One Life Ch.16 When We...

Chapter 16:  When We Meet Again

Rin couldn’t believe her eyes!  Her heart shuttered to a painful halt as she stared wide-eyed at the form holding her in an iron grip, her mind violently rejecting what her vision beheld.

Se…Sesshoumaru-sama!  No!  He’s dead!   Her inner voice of reason shrieked at her.  That solid, knowing, reason which was founded on Master Kane’s assurance of her Lord’s death, founded on the last image she had of him.  The memory of what happened burned across her mind as she stared at him.

She had screamed until her throat was raw as they dragged her through the trees.  And then she had screamed until there was no sound left.  She had struggled and fought, all the while, her only thought being of Sesshoumaru.  The creature dragging her struggling body had snarled, growled, howled, and laughed as the others that followed slashed at her broken body.  She had felt her stomach burn as a thick blade sliced through her flesh.  She had felt the warmth of her blood gushing down her lower body and still she had only thought of Sesshoumaru as she screamed, twisted, and fought against her captors.  

She had felt a slice across her throat and coughed on her salty blood as she continued to try to scream.  Still, she sobbed helplessly as the image of Sesshoumaru blurred in her mind’s eye.  Then, pain burst through her head as the side of her face was slashed at, her eye jammed closed with searing pain, as blood oozed from her open wounds and darkness began to envelope her consciousness.  Still she could think only of Sesshoumaru…her Sesshoumaru.

‘I love you.’  This final thought was all that was left as she felt herself slipping into the blackness.  This final thought whispered desperately through her mind begging to be carried on the wind to her lover’s soul.  

Blackness followed.  

She had glimpsed the depths of Hell in that blackness.

The first glimpse had been of a dark place, a ragging fire roaring in a pit that she seemed to be laying next to, demons of the underworld howling as they burned around her, and then blazing green eyes appeared through the flames just before she retreated back into oblivion.

She floated in a black cloud hazy with crimson light.  There was no sound, no light, no touch.  There was only the final image in her mind’s eye.  That horrifying image of Lord Sesshoumaru, her lord, her master, her love,… her Sesshoumaru, still weak from the unique poison coursing through his veins, being run thru by a huge blade, being attacked by three huge trolls, being torn at and forced under the icy water to drown.

She had tried to cry out, tried to close her eyes and let the anguish and helplessness she felt escape her lungs in a heart-wrenching wail, but nothing happened.  The image had played over and over and over… and over…

Hell rose up around her once more as suddenly, there had been a sharp pain over her heart.  The blazing green eyes of Hell’s ruler bore into her as he began to devour her.  She felt her flesh rip, felt the ache of the wound, and yet it was foreign and unidentifiable.  She could feel herself sucking in her breath ready to scream, but was instantly choking on a thick, salty liquid that burned down her throat, hot flesh being pressed against her mouth.

Pain shot through her as fire and ice hummed in her veins.  The new wound above her heart began to burn with more intensity as she struggled for breath, struggled for consciousness, struggled for understanding.  She felt as though a burning light was engulfing her, swallowing her whole, scorching her soul.  And just when she was certain that she could take no more, when she begged for her mind to break into a million pieces and scatter, there was sweet blackness once more.

Slowly she had opened her eyes and tried to focus on the shapes around her.  She could hear a soft crackle of fire and see the warm glow of firelight flickering and dancing across the ceiling.  She blinked and focused more intently on the shadows and light that flickered on the ceiling, but her left eye would not focus.  She had reached up to discover a thick bandage over her eye and then had realized that she also had a bandage around her throat.  She swallowed and cringed at the pain.  She had tried to sit up, but suddenly there was a force pushing her back against the pillows.

“Lie down.”  A deep voice commanded, and she tried to remember who it belonged to, still confused as to where she was or what was happening.

She had turned her head towards the voice with hope filling her.  She had tried to whisper Lord Sesshoumaru’s name, but it hurt too much, and all she could do was mouth the word.  

“Sesshoumaru is dead.”  The voice barked abruptly.  Ice filled her veins as the hope died in her.  She remembered what had happened then.  A lump formed in her throat and hot tears came as the ache in her heart grew.

