Rewind by ZooZebra

Such is Time

Sadly I don't own Inuyasha or it's characters. All of that awesomeness belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Several of the characters do belong to me, however, so please don't steal!

With love,

~Zoo

UPDATED

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Chapter 1

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The crunch of the white snow beneath his feet was the only sound reverberating in the silent woods as he patrolled his territory. His regal expressionless eyes scanned what he could see and his demon senses searched what he could not. Long gone where his emotions for they held him back. Or so to the public eye, at least. Only a true warrior with no emotional connections would conquer. The great Lord of the Western Lands was no exception. This Sesshomaru was devoid of anything human, despising the very name of that species, save his handsome humanlike features.

            He wasn’t always this way though. Thoughts of a woman whose laughter chimed like bells echoed in his memory. He remembered the first few shy encounters, the long and heated nights. She was gone, taken from him before he could even act. Had he courted her sooner, she wouldn’t have been in that palace, she would have been with him. There was something that never forgot her. Something that made him despise every happy individual that walked his path. He hated that others could smile, that they had a reason to smile.

 But life moved on and he continued being the great Western Lord. At his hip, he prided himself in his sword, Toukijin, forged by Kaijinbou by taking a fang of a fallen demon and creating the sword from it. Despite the evil embodiment within, he conquered the sword with ease. This was his powerful sword, unlike the inherited sword his worthless father left for him. Tenseiga, the sword that could revive 100 dead bodies with one stroke, was made from the late Inu Taisho’s fang, the shame to the Western lands. At least in Sesshomaru mind. Pathetic, was all Sesshomaru could think of to describe both the sword and the owner of the fang who requested it forged by Toutousai. He received a sword that could not cut, but revive, while his half breed half brother received the sword of death. Tetsusaiga, the blade that could kill 100 lives in a single stroke, was given to a weak half demon and Sesshomaru never understood why. He knew his father would leave the Western Lands to him. What he didn’t know what was why with the lands in his control, wasn’t the blade of death left to him as well. Another shame.

As he continued his rounds around his palace, he found a yellow daisy laying undisturbed in his path. He bent forward and picked it up, knowing who had strategically placed it there waiting for him to find it. Continuing onward, he found another, then another. He followed the trail until he reached a sleeping child laying on the back of a two headed dragon. Ah-Un bowed their heads low as their master approached them and then continued grazing on the grass hidden beneath the snow. He placed the flowers he had picked up in his pocket and reached to lift the resting girl. She stirred and leaned closer to the warmth near her and opened her eyes. As she realized who was holding her, her sleepy face sprung to life and her toothy smile stretched from her mouth to her eyes. She moved in his arms and arranged herself so she was hugging him around the neck, burring her face into his chest as she avoided his sharp armor. Though not a soul had seen it, a smile flickered on his lips and vanished so quickly, one would think they had imagined seeing it. Sesshomaru headed back to the castle to send her off to bed. The human child was the only human being to ever be seen with the Western Lord in such a manner. What was even stranger than the human hating demon watching over a puny human girl, was how the two met.

After Sesshomaru lost his left arm in a battle with his hated half brother, Inuyasha, he retreated to a tree where he planned on resting to regain his strength. As he was laying under the tree, a girl around the age of 6 stumbled across the wounded demon. Though she new of the stigmata between humans and demons, she paid no heed to it. She approached the bloody being, curious of his injury. He sensed someone approaching so he shot upright and growled a menacing warning for whoever it was to stay back. Rin, seeing this, swallowed her breath and stepped closer as he watched her closely. She left quickly and he thought he had seen the last of her. Then he noticed her coming again, this time carrying a large leaf filled with edible mushroom and a fish. She placed them before him then turned to leave. He didn’t look up at her when he told her to forget bringing him such nonsense; that he didn’t eat human food and it was a wasted attempt. She paused in her steps to turn and look at him. After a few moments of looking at him, she left. However, she did not give up. She returned the next day with more food. Each time, Sesshomaru denied her offerings. She could only peer at him with one eye. Her other eye was bruised and swollen, along with the rest of her frail and small body.

Without turning to look at her, he asked, “Where did you get those bruises,” out of curiosity. Thinking she had heard him wrong, she remained quiet and looked at him with one curious eye. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he stated next. This time however, he faced her and looked down at her with expressionless eyes. At his statement, her face lit up with joy and she laughed wholly with her heart and soul. Stunned at her reaction, he asked why on earth was she laughing. That he didn’t care, only curious. That was the first time he heard her laugh. Even in his arrogant, human hating mind, her laugh filled a dark place within him and he enjoyed it very much.

Soon when he was able to back on his feet, he left without a word to the little girl. The next time she went to bring more food, he was gone. As she was walking around searching for food for her empty belly, she heard a growl come from behind her. Her human senses could easily pick up on the threat of that growl which spelled her death. She quickly dropped the mushrooms she collected and took off running. She glanced behind to see what was chasing her and to her fear, she saw a pack of wolves all with blood thirst in their eyes. She pushed her tiny legs as hard and fast as she could, thinking about the white haired demon before she tripped on a tree’s root and toppled forward. Before she could regain herself, the wolves were over her. She turned to see them pounce, her scream echoed through an empty forest.

