lord Sesshomaru hungry?" she asked, with less hesitation.

"No," he replied simply. "You needn't worry for my hunger; when I require food, I shall get it myself."

"Oh."

Though she sounded somewhat disappointed, she appeared to accept that, setting aside the leaf that would have served as his serving dish.

"Does…Jaken…eat human food?" she followed up, realizing that the imp may also have a diet that differed from hers. The delay in her speech this time seemed to be due to having to recall the single use of his name.

"He does."

This put a small smile on her face, which allowed her to continue her task.

For the next few minutes, Sesshomaru considered the growth of her speech. It appeared to be coming along rather quickly, a positive sign that she had recovered her voice and had retained her ability to both understand and verbalize properly despite her time being mute. He had no way of knowing how long she had not used her voice, but it appeared that with the recovery of her soul, it had found its way back as well.

For this reason, he decided to pursue his curiosity concerning her reasoning for endeavoring to aid him. Conversation was simply the best way for her to completely regain the confidence necessary to communicate without indecision, and it would assist him in satisfying the craving he had for such knowledge.

"I am curious," he started, pausing to give her time to turn to him. "Why did you attempt to assist me? Humans rarely give aid to those that would prey on them."

She stared at him for a long moment, though he could not decide if the look on her face was one of disbelief or simply an indicator that she was searching for the words to use.

"Lord Sesshomaru…was hurt," she explained. "And alone."

"Had you considered that I could kill you?" he added.

"…No," she replied after a moment. That somewhat surprised him, but then she was just a child. Perhaps she had no reference with which to compare the level of his threat to.

"It's scary…and sad to be alone," she continued. "I thought, maybe Lord Sesshomaru…would feel better not being alone."

"I take it you know that feeling well?" he ventured, which earned him a wide-eyed stare. Sadness quickly collected in her features and her shoulders and gaze dropped under the weight of it, but she did not cry.

"Yes," she replied quietly. "My family…they were all killed by bandits. The village took me in, but…they didn't like me much. I lived by myself."

That explained her lack of fear toward him, he figured. Those that would have taught her to be afraid of such things had perished before the teaching set in. Her worst experience involved humans rather than demons, and thus he was not considered for a threat. Had he been a lowly brigand, she surely would have kept her distance despite him being injured and alone.

"And now…the village," she continued. "I hope some of them survived."

He found his head tilting slightly at that.

"Was the village you lived in attacked?"

This time she shivered, and he could see a slight tremble to her lip that wasn't present when she spoke of her family. She nodded, blinking back tears as she tried to calm down by wrapping her arms around herself, and answered, "By wolves."

So she had encountered the wolves not in the forest, but in the village. Having been killed by them explained the fear, of course, and an encounter with brigands would likely produce a similar reaction in her, seeing as they had left her mute. If she were to remain traveling with him, he would need to remember to avoid them.

…Avoid them for the sake of her feelings? No. No, simply to make things easier for himself. Her tears annoyed him.

"You needn't fear wolves while you are here, Rin," he told her. "They would be unwise to approach me."

The wide-eyed stare he was caught in told him she had not expected such words. He found them rather unusual himself, but did not let on about that.

A moment later and she was wiping the tears from her eyes, giving him a renewed look of happiness that made him wonder how long it would take to get used to such looks.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

He inclined his head in acknowledgement.

Further conversation was cut off by the arrival of Jaken, whose somewhat meager gathering of kindle would not quite last the night. Sesshomaru made that clear with a glance between the sticks and Jaken's own gaze. The imp quickly realized the implication.

"I-I'll gather more shortly, milord!"

"Would you like me to help?"

Rin speaking startled the imp into a stutter of incoherent words Sesshomaru found himself amused by.

"Y-You can speak, girl!"

"I can now, yes," she corrected him.

"Then you can tell me why it is that you are following us!" he demanded. "What reason did Lord Sesshomaru have for saving you?"

"Jaken."

His tirade halted under the unspoken command for silence on the matter, and his retainer muttered his apologies.

Rin looked back and forth between the two, unsure if she should speak, before seeming to decide that the imp's distressed look needed remedying.

"Lord Sesshomaru told me I could follow him if I chose to," she answered the imp. "I would like to follow like you do, Jaken. Is that alright?"

The imp's disbelieving gaze shot right to him, and he returned it with a steady regard for a moment before turning away. A minor shrug of his shoulders said all he intended to say – the equivalent of because I felt like it.

Defeated, he knew, Jaken turned back to the girl in resignation.

"Oh, fine then. But on one condition!"

"And what is that?" Rin questioned.

"You must call me Master Jaken!"

The girl's smile was one of great happiness. Sesshomaru was amused by the idea of Jaken having someone under him for the first time in many, many years. It had been a long time since he had left his own kind to follow behind him (for a debt Sesshomaru insisted was only a matter of coincidence, but convince Jaken of that, he could not). Going from leader to servant hadn't seemed a difficult transition for the imp, but Sesshomaru had suspected he missed the ability to command.

He got the feeling Jaken would have a difficult time commanding Rin, though.

"Okay, Master Jaken!"

Over the evening, Rin had further convinced Jaken that she was less of a hindrance than he had first thought her to be, firstly through the demonstration that she knew how to build a proper fire, and secondly through her offering of half of the food she had gathered. She had made herself comfortable with the dragon, to the point where the beast seemed inclined to let her climb all over it, and had even asked if she could name it. She had yet to come up with a name she liked, though.

She had so easily become a part of the scenery, Sesshomaru found himself amazed. Jaken would likely disagree for a while, but given time, even he might come to appreciate the way she fit in. She commanded a different sort of presence that somehow bled into their own and yet stood out all the same. He found she brought with her a warmth he hadn't realized was something to be aware of, and the innocence of a child was interesting to observe in this setting dominated by demons.