“You are blind in your left eye and you are mute.  You should be grateful you are alive.”  The cold voice came to her once more.  And then she knew who the voice belonged to.  Her heart skipped a beat as she tried to locate his face.

Master Kane stood over her peering down at her, but he wasn’t the same Kane she remembered.  His green eyes were cold and distant, and he had a slightly crazed and unpredictable look on his face.  She found herself trembling with fear as she gazed up at him and remembered her…dream.

Those eyes…the burning creatures, the bite on her chest and the tangy liquid, her survival…

“You are mine now.”  Kane stated simply, confirming her fears, before turning and leaving.

She was Kane’s Life Mate.

She had tried to die.  She had lain in bed for weeks, unmoving, willing her life to slip away.  Hunger tore through her and she no longer even needed to relieve herself after a while, but death would not come.  It had been weeks when Kane had burst through the door, and yanked her dehydrated body from her pillows.

“You will eat, or I will force you, but you will eat!”  He had hissed.  “I still have plans for you that require you to be alive.”  He stated.  “After I am finished with you, I assure you, I will find a way to rid you of your life.”  He stated coldly before dragging her through the house and tossing her into the bathhouse. “Now clean yourself.  You reek.  Here, use this.”  He commanded as he picked up a small satchel of dried herbs and lavender from a nearby shelf and brought them to his nose before throwing them at her feet.  “I like this scent best.”  He purred, a hungry light engulfing his eyes.  

She had endured months of emptiness and isolation after that.  Her days her filled with memories of Jaken and Ah-Un, both dead Kane had assured her.  But, her nights were haunted by dreams of Sesshoumaru.  Kane came to her on several occasions in a crazed state and had tried to force himself on her, but each time he saw the emptiness in her eyes he would grow even angrier and lock her up for days.  “You will desire me as you once did him!  You are mine now!”  He had howled in rage each time.

Rin blinked as the memory of Sesshoumaru’s tortured death and her wretched survival faded.  She found herself standing, once more, in the grip of Lord Sesshoumaru.  Alive.

Impossible!

Slowly she lifted her free hand to his face, shaking with the anticipation of touching him.  She paused for a second, afraid to discover that he was not truly there, aching to know that this shadow, this dream was real.  So afraid that she would wake when she touched nothing, just as always.  Slowly she reached out and touched his striped cheek and felt the warm soft flesh, felt his firm jaw, watched as his eyelashes fluttered over honey colored eyes, almost imperceptibly.  

He did not let go of her.  He did not move.  He did not speak.  He did not even blink.  He simply stood and stared at her, golden eyes blazing through her soul as she raked her gaze over his flawless face, his expression unreadable just as it always was.  She continued her awe struck path of touch down his pale throat, to his collarbone and onto his warm, firm chest where she could feel his heart beat.  The pounding vibration sent life electrifyingly sharp through her body.  Her heart abruptly began to beat once more, and suddenly she was in the land of the living again.  

He’s alive!   Tears of a sorrowful kind of joy streamed freely down her face as she realized that this time, he had not disappeared when she had touched him.

But as her eyes came up to meet his once more she was suddenly flung harshly away from him.  She hit the cold ground forcefully and rolled several times before she could right herself.  Confused, she rolled to her feet and crouched, instinctively in a defensive stance, not understanding what had just happened.  When she was able to focus her good eye on Lord Sesshoumaru once more, she gulped in her breath and cringed at what she saw.  His eyes glowed a demonic red, his hair swirled around him in the suddenly power charged air, his sharp fangs elongating.   

“Betrayal.”  He hissed softly.  Dangerously.

