Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the other characters that Rumiko Takahashi has created.

A/N: My first attempt at Fan Fiction! Opinions and criticism would be much appreciated. This is going to be a Sesshomaru and Rin love story.

Dancing In My Heart

Chapter 1: Sapphire and Ivory

A gentle breeze rustled through the field where Rin was gathering flowers in a wicker basket she had made. She planned on decorating Kaede's hut with the lovely flowers; it needed something cheerful. She softly hummed while she picked out the most colorful blossoms.

Not far from her, there was a group of teenaged boys making a commotion. They were horsing around and wrestling one another. They laughed loudly at their own antics. Rin recognized them from the village. They were all a few years older than she was, and she was not very fond of these particular boys. They were never nice to her and often taunted younger children.

The boys started to pelt each other with tiny pebbles. One of the stones barely missed a boy's eye, striking his upper cheek instead. Rin put her basket down and scowled at them for being so reckless. Of course, they did not notice her at all.

"Stop doing that! Someone's going to get hurt!" She called out to them. When they all looked at her, clearly irritated, she regretted bringing attention to herself.

The older boy, the one Rin assumed was their leader, bent to the ground and picked up something that was at his feet. As he slowly rose, Rin noticed an evil grin plastered to his ugly face.

Rin's eyes slid down to the object that was in his hand, and she gasped and took a step backward. It was a fist-sized, jagged rock. The delinquent teenager pulled his arm back. Rin opened her mouth to protest as she attempted to move out of the way.

But it was too late. The rock was hurled toward her before she could dodge it. It smashed into the side of her head. Shock spread across Rin's features.

The boys, realizing what they had just done, ran away as quickly as they could. Rin's head immediately began to bleed, and she dropped to her knees. Her eyes went blank before she fell over, unconscious.

SSSSS

Sesshomaru gasped and bolted upright. His golden eyes were open wide, his mouth ajar, and his body tense. After a second, he regained his composure.

"What just happened?" He thought to himself. "Oh, yes, I was asleep. It is very rare that I take the time to sleep, but I have been quite tired. I had a dream…no, a nightmare…about Rin."

Sesshomaru gasped again as he remembered what had happened to Rin in his dream. He immediately sniffed the air for the scent of Rin's blood. He smelled nothing of her. Either he was too far from her, or she had not been hurt.

He remembered that Rin had been left all alone in the field, hurt and bleeding. "I must find out if Rin is alright. I cannot ignore a dream like that!"

Sesshomaru's uneasiness had awoken AhUn. Jaken had been leaning against the two-headed dragon while he slept, and he was knocked over as AhUn stood up. Jaken rolled over, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. When he sat up, the first thing he saw was Sesshomaru briskly walking away.

Jaken's eyes bulged out, and the usual fear of abandonment crept over him. He began to run after The Great Dog Demon, tripping twice. Getting desperate, he started to scream in his shrill voice, "Wait, Mi Lord, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

Jaken reached out and snatched the end of Sesshomaru's fluff just in time before he took flight. The little youkai did not have a good grip, and he was dangling dangerously from the soaring Sesshomaru. As they disappeared, leaving AhUn behind, Jaken's voice echoed throughout the surrounding area, "Mi LLOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRD!"

SSSSS

In Edo, Inuyasha and his friends were gathered around several small fires they had built outside of Kaede's hut. Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagome chuckled as they watched their children play with Shippo. They tugged his fluffy tail and tried to get him to let them ride his back.

"Come on, knock it off," he rolled his eyes, tired of being the children's plaything.

Inuyasha was leaning against a tree with his arm around Kagome. He suddenly sniffed the air and looked up to the sky.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Sesshomaru's coming…fast."

Rin gasped, "Lord Sesshomaru's coming?" She put a hand to her cheek. "Oh, no, I'm not ready!" She then hurried into Kaede's hut.

Shortly afterward, Sesshomaru landed near the group and wasted no time in silently walking toward Kaede's hut. As soon as they landed, Jaken let go of Sesshomaru's fluff. He staggered a few steps before he fell flat on his back, arms and legs sprawled and breathing heavily.

Inuyasha leaned over to address Jaken, "What's up with him?" He jerked his thumb in Sesshomaru's direction.

Jaken took a moment to catch his breath before replying. "He thinks…" He took a ragged breath, "something…" another deep breath, "has happened to Rin."

Meanwhile, Kaede had placed herself between Sesshomaru and her hut, hands on her hips and saying, "Hold on, Sesshomaru, you can't go in there. Rin is getting dressed."

Sesshomaru halted his progress and glared at Kaede, clearly annoyed. "I must find out if Rin is alright," he nearly growled, but the old priestess held her ground.

Calmly, Kaede said, "Rin is fine. What do you think has happened to her?"

Jaken piped up, "Something about someone throwing a rock at her head!" He stopped talking and cowered down when Sesshomaru turned those hostile eyes on him, an obvious warning to shut his mouth.

"Nobody threw anything at Rin, Sesshomaru," Kagome interjected. "Why did you think that?"

Before he could respond, Sesshomaru heard Rin's voice behind him…

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

He turned around to see Rin stepping out of Kaede's hut, and he had to hide his reaction. Rin was simply…stunning. She was wearing one of the nicer kimonos he had brought her. It's soft silk was dazzling in the moonlight. The color was sapphire, and it had large, exotic ivory flowers. The sash was a deep magenta that matched the color of Sesshomaru's stripes. It fit her form perfectly and showed off her curves. A beautiful flower hair piece gracefully held back the hair that was normally in her iconic ponytail. She was wearing makeup that made her look older and more mature.

Once again, Sesshomaru had to remind himself that Rin was not a little girl anymore. She had been in the village for eight years already, making her sixteen years old. Sesshomaru had been visiting more and more frequently lately, but he was always amazed at how much of a beautiful young lady Rin had become.

Rin smiled at him. "You were worried about me, Sesshomaru-sama?" She was overjoyed that he had rushed to the village on a silly notion that she might be hurt.

"I had reason to think you might have been injured," Sesshomaru explained.

Rin shook her head, "No, nothing has happened to me, as you can see." She glanced at Kaede, who nodded in encouragement. "But, since you're here, would you like to stay and watch me dance? I was about to perform for everyone."

Rin, with her charismatic personality, had always loved to sing and dance. She had trained with some of the other woman in the village in order to transform her clumsy, childish movements into beautiful, fluid dance motions. Her ability to entertain had been bringing in a regular income as she often performed for the villagers and sometimes traveled to other villages to sing or dance.

Sesshomaru had only gotten the opportunity to see Rin dance on a few occasions when she was still learning. He was delighted at the prospect of watching her tonight and almost smiled when he said, "Yes, Rin, I would like that."

XiaraRain