"I will back there again." Year after year for the past ten years I've come to the same meadow to feel that light breeze on my face. Every year the same warm breeze would blow through caressing my cheeks, ruffling my hair as if hands ran through it and then to kiss me gently on the lips before it retreated and left the meadow. I hear her voice on that breeze stirring the ache within. That slight emptiness that remains after she fell. This year will be different. This year I will see her smirk with those ruby lips, look into her garnet eyes and smell her scent. The smell of wind after a storm and bloomed Sakura with the slight taint from her former master. Somehow, the scent calming me but at the same time making my body more aware. "You will come back to me this year and you will be in my arms where you belong."
Sesshomaru sama! The sound of Rin's voice snapped him from his musings. His memories tended to bombard him the closer it got to the anniversary of her death. In two days, he will once again stand in that meadow of flowers but this time he will return home with her. After a minute Rin called out to him again.
"Oh! Sesshomaru sama there you are. We were worried that we missed you before you left on your journey. Rin walked through to the engawa where he was standing looking out across his gardens. He turned to see Rin heavy with the burden of a child while carrying her youngest babe in her arms holding the hand of her eldest child to her right. Once again, he felt the familiar aggression towards Kohaku. Seeing his precious Rin waddling her tired body around carrying the human's whelps made him want to murder Kohaku and melt his body but noticing how she smiled down at her belly as she took a seat tempered his murderous thoughts. His Rin has grown up to be a beautiful woman. He just wished that she and her mate would stop breeding like usagi youkai. She is near to having her third child and they have been mated only four years.
The memory of her giving birth to their first child had Inuyasha and his miko mate holding him back with Tetsusaiga and her sacred arrows with the monk throwing ufudas at him. A complete reversal of their roles when Inuyasha's miko was giving birth to the first of his brood. He laughed at his little brother's rapidly changing moods from rage to whimpering pup. To know that five years later he would be reacting exactly the same. The memory of Rin's screams to this day sent a shudder through him. His Rin going through such pain. If she had died in childbirth, as many humans did then he had no way of bringing her back from the underworld. He would have killed Kohaku without mercy. Kohaku looked no better than he did that day. He was pale, with tears in his eyes and frightened but not of him. Kohaku had been as afraid for Rin as he was. He remembered the young human murmuring about never doing something again. Looking back behind him at her and her bright smile settling the children waiting for him to speak to her reminded him that she was happy. He could see that all the pain was worth it to her by her expression and she will be going through it again in a few short months.
"What brings you here Rin?
"I wanted to see you and bring the children by before you leave again. This will be my last visit until after I give birth, so I wanted to spend time with you Sesshomaru sama." "Oh, and to give this to you." She reached into the small pouch she had wrapped around her and pulled out something small wrapped in paper. Handing it to Sesshomaru she smiled and said, "It is for her."
He thought that he had kept secret where he traveled to each year, but Rin had always been an inquisitive child. It would not take her long to remember what time of year he would leave and notice the pattern. He took it from her outstretched hand with a nod then slowly opened the package. It was an expensive looking set of earrings of jade and red quartz. He wrapped them up and placed them into the pocket of his kimono. He nodded his head once again to Rin in thank you and then sat beside her to hold her youngest child.
They had a nice quiet visit where they ate and spoke of her village happenings. She'd received the earrings from a rich lord as payment for midwifing for his wife and she thought of only one person that they would look beautiful on. Rin thought it would be an offering for her grave. The earrings will be his gift of many. When it was time to go Kohaku and Kirara arrived to take her back home. The two men took a minute or two to speak before he dismissed them. It would take him two days to travel to his destination. His preparations were complete. The words he memorized slid off his tongue as if he spoke the words all his life, and he had the rest of what he needed already placed in an elaborately carved wooden boxed container ready for him to use. He called for Jaken to ready Ah Un so he would be able to leave during the night. By his calculations he should reach the meadow by midday of death anniversary. An hour before her death. Jaken scampered in minutes later to tell him that Ah Un was prepared. He told Jaken to prepare the room beside his own then waved him off in dismissal as he climbed upon the back of Ah Un. Once again, he vowed to her, "I will bring you back home with me."
For years now during his dealings with wayward youkai he would acquire any knowledge of resurrections. He often sent Jaken to research youkai and human methods as well. Visiting Hosenki the second he asked him to create pearls for his use. He didn't need pearls that would open a pathway to the underworld he could do that on his own. The fact that Hosenki junior was not strong enough to create such pearls as his father could. He did not yet have the talent to create pearls that could make a portal of any kind. It has not been a century into his training to do so. No, Sesshomaru needed just two pearls to hold something in them long enough to be pulled out and made corporeal. He knew she did not rest in the underworld. Her body died but not her spirit. She was stronger than any demoness he knew of except is Lady Mother. The feel of her wind told him that she still existed. Ten years of searching and wanting has brought him back to this place to bring back the woman he has always yearned for.
