A/N: I know, I know! It's been so long. Sorry for never giving you guys closure on this story, especially since I left it at such a low point. You're such awesome readers, and even though it's been months (years?) since I've written, when I logged in I had messages that were as recent as a couple weeks ago encouraging me to keep going. So I hope this chapter makes you all happy, because you deserve it! You were such an inspiration and encouragement to me when I was just beginning to experiment with writing, and I don't know that I would have continued to pursue it without your support. But here I am still pursuing it! In fact, I just self-published my first comedic novella under a silly pseudonym on Amazon. It's called The Kidnappable Princess by Garnet Bickerstaff if you guys want to check it out, but even if you don't, you should all know that your unending support and encouragement played a HUGE role in me getting to the point where I felt confident enough to put an original work out there. So thank you all SO MUCH. Sincerely. You guys are great.

And without further ado, enjoy this chapter!

(Note: When you see , that means the viewpoint is switching.)

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Rin stared stubbornly into the woods, searching them for any sign of silver hair, any glimmer of amber eyes or flash of white fur.

But there was nothing.

It had been days.

She kicked a rock furiously, only frowning slightly when her toe began to throb. It was just a little nick anyway. It was nothing to how her heart felt.

She sat down in the grass and put her head in her hands. What was going on? Rin had been so sure that he would come for her. She had been so sure.

But he was a demon, with superior senses. And he was a lord, with extensive connections. If he had wanted to find her, he would have done it by now. Besides, wouldn't this be the very first place he would look?

There was only one conclusion: he didn't want her back after all.

Rin's shoulder's sagged at the knowledge.

All her life, Rin had been called naïve. She'd been teased for seeing the best in people and being easily duped. Had it happened again? Had she imagined all of his regard for her? Had his family never accepted her as she'd thought? Were they glad to be rid of her?

Her own thoughts stung bitterly and she shook her head to clear them.

Didn't matter. She'd started over before and she could start over again. There was no festival this time to hide behind, but she had another cover.

Plastering a smile on her face that didn't feel comfortable there anymore, Rin approached the gardens, where Kaede was working.

"He sent for me!" she announced, in what she hoped was a bubbly tone.

Kaede brushed the dirt off her hands and stood up, facing the girl in front of her. "That's wonderful news, child. You were right to have faith. I'm so glad."

Rin nodded, trying not to let on how much Kaede's words hurt.

"There's a carriage waiting for me at the shop down the road. He said to take as much time as I need saying goodbye and to come when I'm ready. He's so thoughtful, you know?"

"I see. So you'll be leaving today, then?"

"That's right," Rin nodded.

The next thing she knew, Kaede had enveloped her in a firm hug. The old woman's embrace was familiar, and Rin sank into it, enjoying the smell of earth and baked bread that clung to her skin.

"Well I'm glad we'll get to say goodbye properly this time," Kaede said finally, releasing Rin and wiping moisture from her eyes. "Come inside. The kids will want to say goodbye, too."

Rin spent the next couple of hours saying farewell to everyone she could. It was hard to keep her smile up, but fortunately when it slipped the children only assumed that it was because she would miss him.

Finally, as the sun set, Rin set out alone on the open road. Kaede had wanted to send an escort with her, but Rin insisted that she was a grown woman now, and capable of walking to the store herself. This made Kaede misty-eyed again, and in the end she let Rin go.

She waved until the orphanage was out of sight, and then dropped her hand. And her smile. Because no one was waiting for her. No one wanted her at all.

With resolute steps, she approached the upcoming fork in the road. A right would have taken her to the store. But there was nothing for her there.

So with shaky steps… she went left.

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Days went by. Sesshoumaru was miserable. He wasn't sleeping. He wasn't eating. He only paced around the castle and tried not to think. When he failed at that endeavor, he destroyed whatever was nearby, leaving a trail of broken and shredded objects in his wake. The castle was littered with evidence of his angst.

His family gave him a wide berth. The first day or so, they peppered him with questions about where he'd gone, where Rin was, and what had happened. But when he responded to each inquiry with only a snarl, they eventually let it drop.

Things were tense.

Then, after about two weeks had passed, they received a letter.

Sesshoumaru was just finishing another particularly vigorous round of training when Izayoi approached him with it.

"I think you'd better read this, dear," she said.

He snatched it out of her hand and shot her a skeptical glare. It had better not be a notice about the next year's festival or an invitation to court some lady or another. Sesshoumaru wasn't interested.

But it was none of those things.

It was a letter from Rin's orphanage.

Dear Lord Sesshoumaru, it read.

I was able to secure your address from the festival coordinator. I hope you don't mind. Rin promised that she'd write when she reached you, but I haven't heard a word and it's been almost a week now since she left. I'm sure she's just forgotten. She's always been silly that way. But then it's equally likely that she's been lost in the woods this whole time, alone and scared, so I can't seem to put my mind at ease. Would you please ask her to send assurances along? We love her and we worry. The children have been asking and I'd like to have something to say.

Much obliged and warmest wishes,

Kaede

Sesshoumaru stared at the letter.

He didn't understand.

