- Get ready for more fluff than Sesshy's mokamoka (yes, there is a plot). And before anyone says anything, I wrote the title of this thing more as a joke, because it was like award-winning sappy. But then it made me laugh so hard every time I read it, I decided to keep it. So there. ^_^ Now just read the story...

Again...don't sue me...no money.

InuYasha

On the Banks of a River Called Destiny :D

The sun was shining brightly on the grassy meadows. It was late Spring. Everything was blooming; the birds were singing to each other in the trees. Everything was beautiful and new and alive.

And Rin was miserable.

She lay on her back in the tall grass amidst the wildflowers, staring up at the wispy clouds that floated by in the soft breeze. Her mind raced despite her calm surroundings. Her frustrations beat behind her temples in time with her heart. Growing up really sucked. She was eighteen years old now. She had grown into a tall, beautiful young woman. She kept her long hair down as she always had when she was young, only pulling it back when she was in battle. She had been with Lord Sesshomaru for the last eight years, five of which had been spent undergoing grueling combat training. She had known when she asked him to train her that he would not go easy on her. She was only thankful that he had accepted. Rin hated being a burden to anyone. At least now she could more than adequately defend herself. They spared almost every day, and Rin had gotten good at holding her own against him. Of course, he didn't use his demon powers against her - only brute force, which was plenty difficult enough. She had learned speed from him though, and had pushed her body to its limits and beyond.

Yesterday, he suggested a new field of combat for them. In their wanderings, they had come across a small river that fell into a pool before continuing its way downstream. The pool had rocks of all shapes and sizes protruding from its surface. That was their game - fight each other jumping from rock to rock, never touching the surface of the water. Sesshomaru of course knew that he wouldn't fall in, however, he couldn't guarantee that Rin wouldn't soak him by falling in near him. Therefore, he decided to shed his fur (even he didn't like the wet dog smell), his tunic, and his shoes. He tied his hair back in a low ponytail, and they commenced their spar as usual. Except nothing about it was usual. Rin fought well at the onset, even breaking through his defense and scoring a few hits. The problems began when he locked her into a tight hold to prevent her from punching him in the chest. He effectively trapped her upper body against his, pinning her arms behind her back, and caught one of her legs between his. It was an unconventional hold and left plenty of openings for her to escape. However, she appeared to be quite paralyzed. Her breathing came in short gasps, tickling his chest.

"What should you do now?" he prompted her.

"I should...um...do this!"

She head-butted him as hard as she could, earning her a whopping headache and his grip didn't slack one inch. She thrashed and kicked and strained against him. He finally let her and she jumped back, her face red from the strain (or so he thought).

From that point on it went downhill fast. She lost all concentration it seemed, and her thrashed her good for it. By about her fifth time getting knocked into the water, Sesshomaru was getting aggravated. This was ridiculous, she was fighting worse than she had in years! He could sense that she was distracted and embarrassed, but he could not discover the source of these feelings. Humans were so annoying sometimes. She came at him again, leaving herself wide open. He side-stepped her attack, grabbing the front of her tunic and launching her into the water...again. Perhaps he threw her with more force than he intended because the shocked look on her face didn't disappear even as she slammed into one of the rock edges. Her eyes lolled back a little as she sank beneath the surface.

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath as he jumped in after her.

He pulled her, coughing and spluttering, up onto the large flat rock next to them. Her head had a nasty bump forming on it, but she seemed fine otherwise...until he saw the blood soaking into the front of her shirt. He narrowed his eyes, pulling the material open to reveal five scratch marks converging to a point on the left side of her chest. His eyes widened in surprise. She blushed at his stare, for though he had been considerate enough to not completely expose her, he was looking at a whole lot more than he was used to. But that was not what concerned him. He had just left serious marks on her body without even realizing it. When had he become so careless with her?

"Rin, I....apologize..." his voice trailed off.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm fine, really. The scratches aren't really that bad, the water just makes them look like they're bleeding a lot."

"I'm aware of what water does to an open wound," he snapped.

