Disclaimer: I don't own this song. This is "Here with me" by Creed. Awesome band, by the way – check it out on youtube or something! Now, on with the story!
Her Name is Rin – Epilogue – Here With Me
It was one of those rare occasions where neither Jaken nor Ah-Un were with the group, leaving Sesshoumaru and Rin to their own devices. Sesshoumaru leaned against a convenient tree, watching as Rin raced around the fire, trying her darndest to catch a firefly.
It almost made him smile
You always
reached out to me and helped me believe
She was always doing that, he realized – she was the only one who could make him want to smile, and the only one he had no reservations about smiling around. Not even Kagome, for all her kind-heartedness, could make him feel so comfortable. Despite all the hell they had been through together, him and Rin, he wouldn't trade her for any of the things he had once desired.
Rin was worth far more than he could ever imagine.
All those
memories we share
I will cherish every one of them
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin skidded to a halt in front of him, her face lit with a brilliant smile. "Look what I got!" She held out her cupped hands to him, and he could see the flickering glow of a firefly caught in her grasp. As they watched, it slowly rose from her fingers and into the night sky. Rin giggled.
"Isn't it pretty, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
The truth of it
is there's a right way to live
And you showed me
He smiled slightly, for her alone. "Hai, Rin." he agreed quietly. "It is."
So now you live
on in the words of a song
You're a melody
Rin smiled up at him and yawned. "Will the fireflies be there tomorrow night, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked sleepily. Sesshoumaru shrugged as he allowed her to curl up in the crook of his arm, resting her head against his shoulder.
"I don't know, Rin." he admitted. "Probably. If you can't see the fireflies tomorrow night, there is no doubt they will be back another night. You must be patient."
Rin nodded, her eyes closing on their own accord. "Good-night, Outou-san."
You stand
here with me now
His eyes went wide, but he truly wasn't that surprised. "Good-night, my musume." he whispered back. He felt Rin smile against his skin as she finally fell asleep. No doubt she would spend most of tomorrow resting on Ah-Un's back, but the dragon never minded carrying the girl. If anything, sometimes he gave her rides even when they weren't needed.
Rin had changed them all, but that really wasn't a bad thing, was it?
Just when
fear blinded me you taught me to dream
There was still so much she had done for him. In his effort to repay her for attempting to care for him, he had only wound up further in her debt. And still, she acted as if he was her perfect angel, incapable of doing wrong. Could she not see just how tainted he was?
He doubted it. She was an innocent, after all.
I'll give you
everything I am and still fall short of
What you've done for me
Rin shifted uneasily in her sleep, apparently aware of his mental static. He pulled her closer to him, the reaction coming as naturally as his poison claw attack.
Was she really that much a part of his life now?
In this life that
I live
I hope I can give love unselfishly
I've learned the
world is bigger than me
You're my daily dose of reality
He almost smiled again at that. Was he stupid? Of course she was that important. If she wasn't, he never would have saved her over and over again, never would have given in and trained her to fight. Never would have hunted down Kagome and learned more about the two human females, a species he was supposed to hate.
It was just something new to him, having a daughter. She had managed to completely turn his priorities around.
On and on we sing
You stand
here with me now
On and on we sing this
song
Life really would never be the same.
'Cause you stand here with me
/---/
AN: And that is the end of this story! I've had this ending planned since the tenth chapter, so let me know how I did. And as always, be on the lookout for the sequel – My Father's Sword – coming to Fan Fiction beginning of August!
Until then, I remain yours truly,
Shadowblade-tara