Hadn't she been happy? He'd seen her. He knew she was. Why would she leave? Why would she try to find him again?

Of course, maybe she had lied. Maybe she was headed somewhere else entirely.

Then again… maybe she really was lost and alone in a forest, searching for him desperately. Maybe he'd misinterpreted everything.

His heart clenched painfully.

"I've readied a carriage for you," Izayoi offered. "I mean, I obviously don't know what happened between the two of you, but if this letter changes anything… if you want to go after her… it's there."

"No," Sesshoumaru said firmly.

"No?" Izayoi asked, wilting slightly. "You're not going after her?"

"No, I do not need a carriage," Sesshoumaru clarified. "Running is faster."

He'd barely finished speaking before he was gone. He didn't even stay long enough to see Izayoi scream in delight and clap her hands.

"Oh my word," she gasped suddenly. "I have so much preparing to do!" And with that, she bustled away.

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"I think I'm all done!" Rin called as she wiped down the last table. It was late, and the tavern patrons had all long since gone home.

"Alright, then!" the tavern-keeper called back, from behind a stack of goblets. "You're free for the night!"

Free, Rin scoffed. Was she?

She threw her rag into the pile of laundry that she'd probably be doing herself in the morning and took off her apron.

She didn't feel free. Yes, she could do whatever she wanted… but there was only one thing she truly wanted and it had already been taken from her.

She pushed open the front door of the tavern and started heading for the servants' quarters around back. The cold night air felt oppressive, and she held her arms closer to her to try and protect herself from its chill.

Suddenly, an arm grabbed her out of nowhere and she screamed.

"Don' be like tha'…" someone slurred.

She relaxed when she recognized one of the tavern's regulars, but only slightly. He was clearly drunk, and he hadn't let go of her arm yet. In fact, he was squeezing it painfully.

"Go on home, Naraku," she urged softly. "You should be in bed by now."

"Only if you promise to get in with me," Naraku leered. He stumbled closer, and pushed Rin up against a wall.

What did he mean? Get in with him? That would be silly; she had her own bed! He must be very drunk indeed.

But then grabbed her face and tried to force her to face him, and Rin understood his meaning. Even she wasn't that naïve.

She started to panic. He was much bigger than she was, and though she struggled in his grasp it didn't seem to make any difference. His stale breath was on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Then a deafening growl pierced the air, reverberating through her very bones, and her eyes snapped right back open.

She'd know that growl anywhere.

Sesshoumaru.

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He'd been tracking her all night. She'd traveled a lot in a week, and her scent had been mixed with a million others in the intervening time. Finally, he'd found a section of it that was fresh, and his heart had leapt. Then he heard her scream and it plummeted, fear like he'd never known before clutching at his throat.

What if he'd tracked her so far only to be just barely too late? Was she under attack? Was she hurt? Was she…?

His panic pushed him to run faster than he ever had before, even exhausted as he was. His body was but a blur in the wind.

And then he saw her. Caged by another man's arms, pressed up against a wall, disgust and terror in her eyes.

He saw red.

Nothing but deep, all-consuming red.

The next thing he knew, the man was stumbling away from him, both hands held up in surrender. "I'll go! I'll go!" he was saying. There was a gash in his shoulder. Had Sesshoumaru put it there? Probably.

Well, good.

"Just let him go," Rin was urging, tugging on his sleeve.

Sesshoumaru calmed himself as he watched the man run away into the night. With everything in him, he wanted to finish the job. But there were more important things. He turned his head to regard the woman next to him.

She looked different.

Very different.

And it wasn't just the fact that she was dressed in a tavern maid's outfit, either. Or the fact that her skin was tanner and her hair was pulled back. It was her face. Drawn. Wan. Unhappy.

"What are you doing here?" he breathed. "You don't belong in this place." He remembered her making daisy chains in a field of flowers as the sun rose. THAT was where she was supposed to be. Not here in a dirty tavern. What had happened?

Rin shoved him away angrily, tiny wrinkles appearing on her forehead as she glared at him.

"You think I don't know that?" she snapped. "But what am I supposed to do? I don't belong anywhere!"

"That is not true! You belong…" He wanted to say 'with me'. He wanted to say it very badly. But in the end he was a coward. "…in the orphanage. They love you there."

Rin balled her fists and stomped away. "You can go now!" she told him angrily.

Sesshoumaru grabbed her hand, stopping her. She didn't turn around, but she didn't try to pull away either.

"I'll go if you want me to," he told her. She stiffened. "But, first… there is something I would like to tell you."

She peered over her shoulder at him hesitantly.

"I… I figured out what it is that I am missing in my life."

Rin sniffed. "Go on…"

"It's…" You. "Joy." Same thing.

Rin turned around. "Joy?"

"Yes, joy. I… I was only content before. I didn't know what joy was. Then you came into my life and you were bursting with it. And when I spent time with you, I felt it, too. I felt joy. And it was addictive. And now I can't live without it." He hung his head.

"Can't live without it?" she prodded. "But then… But then why didn't you come for me at the orphanage?"

