Don't own anything but what's mine. Yep.

I edited a little and added, let me know plot wise. I will have another set of eyes on it as I go to help me edit. I will try to do weekly updates, bi-weekly at worst. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 - Songs

The morning air stirred her before the others. Rin blinked and fought the drowsiness as she realized that she had slept and the day was now upon her. Her 17th birthday. She got up and softly made her way out of the hut trying not to wake old Kaeda as she gathered some things. She quickly walked out of the village towards the river and across the bridge into InuYasha's forest. As Rin entered into the forest the light of the first morning raise broke and slowly rose to meet the tree line and spill onto the dew covered grass under her bare feet. Her breath was visible on the cold morning air but that did little to discourage Rin. She kept her pace until she came upon the small pool of water that connected the river to a waterfall but held no current that would wash her away. She eagerly disrobed and jumped into the water. She had to be clean and proper for today. The cold water caused her to curl in on herself under the surface, the frigidness bringing her nerve ends to life and started her blood really pumping, but soon her body became accustomed to the temperature and she resurfaced with a happy gasp for air. She giggled and turned for her things to retrieve her soaps and perfumes she had kept for this special day. The day that he would come and let her return with him. She lathered up the soap and greedily applied it to her hair, making sure she scrubbed away all of her childishness along with it. Today she was a woman. Thinking of him brought a small smile to her lips and as she scrubbed she began singing to herself softly.

"Oh Lord Sesshomaru when will you return for me; my loving Lord will return and take me and we will be together for all eternity. "

She laughed at herself, recalling her silly songs from her childhood and how master Jaken would scold her for "such nonsense" but A-Un seemed to enjoy it. And her Lord never complained and that to her was all the encouragement she needed to continue back then.

With a flourish she gulped in air and surmised herself in the water again to rinse her hair. She let the waters soft swirls undo all the suds she had created and wash her hair clean. She re emerged and with balled fist she rubbed the water from her eyes and then ran her fingers through her hair to remove it from her face. All these years Rin had kept the similar hairstyle she had always had, enjoying her bangs being partly in a bun but as the time passed, she had allowed her hair to grow longer than most women in the village did and so she wear it in a tight bun at the nape of her neck as it was inconvenient to have hair so long but Rin didn't care. She thought of Lord Sesshomaru's long mane and softly stroked the length of her hair 'til her fingers fell just below her butt. A small part of Rin hoped he would find it flattering. With the remaining soap she washed her body carefully. Enjoying the feeling of the slick soap over her skin and the smell of the perfume as she worked. She wondered if all her work would please Lord Sesshomaru. He had started to visit less and less over the years. Going from sporadic and multiple to more steady but fewer. The last 2 years she only saw him on her birthday. And now that she was of proper age she could return to him. It wasn't that she despised being with humans. Kaeda and the others had made living in the village tolerable, tho it was rare that she wandered far without some form of an escort. Today was different. She had to prepare and she would not be turned down or forced to wait any longer. She had already waited 6 years to be back with Lord sesshomaru. Wasn't that long enough?

After washing every inch of herself, even the spaces between her toes, Rin made her way towards the small pile of clothes she had left on a nearby rock. She shook herself off and ran out her hair as best she could, not wanting to get the fine clothes she had wet. Slowly she dressed herself in her underclothes and put on some wooden sandals that she had kept but never wore until today, today was not a day for dirty feet. Finally she put on the outer robe, a pink silk kimono with yellow and gold butterflies stitched on to it that Lord Sesshomaru had given her for her last birthday. She had some trouble with the sash to tie the garment closed and was about to give up and just return to the village with it tied wrong and have Miss Sango fix it before Lord Sesshomaru showed up when a voice called out to her.

"Miss Rin, what are you doing out here in the demon filled forest? This is no place for a young beautiful maiden such as yourself." The voice grated at her nerves and a small part of Rin wanted to run and not look back at the owner of the voice. Slowly Rin turned with a downward castes face to the rich warlord Kinsum. Her gaze slowly rose to take in his more casual appearance of a samurai robe instead of his usual dark armor and helmet. The color of the robe was off. It was a pale blue and was too youthful for the 40 some year old man. His paling brown hair was long enough to be pulled back into a short ponytail high up at the back of his head. This attempt of youth was not very effective as it was causing his small dull eyes, which were too far apart to begin with, to look constantly surprised and made his piggish nose even more pronounced than it already was set strangling against his wiry mustache.

"Warlord Kinsum, I did not know you had returned to the village so soon." Rin inquired politely as she turned and began winding her hair so she could bun it and be on her way.