She didn't say anything, thinking he was angry at her. He scooped her up and she felt all his muscles tense before he jumped, landing gracefully on the riverbank. He set her down and began rummaging through their supply packs. He procured some bandages and ointment that Kagome had bundled just for Rin. He found that traveling with women called for a lot more supplies, especially once the girl had hit puberty. Now, Rin and Kagome would arrange meetings once a month and trade "secret packages" of strange things from the modern world. These meeting always accompanied violent mood swings from Rin and a strange human smell that she put off for about a week before returning to her normal cheerful self. Yes, humans were strange creatures indeed, but he knew better than to inquire, and pride prevented him from asking InuYasha (not that the half-breed idiot would know anything anyway).

He approached her with the medical items, instructing her to pull her tunic off her shoulders so he could bandage her. She looked at him incredulously.

"I said 'pull it off your shoulders' not take it all the way off, but if you insist on being this difficult I could just shred your entire tunic and you can remain naked for the rest of the night! Do you or do you not realize that my claws are poison?"

"They don't always release poison."

"No, but some may have entered your blood."

"I'd be dead by now if that were the case...just put the ointment and bandages on."

"Fine, come here."

"Wait...um turn around," she said, blushing again.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, but complied. She pulled her arms out of the top of the fabric, holding the tattered material to her chest.

"Okay, you can turn around."

He turned silently and began administering the substance to her skin. He knew it stung her, but she only blushed deeper at his touch. He bandaged her quickly, then helped her pull the shredded, bloody material back onto her shoulders.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Yes..." he wanted to say more, but words failed him. She successfully avoided him for the rest of the night and all the next morning.

And now here she was, about noontime, mulling over her suddenly complicated life. All this time, all these years...she had been with him. He protected her, he trained her, always with that somewhat aloof temperament. Rin and Sesshomaru - they were together. No one questioned it, well, not out loud anyway. It was the way things were, simple as that. And for all these years, she had relied on him, trusted him, and loved him for who he was. They understood each other. But never in that time, had is occurred to her that she might be in love with him. She had always thought if him as handsome, even when she was a little girl - but so did everyone. But there was a big difference between thinking of him as a nice looking man and what she felt yesterday. He had held her close and all she could see was the sweat and water beading down his perfectly chiseled chest. His smell was all over her, stinging her nose with its spicy, heavy aroma. She had wanted nothing more than to bury her face in the place where his neck met his shoulders and just breath him in. He was intoxicating to her. Just thinking about him made her pulse race and her tummy do little flip flops. Her mind was trying to tell her heart to get a grip - it was not like Lord Sesshomaru was going to return her affections. But the heart is never really something that can be reasoned with. While she was pondering all these things, she failed to notice the approach of the object of her frustrations. His shadow fell across her face before she finally noticed, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" she squeaked.

He eyed her calmly, raising one eyebrow at her reaction. He sat down in the grass next to her, staring out across the landscape in silence. She took a deep breath to collect herself and lay back down the way she was. Minutes passed in comfortable, curious silence for him and awkward silence for her.

Finally, it was he broke the long quiet.

"What happened yesterday? I've never seen you lose your concentration like that in battle."

She sighed, already flushing with embarrassment at the memory.

"I don't know Lord Sesshomaru, I really don't. Maybe it was the heat," she offered.

"Hn," was all he answered.

"I mean, it could be that...or maybe it was the new water training."

"If that is the case, then we should continue with it until you become adept at it."

She swallowed hard. More training in the water? More half-clothed dog demons? She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Again, her mind and body fought each other for the answer. She longed to be close to him again, but she didn't want to humiliate herself either.

Sesshomaru's nose twitched, and he turned a sidelong glance at her.

"Maybe this time I'll let you get me wet without having to jump in after you," he suggested, his voice dropping low as he looked at her.

Her eyes widened as she looked back at him, flushing yet again. And he finally had his answer. The missing piece of the puzzle. His nose breathed in a new scent on the air...it was unmistakable. She wanted him...badly. For some inexplicable reason, knowing this for sure made him want to grin. It took him a few moments to realize he was grinning. Rin was gaping at him as though she thought he'd lost his mind. He composed his face, abruptly standing up before his demon nature began to take over. Rin watched him get up, not sure what had just happened.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the river," he made no invitation, so she stayed where she was.