Sesshoumaru grimaced. "I did come. And I saw you playing with the children. I saw you… happy. And I realized that joy is just who you are. You don't need me in order to have it. You don't need me the way I need you. I thought you'd been kidnapped or some nonsense, but you left on your own. You wanted to be there. And so I couldn't…"

He was interrupted by Rin flinging herself at him.

"You're such a stupid head!" she screamed, punching him in the chest with her tiny fists. "Of course I was happy playing with children! Children are adorable, you dumb butt face! It doesn't mean I don't want to be with you!"

Sesshoumaru staggered back in surprise. "You mean… you do?"

"Of course I do! I love you, you idiotic jerkface!"

Sesshoumaru had felt a lot of new emotions since meeting Rin. Curiosity, confusion, fascination, joy, heartbrokenness, despair… He had thought each one was intense. But none of them compared to the intensity of emotion he felt when he heard Rin say that she loved him.

He kissed her. She was surprised at first, but soon reciprocated, and it wasn't long before they were breathless and clinging to each other.

"I love you, too," he realized. That was the word he had been looking for earlier. Love. He loved her. "Will you marry me?"

Rin looked solemn all of a sudden, and Sesshoumaru felt his heart stop.

"Only if we make sure your mother gets to be there this time. She was so upset when she missed Inuyasha's…"

A loud sob interrupted their moment.

It came from a bush.

"You really are the perfect daughter-in-law!" the bush wailed.

"Mother…?" Sesshoumaru asked the shrubbery warily.

Izayoi stood up. "Yes, dear, it's me."

Sesshoumaru rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "I know you have secret passageways in our home. And apparently you have some in the local hot spring as well. But you can't possibly have underground tunnels in all the surrounding towns also."

Izayoi chortled merrily. "You don't know what I'm capable of, dear." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, alright, I made Inuyasha follow you," she admitted.

"Yo," Inuyasha greeted from a nearby tree.

"Hello!" Rin waved brightly. "How's Kagome doing?"

"Ready to freaking pop!" Kagome groused from a carriage parked in the shadows across the street. "Primarily because if I did, then Inuyasha would let me out of this carriage."

"Only if it's for real this time!" Inuyasha yelled down at her. "She faked labor twice on the way here just to get us to stop for snacks," he explained.

"Did it work?" Sesshoumaru questioned drily.

"Yeah, you want some cheese?" Kagome called. "I've got like a whole wheel in here."

"Yes, please!" Rin accepted, skipping over.

The ride back was merry. Rin and Kagome shared the cheese wheel with the midwife Inuyasha had hired to drive around with them 'just in case', Izayoi and Inu no Taisho somehow managed to make a pot of tea in the cramped, heatless quarters, and Inuyasha constantly fluffed Kagome's pillows for her (much to her annoyance). Sesshoumaru sat silently, watching Rin and reminding himself that she was truly his now. It took some time to settle into his gut, but when it did it felt good. It felt right.

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When the carriage pulled up to the castle, Rin was already nodding off. She snuggled into Sesshoumaru's chest sleepily, and he wrapped his arms around her. She grinned into his shirt.

"I think you should be awake for this," he whispered, nudging her gently.

"For what?" she asked, lifting bleary eyes to peer out the window.

There were candles everywhere.

They were lining the steps, hanging from the trees, filling candelabras on beautifully decorated banquet tables.

Rin's mouth hung open in awe.

"What is all this?"

"It's your wedding!" Izayoi crowed. "That is, I mean, if you like it. And if you're ready. We could do it all over another day if you'd prefer, I just thought it might be nice to really lock you in. I mean the relationship. I mean your love! To have an immediate testimony to your love. If you want."

"I… I do!" Rin squealed. "Of course I do!"

"Oh good!" Izayoi sighed, relieved. "Because all the children are here and it would be really awkward to tell them to leave after getting them all up in the middle of the night…"

"What!?" Rin cried, launching herself from the carriage. She ran along the path of light until it twisted around the side of the castle and revealed all her friends waiting for her. They burst into applause when they saw her, and Rin immediately responded by bursting into tears.

Sesshoumaru appeared and hugged her to his chest.

"I wish I could say I had anything to do with this, but it was all my crazy mother," he told her. "Still, if you like it, then I'll tolerate it."

"I like it," Rin whispered.

Before long, Izayoi dragged her away to get dressed in a simple white gown decked out with daisies. No one noticed the delay, because there were thirty or so flower girls who had to go down the aisle before her. By the time Rin re-emerged, the aisle was absolutely coated with blossoms of every kind. And Sesshoumaru was waiting for her at the end of it, looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

They said short and simple vows, because they didn't have time to prepare anything more, but the simplicity and brevity was touching, and it suited them.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest said.

Sesshoumaru cupped Rin's face in his hand and tilted it upwards. She grinned at him, and the sun began to rise, casting a golden glow on the ceremony. Sesshoumaru put his forehead against hers and sighed. "You said you didn't belong anywhere, but it isn't true," he told her. "You belong here. In a field of flowers. At sunrise. With me."

And he gave her the first kiss of their married life. It was possessive, loving, confident, and deep.

It was wonderful.

And Rin finally felt like she truly belonged.

A/N: Hope you liked it, friends. And thank you again for everything! I love you guys.