Not too far off, a scent reached Sesshomaru’s nose. Blood, he thought. Then he smelled the scent of wolves. That’s when it hit him. He recognized the scent attached to the blood. Following the smell trail of blood, he found the tiny girl laying on the floor unmoving. Her laughter was long gone, the joy radiating from her little body was replaced with fear. Her face was turned to him and her un-bruised dead eye remained open, peering at him. His green toad demon advisor, Jaken, approached the dead girl first. He examined her body and agreed that she was indeed killed by wolves. Jaken turned and asked his master if he recognized the dead girl. Without a word, Sesshomaru unsheathed his sword, Tenseiga, to test if it would respond to her. Just as he pulled it out, Tenseiga pulsed with the desire to revive. Interesting, he thought. The background faded in his eyes and he saw the soul collectors of the afterlife ready the girl to move on to the next world. To test out his sword again, he drew his blade back, and sliced through the ugly soul collectors. He kneeled down and cradled the poor girl to him and waited. His eyes widened and he drew a gasp of surprise when she began to stir. Her wounded eye was healed and she looked up at him with both brown eyes sparkling with new life. She stepped back and looked up at him in wonder, knowing he had saved her. He stood and turned, leaving both the girl and his advisor behind him. Jaken was shocked, to say the least, as he called for his master to wait for him. The girl left the toad demon as she began to step forward, following him. She quickened her pace as she took off after him. Since then, she never left his side. Nor did he ask her to. She tended to herself, found her own meals, and never complained. Although during the first few weeks of her joining his pack, she did not smile or talk much. He did miss her laughter and he was quite concerned that it was gone. After spending time with her new demon lord, she began to open up and soon her joyous sparkle was back. Finally she told him her name and life continued on like nothing had changed for Sesshomaru.

However, much indeed had changed. He never thought he would open himself to another since…Sesshomaru’s train of thought cut short and he stopped in his tracks. He peered down at the sleeping girl and a slight pang throbbed in his heart. He turned his face to the full silver moon and whispered,

“Miyuki.” The wind picked up and caressed his cheek and he closed his eyes feeling the emptiness at his right hand. He composed himself and continued forth into his palace. Keeping quieter than a mouse, he placed his Rin in her soft bed and sat beside her to reminisce on his journey. He adored the girl very much and welcomed the thought of being her father. He had noticed her slip up and almost call him as such but she always corrected herself. He wanted so much for her to call him Otousan, but he would wait until she was ready. He had every intention at making her his daughter in the eyes of demon law, with the adoption ceremony and marking ceremony in hand. But she would have to ask, as per demon law. Curse the code, he thought darkly. He was not allowed to ask her since he did not have an heir on his own yet. He was only allowed to be her guardian unless she approached him about it. Even then, it was a rare chance she would ever be entrusted with the Western Lands by the other Lords. She was a human after all.

Leaving her quarters with a barely audible sigh, he shut her door and walked to his study to sit in his grand chair facing the fire pit. He stared at the dancing flames searching for loop holes in his mind. Frustrated that he could not find any, he rose up and walked over to his library. Stopping in front of a specific section, he tilted a certain book forward and  the book case slid back and to the side, revealing an unlit passage. Using his demon eyes, he sped through the passage and pushed forward the wall at the end. He entered a small room dimly lit by torches. There was a table against the farthest wall with a necklace, a katana, and a kimono laying on it. Sesshomaru, for the past 56 years, came every night to dust them. The Kimono was folded neatly without a speck dirt on it. He picked it up and unfolded it to inspect it. It was a midnight blue color with silver strips at the cuffs of both sleeves. Along the hem, were two Inu’s, male and female. One was a little further than the other as it was looking back at its mate. They both bore the mark of the house upon their foreheads and their furs glittered with a special fabric made to make them appear shiny. Along the right shoulder, similar to Sesshomaru’s, where Sakura blossoms, however these where the same silver color as the sleeve cuffs. The fabric used to tie the kimono where silver as well, and made shiny to sparkle against the deep blue of the rest of the kimono. If worn, the tail of the kimono would trail back quite a bit, creating an elegant train.

It was a gift Sesshomaru had ordered to be made by the best kimono maker in Japan. He had spent quite a bit of money to have it crafted, but the price wasn’t the matter. Anything was worth a heavy price for her. He clutched it in his hands and closed his eyes, remembering her scent. It smelled of night, with white sweet rose and juniper. He began to growl to himself and placed the kimono down before he ripped it in anger. He would never smell that scent again. It was lost to him. Yes he was emotionless; to those around him. Within himself, he was at war with every emotion known to mankind. He’d give anything to have her back. His mate.