She stayed there in the meadow for a quarter an hour before declaring herself a coward. She had no idea what was going on with Sesshomaru, but if he was going to the river to train, then she would suck it up and find out what was going on. She couldn't let her infatuation ruin the relationship they had now. With that goal in mind, she set off to the river.

But when she got there...he was not training. He was instead, waist deep in the pool washing his hair with some sort of...shampoo?

He turned to her almost as soon as she saw him, looking utterly ridiculous with both his clawed hands in his sudsy locks. Ridiculous...and completely gorgeous.

"Kagome," was his only reply to her unspoken question of why the hell he had shampoo.

He motioned for her to come to him. She balked...

"What is this sudden obsession for modesty, Rin?" he asked calmly.

"What's with your sudden lack of it?" she shot back.

He shrugged, "There is no longer a need, you are not a little girl anymore."

He sank down in the water, rinsing the lather from his hair.

"Come here," he said gently, but firmly.

She jumped from rock to rock, finally landing next to him.

"Sit down," he commanded.

She again complied, pulling her skirt up to her thighs so she could dip her legs in the water. He approached her, the water's surface still swirling around his waist. He put his hands on her knees, gripping them without scratching her.

"Why are you here?" he asked, looking her dead in the eyes.

She tried to find the breath that his amber gaze had stolen from her.

"I don't understand. I'm here because you called me over. Why are you here? I mean, for as long as I've known you, you have never bathed during the day. You always waited for me to fall asleep."

"I am bathing now so I would be clean when you finally decided what you want."

She felt her body heating up under his hands, pooling in her belly.

"What I want?" she breathed.

"Yes, what you want..." his voice barely a whisper, closing his eyes and taking a long, deep breath through his nose.

She finally realized what was happening. How could she have ever hidden her love for him when the scent of her desire was lingering in the air for him to taste?

"What I want," she said, drawing a shaky breath, "is something forbidden to mere mortals."

"Not this time," he answered, practically growling out the words.

His eyes were heavy, but sharp, and his lips were twisted up into an uncharacteristic half-grin. His claws bit into her knees as he pulled her little closer.

"I won't settle for just this time," she said defiantly, mustering the last of her resolve. "If we do this, then you will have claimed me as your mate. It's that or nothing."

Her tone surprised him. She had never spoken to him thus...he found he liked it.

"Who else would I ever choose?" he asked in earnest.

She looked at him wide-eyed, tears beginning to prick her eyes.

"Sesshomaru...." her voice failed her.

He put his hands on her hips, drawing her into the water. The coolness shocked her warm skin, but all sensation from the river was lost when he pulled her into a long, deep kiss. His lips moved against hers far more tenderly than she would have thought possible. She obliged him as he ran his tongue over her lower lip, allowing him to delve as deep as he desired. His movements became more feverish, as he pulled her against him, searing her with the heat from his skin. She tangled both her hands in his hair, as he lifted her up to gain better access to her mouth. She nipped his lip in turn, nibbling at the bruised flesh. Her actions began to stir the beast within him...

* * *

Rin slept peacefully, lulled by the steady rise and fall of his chest. He had successfully worn her out, a fact which brought a satisfied smile to his lips as he mentally recapped the events of the last several hours. The sun was setting now, bathing the horizon in brilliant oranges and pinks. Never in his long life had he felt this level of contentment and peace. He had made Rin his wife today. She had come to him in the form of a child. He raised her, loved her in his own way, and watched her blossom into a woman before his very eyes. And now that woman was his...and his alone. His eyes strayed to the bite mark on her shoulder that said as much. It was already healing nicely. There would be no doubt now that she belonged to him. That mark was their pact, a symbol of their relationship. He watched as she slept, a small smile gracing her perfect mouth...a smile he put there. Here she was - the creature that had cracked the ice sealing his cold heart - right here in his arms. She shivered a little against him, and he drew his mokamoka closer around them.

"I love you, Rin," he whispered, finally letting sleep claim him.

Told ya...fluff-fest!

Aw...did you think it was going to be lemony there at the end? Too bad...fill in the blanks. Reviews people...reviews. :) Love to all!