He knew at some point he would have to leave her with a human village, if she did not choose to leave him first. Humans lived best among themselves, really, and a human child would certainly find danger staying with him for a lengthy period. For now, he could observe and perhaps enjoy what she added to his routine. She would be left behind when he went to battle so that she would not come to harm.

He would not protect her…no, he did not need that someone to protect his father had so cryptically insisted he should have before the battle that had cost the demon his life. If she was never in a situation where she would need protecting, there would be no need for it. Simple as that.

Sesshomaru sighed quietly. Tenseiga had made things rather complicated for him in the last few days. Between protecting him from Inuyasha's attack and insisting he save a human child's life, he was starting to wonder what possessed him to carry it.

"Is something the matter, Lord Sesshomaru?"

Somewhat surprised by the intrusion of Rin's voice on his thoughts, he turned to find that the girl he had mistakenly assumed was asleep was quite awake. His mind must have wandered quite a bit to have lost the rise and fall of breath from her among those of Jaken and the dragon. She was still curled up by the dragon's side, but her head was now raised, eyes full of question and concern.

"It is nothing," he replied.

She looked as though she did not believe him, and he wondered if the child had learned in her time alone how to read others well as a means of survival. That may have accounted for her continued visits and why she had not considered that he could kill her.

"Are your wounds troubling you?" she pressed. It seemed she did not yet understand that his answers were meant to be the end of a conversation, but he was not entirely displeased by her persistence. In a way, it was good to see; her confidence in speaking was lacking less.

"They are healing."

It was a non-answer she would have to mull over, but he didn't give her much time to.

"You should sleep, Rin."

Her eyes widened slightly before turning downcast. That was not what she had wanted to be told.

It was quiet for a short time, save for Jaken's snores, before she mustered up the courage to tell him what was wrong.

"I'm scared. I know you told me I didn't have to be afraid of the wolves, and I'm not afraid of them right now, but when I close my eyes and it gets dark, I think that I hear them. And then it gets really dark and cold and lonely like it was before…"

Did the child remember death? It was possible; he hardly knew what those who were brought back by Tenseiga would or would not recall, and the way she described it certainly seemed appropriate. The fear would haunt her in her dreams; to expect her to sleep so soon after being revived would be to dismiss the probability that her imagination couldn't link sleeping to death.

A redirect was in order, then.

"What do you remember after that?"

When she gave him a confused look, he added, "After it became dark." Her hands balled into small fists on her chest, but he could see that she was forcing herself to think about it. At first it seemed that she would not be able to follow the direction he was trying to guide her, and he was tempted to simply let it go and see if she could stay awake the whole night, but the small gasp and the look in her eyes that followed that thought brought something of a smile to his own.

"It suddenly got really bright and warm," she described to him, hands relaxing as she did. "Then when I woke up, you were there."

He gave her a nod, which brought a smile to her face.

"You needn't be afraid of it," he told her.

"Even if I go back to that place, the light will still come. Lord Sesshomaru will still come."

He didn't know how he felt about being likened to the light of Tenseiga, but he didn't think he disliked it.

Rin thanked him.

Not long after, he noted the steady rise and fall of her chest that indicated sleep.

The following days allowed more of the girl's personality to surface, to the chagrin of Jaken and the amusement of Sesshomaru. Jaken had been sent to fetch a more appropriate kimono for her, for which Rin was so grateful for that she returned the favor in the best way she could – with a bouquet of wild flowers for Sesshomaru and a dinner of fish and mushrooms for Jaken. The tan and orange fabric suited her much more than her previous garments.

Sesshomaru had decided when he restored his armor that he would also use the opportunity to introduce Rin to his true form, as it would be a much more efficient use of his energy. It became something of a test; if she could not see him in that state, he did not think she would be able to follow him. He prepared her with a short explanation, a brief reminder that a dog was not a wolf, and left Jaken to embellish whatever he saw fit.

Rin passed that test without trouble, though he was somehow not surprised by this. It seemed no matter how similar his form was to a wolf, because it was him, she would not be scared.

He left Jaken to explain the missing limb she had become curious about, after a look reminding him certain things should be left out. Jaken's story became a short and acceptable account from that point on.

When Jaken finished with the amended tale, he gave his lord a very long look that was not returned. He was too busy allowing Rin to explore his true form with all the curiosity of a child. Confused and certain that something had to have gone loose in the dog's head after his battle with Inuyasha and the injuries sustained thus, the imp turned back to the newly dubbed Ah-Un and seated himself in a huff on the dragon's back.

Because he felt like it.

That was hardly an explanation at all.

Jaken entertained the idea that maybe Sesshomaru was just as confused by it as he was. After all, humans were beneath him, and he had expressed that belief on multiple occasions in varying forms of bloodshed.

The light of his lord's transformation back into his smaller form distracted him from his thoughts.

"Ah, your wounds are gone!" Rin exclaimed. "And your armor is fixed! That's great, Lord Sesshomaru!"

Jaken would swear later that it was a trick of the light; Sesshomaru's eyes did not smile like that. Not for anyone, and most certainly not for a human.

This one came out a bit more in-character than the first incarnation of it. I've played around with various ideas for the way Rin is introduced to Sesshomaru's true form and her reaction to it, but I get the feeling Rin would have just accepted it like it was nothing.

Reviews are always appreciated, even on the things that will not continue (this is a one-shot – I have no intention of adding more chapters). On that note, if you'll take the time to hop over to my profile and read the older version and tell me what you think of this based on that old thing, I'd be very appreciative. Otherwise, just hearing from you is nice.

Thanks for reading!

-sf