Working out the cliffhanger. Have some fluff while you wait.

It was noon and Sesshomaru had called a stop to the ever constant pace so that Rin could sit in one place. She gazed up at him admiringly.

My lord was so much taller

" Rin."

" Yes?"

" You may do as you wish."

" Yes my lord."

...back then...

Sesshomaru sat on a boulder nearby and watched Rin with silent eyes as she went around the nearby area and explored it. Eventually she returned to him with a bunch of branches that bore tiny flowers.

" For my lord," she said, holding them out in front of her.

He took them silently. His eyes fell to them and then raised up to her face. " They are acceptable."

She beamed up at him and Jakken muttered something unkind behind her.

He always could make me so happy with so few words

She sat down heavily next to him and started kicking her feet in the dirt and looking up at his hair. It was so different then the hair of anyone else, except for his brother's. She wanted to run her fingers through it and see if it was as soft and fluffy as it looked.

She bit her lip and fiddled with her sash. No one touched lord Sesshomaru's hair. Ever. Jakken would surely give her a bump if she even expressed her desire to. Rin looked down at her hands and sighed.

Something white drifted just at the edge of her vision and she looked up. Sesshomaru was looking at her, his eyes pale as always but he had shifted over and allowed some of his hair to lie on her lap.

" Once."

" My lord she is but a dirty human," Jakken interjected, scrambling foreword. " She would surely..." he trailed off as Sesshomaru's eyes turned to him for a single freezing second.

Rin continued to gaze up at him questioningly for a few long moments.

" I was mistaken?"

" No my lord," Rin scrambled, realizing her chance was quite literally about to slip from her fingers. She patted her hands on the edge of her lap to knock off any dirt from the flowers and reverently placed her small hands on his hair.

It was so much softer then I thought it would be

Rin smoothed the hair out over her lap, taking extra care to arrange the ends, excited over the feel of his hair. Her small fingers patted tentatively at first but soon she was running fingers through the heavy strands.

My lord...

Several minutes passed before Rin realized that heavy silence had fallen over the area and she looked up. Finding Jakken scowling at her she quickly turned her eyes to her lord to see if she'd gone too far.

Kouga pushed himself to his feet slowly, shaking his head to clear it. The zip of arrows told him that the attack was still happening but there were howls of rage and the cries of the injured were less. They'd gone on the offensive. His head jerked up and spun around. Where was Rin?

" !#!#."

" What the hell do you think you're doing?" InuYasha scowled at the people grouped around his doorway.

" You have the right to refuse service to our lord," the tall broody man glared at InuYasha. " He has accepted that. Your wife, however, does not have the right to refuse aid to our battle. All priestesses must attend to our troops and cause." A smile cracked his lips, drawing up on one side of his face. " She has no choice in the matter."

" No choice? No choice? I'll show you no choice," InuYasha cracked his knuckles and stepped foreword.

" InuYasha wait." A gentle hand rested on his arm, restraining him. Kagome stepped around him.

" I'll go with him."

" Over my dead body." InuYasha moved to step in front of her again and her grip tightened.

" InuYasha," she leaned foreword and pulled him down till she could talk quietly to him. " It will serve a purpose. If I need you to get me out I'll let you know."

InuYasha glowered at her. His eyes darted to the belligerent commander who had started to tapping his foot. " I don't like this."

" You don't have to." She put her hand on his cheek gently for just a moment before sliding it down to rest on his shoulder. " I can see what I can do to avert this better from inside then outside and I have faith that you'll be watching me. Besides, these pipsqueaks? I mean really they might out number me but they certainly can't do anything if I don't want them to."

Sesshomaru had his narrowed and was looking at her intently. She froze for a moment, fearing the once had meant how many times she could touch it.

" Jakken, take care of Ah-nun."

" Y-yes my lord."

When the tiny figure had disappeared from sight Sesshomaru turned to Rin.

" Once."

He sat down in front of the log, in front of her. Rin stared at him confusedly. She'd been playing with his hair...he'd sent Jakken away and now his hair was right in front of her along with the top of his head. She reached out and placed her hands tentatively on the top of his head.

Nothing, no reaction. That meant it was okay. She ran her hands down a little before placing them back near the top of his head. Still no reaction. Emboldened she stood up onto her tiptoes to place her hands as close to the top of his head as she could and entwined her fingers in his hair and ran her hands slowly down through it

I was so happy

AN: It's short yes, but it's also a start. Tally ho!