Sleeping Beauty

A One-Shot by Sky's Song

There he was!

It had taken three days to successfully shake off her pursuers, her kidnappers. She wasn't exactly sure how she had managed to escape from the demons, but she tried not to think about it. All she geared her mind towards was Sesshoumaru-sama.

She had tumbled through thick woods, sticky branches, and spiked bushes for a day and a half before she found him. She expected herself to smile and cry out his name in glee when she did, but instead she was stopped in her path.

Yes, there he was, in a similar position as to the first day she found him; he was propped up against a tree, his legs thrown about him carelessly, and his head slumped to one side. His eyes were closed, and he looked exhausted.

"Sesshoumaru…-sama."

Rin was too surprised to even do anything. She had never in her three years of travel with him, seen him asleep. She had no doubt that he had collapsed from exhaustion during his search for her, because she remembered when Jaken told her bitterly that Sesshoumaru-sama does not sleep unless he has no strength and needs to recover. Which, he pointed out sharply, he never has to do.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the demon dog delicately. Would she disturb him if she went to him now? Maybe she should get something for him to eat. Or some water.

But even as she was thinking this, she found her feet stepping towards him quickly, and she was soon at his side. Rin didn't hesitate as she knelt and leaned forward to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she buried her face into his chest, his breath hot on her ear. She had been so afraid when Sesshoumaru-sama hadn't come for her. She had cried, thinking that he abandoned her, that he didn't want her around him anymore. But, when she ran away, she aimed for him because despite her doubts she had loved him.

Rin cuddled her cold, tiny frame into his stiff, warm one. She felt ashamed in her doubt now, noting how even in his sleep, Sesshoumaru-sama probably wasn't gaining any rest because his muscles had tightened.

A tear fell down her face as she continued to hug her beloved dog-demon.

Sniff.

The sudden noise in the calm woods had taken her by surprise, but Rin soon knew that it had come from Sesshoumaru-sama. His nose was right next to her ear. Sniff, sniff. Was he sniffing her?

Sniff, sniff, sniff. Suddenly, her ear was assaulted by a series of intense sniffs that tickled her ear. She glanced up at Sesshoumaru-sama, but he was still asleep. In doing this, however, her hair brushed under his nose, and the sniffing was multiplied by ten for a few seconds. Then, after a final contented whiff, Sesshoumaru-sama let out a long breath, and with it, his entire body relaxed.

Rin looked amazed at his sleeping face. Did he know it was her, even in his sleep? Smiling just a little, Rin moved completely into his lap and snuggled deeper into his body partly because of the cold wind blowing across her bruised bare legs and feet, and partly because it seemed to comfort the unconscious man.

She was falling asleep when the cold became too much for her. She started to shiver and tried to force her body to stop as she reached over for Sesshoumaru-sama's left sleeve, but realized that even tucked over her legs, she still shivered constantly. Rin closed her eyes and tried to forget the cold, when suddenly a blanket of warmth surrounded her.

Eyes open once again, Rin watched in amazement as Sesshoumaru-sama, still unconscious, tucked his arm around her like you would a teddy bear, and pulled her in close, his own head now nuzzling into her contact.

Rin smiled and relaxed into her guardian's arm and body. Since Sesshoumaru-sama was so short with words, Rin had learned to understand what he was saying through his movements. The slight narrowing of his eyes, a clenched fist, a smirk, a step, over even the deliberate silent treatment could tell her what he was feeling. The most he had ever spoken to her was, strangely enough, the first time she met him. But, that might have been because she didn't speak at all. Rin closed her eyes happily and fell asleep in his embrace, thinking that she was probably the only person who actually understood the demon.

An hour or two later, cold eyes opened and flicked immediately to the warm contact he wasn't used to. Sesshoumaru's first instinct was to drop the girl and stand a few feet away from her, which he refused to do because of his second instinct. He instead rested his chin on her head and breathed in the little girls scent in extreme relief. He didn't know how she had ended up back with him, or how she came to fall asleep on him, with a happy smile on her face, but it didn't matter. He had found her. He had found his Rin, and she was safe.

Sesshoumaru stood up, careful not to wake the girl, and started walking back towards where Jaken was probably waiting, insane with worry, agitation, and he mostly had abandonment issues. Besides, Sesshoumaru didn't want some stray demon to find them in the forest. He had completely healed, but he didn't feel like fighting today.

"I love you, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Only Sesshoumaru's cool and collected face, trained after many years, kept him from looking surprised at the smiling girl who he had thought was asleep in his embrace.

Sesshoumaru quickly looked away from the girl, not showing anything akin to affection. Aside from his tightened grip around her, of course, but Sesshoumaru wasn't entirely aware of that.

"Where were you, Rin?" His voice held no emotion, as always, not even when the smile slid from her face, and her body stiffened.

"Demons." Rin said and cuddled into him once again, as if afraid that by speaking of them, they'd come after her again.

"Did they hurt you?"

Rin nodded and squeezed her eyes shut, squeezing away the tears threatening to escape, and looked back at her protector. His eyes looked strait into hers.

"You're safe."

Rin's body relaxed again.

A few minutes later, her soft smile was back. Rin knew that he had looked away indifferently when she said she loved him, but she wasn't sad, or worried. And she most definitely didn't doubt him. After all, she could read him like a book. His eyes had said it so softly when he looked away, and when he told her she was safe.

I love you, too.