"Please miss Rin, Lord Kinsum is fine enough." Rin internally resisted the urge to gag. A part of her wanted to yell at him that she only recognized one lord and Kinsum was not that lord.

She smiled a little too sweetly and said, "What brings you to the river so early in the morning, Warlord Kinsum?" He made a face at her obvious use if his title but quickly recovered.

"I heard some men talk of seeing a beautiful spirit or spirit in the forest this morning and I came to see what manner of being could be given such a high praise. I should have known it was you."

He had taken some steps towards Rin as he spoke and smiled greedily and almost lecherously at her at the end.

Rin bowed her head as if she were embarrassed but only did so to cover up the fact she was rolling her eyes. She took a cautious side step to collect her discarded sleeping clothes and bring herself further from the man. "I came to bath and purify myself for today."

He took a step towards her in response. "And what is so special about today?" He again inclined his head in her direction and his fingers began to twitch, as if he wanted to reach out and touch her.

Rin thought crudely to herself 'It is none of your business.' "It's my birthday," Rin responded softly.

Kinsum clapped his hands together and grew closer still to Rin. "My, that's wonderful! Miss Rin is finally a grown woman it would seem."

Rin had collected her things and was turning to leave the old man behind her when he finally placed his hand on her shoulder to turn her around. Rin's eyes grew large as she heard a scream rip through the forest, echoing all the way back the village. It took a moment for Rin to realize the sound had come from her. She turned to see Warlord Kinsum with his hands raised in surrender and confusion in front of him, like he was sure, at any moment, Rin would hit him. His eyes were screwed shut, causing his forehead to wrinkle. She took the moments confusion to make her way towards the trees. She walked quickly but did not run, for fear of falling in her new shoes and ruining her kimono.

After some minutes Rin turned to look behind her to see if Kinsum was following. She was relieved to see that he was not, or if he was, he was lost in the foreign forest he never entered.

Some time back the warlord had arrived in the village to defeat the "evil and terribly strong dog demon InuYasha" that was rumored to have this village under his merciless reign. What he found was not the half demon but his wife, Lady Kagome, giving the warlord an ear full in her husband's absence as he was away with the Lord Monk Miroku on an exorcism to make some money for the village. Kagome did her best to convince the war lord that his concerns were unnecessary as she tried to not let her early pregnancy alert the warlord of how well demons and humans got along in this village. A rarity that left many men in power wanting to destroy the village. The foreign idea being too much for them and the instinct to fight change consume them. The day almost ended in a fight as lady Kaeda and Rin returned from collecting herbs for Kagomes morning sickness. The old priestess did all she could to end the conversation but it ended up being Rins presence that caught the old warlords attention. He decided the point was moot as the hour was late and requested lodging until the next day to attack. That was 6 months ago. In that time Kistum had come and gone and slowly seemed to be building a home for himself in the village, all to woo Rin, it seemed. He had proposed many time within the last months but was always rejected yet he never left.

Her breath was quick despite her slower than normal pace and Rin felt a twinge of guilt at the effect her scream had had on the old man. But also, she was upset at herself for still having some small unknown fear of older human men. She had thought she was better. She never feared Miroku or InuYasha. And she had never feared the buffoon of a warlord before, but when he had placed his hand on her shoulder, her mind went blank for a second and her instincts took over.

Rin was worried what effect this information would have on her life in the village. If she tripped and someone helped her would she scream at them too? If one of the older men with sore backs or limbs came for herbs she had picked would she run away from them? It was almost comical, the idea of a 16 year old girl being afraid of an elderly man. No, 17 year old woman. At the reminder of her new age Rin grew calm. She didn't have to worry what life in the village would be like now. She would soon be with Lord Sesshomaru and all would be as it should be. With this thought in mind, Rin unconsciously started her soft singing and smiled as she made her way back to Kaeda's hut.

Meanwhile, as the same day began on a dirt path headed in the opposite direction of Kaede's village.

"Milord?"

Cold gold eyes turned to acknowledge his servants voice.

"I thought I should remind you, Milord, that today is Rin's birthday." At the silence, he blathered on, "She will probably be expecting us to visit her at some point today."

As the eyes narrowed he sputtered and continued with a "Not that you forgot her birthday!" and a "Or that her birthday even matters! Marking the passage of time of a human's short life span seems idiotic, wouldn't you say, Milord?" and with a nervous chuckle Jaken was relieved of his staff of the two heads and severely beaten with it before his master dropped the stick and continued his walk towards a small castle in the north. There Sesshomaru hoped to find the perfect gift for Rin's birthday.