As Sesshomaru guided Ah Un to land on the ground yards away from where the spot that he himself marked as her grave he still felt that twinge of anger and hurt before the calm took over. To anyone but himself and maybe some strong youkai, no one would see the markings he placed around the place of her death as a warning to not tread on this spot. Lower youkai would just avoid it not knowing why they should do so. Even humans felt the power of his markings and left the area alone.
Images and memories assailed him. He could still see that small sad smile on her lips as the rest of her floated away. He had watched as her essence flew away on a gust of wind as she uttered her last words of finally being free. He watched as the last of the petals followed the path of the wind away from him. The grief and anger he'd felt engulfed him for a few moments before he had the mind to grab her fan and feathers from the ground before the wind took everything away from him. He'd hid them in his sleeve just in time to hear Inuyasha and his pack break the crescent of the hill running. They were too late. He had been too late.
For the first few years he came to visit this place full of anger. "How dare she die before this Sesshomaru could save her? How dare she leave me after I finally accepted my feelings I had for her? How dare she not fight longer so they could be together? Rin noticed his growing feelings toward the wind witch during their travels in destroying Naraku. In her own way she had been pushing him to pursue the witch with all her questions about her. Telling him that she thought the wind witch was very pretty and did he think the same, when will she be visiting them again, thanking him for saving her from the river when he didn't have to or why does he seem restful when she was near. Even telling Jaken that she expected the beautiful demoness to accompany them in their travels for the foreseeable future. All of this had brought him to this one point.
Kneeling in front of his markers he waved his hand to erase them. He placed the wooden container on the ground beside him and took out the first pearl. It was a luminescent pearl of grey with a slight shimmer surrounding it. He placed that slightly over five feet away from him. The second pearl was a vibrant red with a pink swirl within. He placed that pearl fifteen inches below the first and slightly to the left. His hand slipped back into the box and pulled out the three things he has cherished over the last decade. He pulled out her fan and placed it near the red pearl. Two of her feathers he placed near the grey pearl and the last item he held pulled from the box was one of her earrings he placed below of the feathers.
Clearing his mind of the memories. He changed position from his kneel to a seated position. Everything was in place. Only her image anchored in his mind now as he waited patiently for that warm breeze to arrive. Just as always, he felt a gentle breeze begin to stir around him. The smell of wind after a storm with blooming Sakura, her scent, filtered through his nose and hair. Then a slight caress to his face. Immediately he began his chant. The words falling smoothly form his lips. The wind stuttered for a moment then picked up. He kept reciting the words he practiced over and over. The pearls began to glow. A dull shine at first then a bright light appeared in both gems. The wind bucked around him attempting to lift itself. It was fighting the pull of the pearls. She was fighting him. He almost faltered feeling the turmoil in the scent the wind was giving off. The feeling of being trapped. He continued despite the emotions rolling over him buffeting him from every side. The feeling of panic hit him, but it was not his own. His voice continued to say the words as the light from the pearls rose and brightened almost blinding him with its glare. He heard a cry ring out as the wind died down and all that was left was the pearls, the fan, the feathers and the earring. The pearls were pulsing with power wanting to get out and Sesshomaru would give it its freedom. He now recited new words, a concrete image of her face in his mind while he spoke. Slowly a form began to appear on the ground. It moved and writhed still fighting the pull. More and more the form took shape. A head of raven hair appeared around the grey pearl. The look of lungs then breast around the red pearl. The form becoming solid the more he spoke the words. Pale arms and legs taking shape. Bright light pulsing around the pearls disappearing beneath pale skin with a slight rosy tint. Finally, after a bright flash of light she was lying there in front of him. She was naked with her eyes closed. He stopped chanting to listen and look intently at her body. A moment later he heard her heartbeat. His mokomoko leaving him and wrapping itself around her pulling her to him. Sesshomaru gingerly lifted her from the ground to carry her to Ah Un. Slowly as he walked her eyes fluttered open. She stared at his profile with wide eyes not believing that she is seeing him again. He looked down to see her face and a small smile appeared on it before he schooled his face back into his aloof indifference. She saw it and an answering mocking grin appeared on hers. They reached Ah Un and he levitated atop the two headed dragon to leave with her still in his arms. She smiled again and asked him, "Where are we going?" He looked to her once again and told her what he had wanted to say for ten years. "We are going home Kagura where you belong."
