Surely, he had noticed. Rin wasn't really thrilled about having to have to call out to her Lord. Then again, she did not want him to leave her here.

Just as she made to call for him, he stopped. He did not turn back to her but a barely noticeable inclining of his head was enough for her to know. He had noticed.

Gathering the fine silk of her kimono, Rin made quick work of collecting all the shells she could find.

It had been a while since she'd last been to the sea. She couldn't recall if she'd ever been to the sea with her family, back when they were still alive. But when she turned ten, as a sort of gift, her Sesshōmaru-sama had taken her to the beaches of the Western Lands.

Jaken, who'd accompanied the both of them, had complained about the stench of the fish and the sand that would keep getting on his staff. But after a quick glare of his Lord, he'd come to enjoy the sea – or he at least stopped with his complaints.

Rin hadn't paid him much mind to begin with. She had been fascinated by the smells, at least those her human senses offered her, the shrieking of the sea gulls above her head and the salty water touching her bare feet.

When she had turned to thank her Lord, she had mistaken a sparkling in his eyes to be a sort of pride. By now, she was sure that it had been mere amusement.

Amusement, maybe, at how the wind had ruffled her hair, which it was doing yet again.

Having collected all the beautiful, and even some of the not-so-beautiful, shells she could find, Rin stood and made to catch up with her companions.

"Rin." She shot him a smile. "Are you finished?"

Her smile grew. "Yes!"

He had not even turned to look at her, but with her that was fine.

Later that evening, when the sun had finally set behind the mountains of the countryside, a yawn escaped the young girl. She flopped onto the ground, stating that this was indeed a very good place to settle down and began to retrieve the shells out of her silken kimono.

She noticed how they came in every possible shape, every possible color. Yet they were all beautiful in their own way. Not as beautiful, perhaps, as those she had found way back, on her tenth birthday.

But those were long gone.

"Jaken-sama." She was back to yawning again. "How come you don't like being near water? Aren't you a frog?"

The kappa shot her a glare. After all these years, he did not even bother to be upset at her sleepy gibberish.

Maybe he had grown to like her, after all. Then again, it had been quite a few years by now. Not that the yōkai had bothered counting, but she grew.

And after having his Lord confessing that he held feelings – a concept Jaken had always thought his Lord incapable of – for her, he did not dare questioning the strange little human.

Maybe he had grown soft. Or he really did come to like her.

"I'm going to sleep now," Rin mumbled, "And so should you, Jaken-sama."

He wasn't going to. He sighed. "Goodnight, Rin."

The Lord of the Western Lands stood, watching his little ward sleep in peaceful silence. This night again, he would make sure no trouble was to befall her.

It had been but a year since she had made her choice; she had chosen to travel with him again.

But Rin still was only fourteen. He had told her she should wait just a few years more. As much as it pained him, it would only soothe his pride if she was to stay her young womanhood in the human village. It would only soothe his pride if she were to not find a suitable husband between those lower lives.

It would only…

"Sesshōmaru-sama?"

He turned.

"Rin."

The young girl came to stand a few paces behind him. "May I join you, Milord?" she asked softly.

His nose twitched at her still innocent scent. She was in the bloom of her maidenhood, he was not going to touch her. But he wanted to.

"You may."

She hummed a soft tune, reaching out to link her arms with him. His eyes drifted swiftly to her, before they came to rest on the endless sea of twinkling stars on the dark abyss of the night.

"When I call, you'd come," she whispered.

He did not answer.

She stroked the white silk of his kimono.

Unchanging as the sea. Beautiful as all her shells.

"Will you hear me?"

He leaned down. She was too young.

"I love you," she whispered, "Will you hear me?"

He did not care.

He leaned in further, cupping her jaw.

Her breathing had gone slow. Her chest was barely rising and falling.

"Will you hear me?"

Her voice was almost inaudible.

Sesshōmaru closed the space between them.

"Always."

Soooo, that was my first "fanfic" on here and actually, the first one I originally wrote in English. I currently suffer from writer's block and since I started to re-watch my all-time-favorite anime Inuyasha, I decided to write something really short about my OTP. Turned out better than I expected. Long story short, I liked it and decided to publish it. So, yeah. Reviews would still be appreciated~!