Mortality

Oneshot

"Do you have someone to protect?"

Sesshomaru stared down at Rin's blank eyes, the life drained from her glowing brown irises. Tenseiga. He could do it again. But for what purpose? The small, trash-like vermin gathered around her, beckoning for their friends. Sesshomaru could see them.

He could kill them.

'Lord Sesshomaru...'

He gripped Tokijin's hilt. He could kill her. He could save himself. Tenseiga pulsed beside his reluctant hand. he could save her. He could ruin himself.

"Rin."

xxx

10 years passed. Rin knew it well, for every year, she made a tear in her dress. It reminded her of her humanity. She was up to 20 marks. She still wasn't sure how old she was, but she assumed it was around 20, maybe 30 even. She wasn't sure.

She'd grown over the years; her heart and body maturing with time. She was afraid of time. She knew that she could only follow him for so long before mortality caught up to her, caught up to both of them.

"Rin."

She hesitated for a moment, relishing in his unchanging voice, the sweet ring to his tone, that she hoped she wasn't imagining, as he said her name. She inhaled and dropped a flower beside the riverbed.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?" She smiled at him, blissfully ignorant, wonderfully unaware. How much longer?

xxx

He couldn't do it. Even as his hand itched at Tokijin's handle, he grabbed Tenseiga instead. Why he had made such a choice, he couldn't say, but perhaps... Perhaps she could.

Life was restored in Rin's eyes, her soul returning to her body. Her eyes trembled, frightened by the hesitation he displayed.

"Lord Sesshomaru." It was different. His name came out estranged from her lips. He refused to hear it.

Sesshomaru turned his back on her, walking away and easing only when he could hear her footsteps trail behind him.

xxx

Rin breathed a sigh of relief as an arm pulled her closer. She had waited for so long, loved for so long. She pressed her cheek against the soft fabric of his clothes, a smile gracing her lips.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she began, "can you forget about my mortality? Just for one night?"

She gazed up at him, anxious for his answer. Rin's heart raced, her eyes watered and she could only giggle unbearably as Sesshomaru leaned down, his hair tickling her neck, brushing against her cheek.

He pressed his cold lips to her ear and whispered, "Just for one night."

xxx

"Will you tell me why you hate me, father?"

"I don't hate you."

"Please don't lie to me. Is it because I remind you of your brother? That InuYasha?"

Sesshomaru stopped walking and gave the other silver-haired demon a sideways glance. He looked forward again, his expression unchanging.

"No." He hesitated for a brief moment. "...It's because you remind me of your mother."

TA: Okay, so I had this story written down even before summer vacation. I just forgot all about it until I was getting stuff ready for the new school year. . Well, that takes yet another story off the list, so... yay! ...I guess. T.T I don't want to grow up.