*****
Sesshoumaru stared at the young woman he held in his grasp with utter astonishment.  His mind could not comprehend what he was seeing.  This female, this young woman, Kane’s mate was Rin.  But this female did not smell like his Rin.  This female did not smile like his Rin.  He blinked once, his face remaining passive and unreadable, but he took in every inch of her.  Her hair still glistened in the moonlight; her skin was still creamy smooth though pale now.  No doubt from traveling with that hideous veil.  But he could clearly see why she traveled with the veil.  He was reminded of Kazuo as he looked over her scarred face and throat.  An angry red scar ran from the tip of her forehead at her scalp all the way down her face, through her left eye, and all the way down to her chin.  Her left eye was pure white, the eyebrow was gone, and her eyelashes were nonexistent.  The bare eye rolled sightlessly in its socket.  Another thick scar crossed her throat from her right ear to her left collarbone, standing out in direct contrast to her pale skin.  But when he looked into her right eye, her good eye, it sparkled a bright hazel green and glistened with unshed tears as she stared up into his face.   His Rin.

She’s alive! He simply couldn’t believe it.

He looked over her entire form once more, to be sure she was indeed real.  His grip tightened on her arm as he locked gazes with her once more and could hear her heart beating faster and faster.  He watched as her eyes became unfocused on his face, lost in an unseen memory.

Answers to questions he hadn’t even realized he was seeking began to form in his mind as he stood looking at her.  Kane had been there that night, had been in league with the trolls, and now here was Rin, alive, and mated to Kane!  He didn’t need to guess to know how she had survived the troll attacks, and he was sure that that was all part of their plan as well.  A distraction!  They had planned on the marks healing her from the beginning!  She was in on the whole thing!

Sesshoumaru felt the rage building in him.  He flung her away from him in disgust and sneered at her.

“Betrayal.”  He hissed as he watched her hit the ground and roll to her feet instinctively, her one good eye focusing on him.  She said nothing, only slightly shook her head, her eye going even wider.  

The look of shock and confusion only infuriated him more.  

Did she think I wouldn’t figure it out?

Anger filled his heart as she continued to merely stare at him.  She said nothing.  She did not plead for forgiveness of deny his accusations.  She just stood there with the look of shock on her face.  

She doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed!

“You are the tiger’s mate, are you not?  The very demon who hired those troll demons to attack my household time and time again.”  He asked her calmly, seemingly indifferent.  He watched as her eyes got even larger and tears began to well up in her eye once more, but still she said nothing!  Denied nothing!

Fury carried him to her instantly and he reached out and snatched her by the arms, hauling up close to his face so that he could see every fleck of color in her eye, hear her heart beat, and detect the slightest lie.

“Do you deny it?”  He growled as he shook her.

A tear slid down her face as she began to shake her head, but he suddenly and forcefully ripped her robes open to reveal the tell tale mark above her breast. Kane’s mark was over her heart, the lovers’ position for such a mark.  His grip tightened on her arms as he growled down at her.

“He wanted you for a mate.  He challenged me when I would not give my consent.  Do you think I have forgotten?  Were you in on his plan to attack my household then as well?  Were you really trying to flee with him the night the troll demons were breaking into your room?”  He whispered as he dragged her up against his body.

His lips came dangerously close to hers as he took in her scent, her racing heartbeat, and her silence.  “Did I truly foil your plan….that night….in the forest?  I remember the way I found you then, and I remember that he was there that night as well.  Did you think I had forgotten?”  He whispered against her mouth, his breath caressing her trembling lips.

And still she merely stared, wide eyed at him and shook her head.  Her heart was racing and she smelled of lavender and fear.  

He let go of one arm and slowly, deliberately withdrew the jade dagger he had at his waist and brought it up to her chin, the tip digging into the soft skin at her throat.  “Can you give me a reason why I should not kill you right here and now?”  He whispered across her lips, his gaze locking with hers.  She began to tremble and swallowed, and he knew she was afraid to even move now.  He yanked her around and pinned her trembling form to him, the dagger going to her breast.  “Or perhaps I should cut your heart out.”  He shoved her away from him once more and she landed in a heap on the ground at his feet.  He threw the dagger into the ground at her feet, and when she looked up at him he growled again.

“It was to be a wedding gift.”  He toned softly, his eyes going to the jade hilt of the dagger.  A sense of defeat rushed through him and he found he couldn’t even look at her anymore, the sting of her betrayal throbbing through him.  

He would let her live a while longer.  It didn’t matter anyhow.  When he killed Kane, she would die as well.  Then he would be done with them both, but he wanted Kane to suffer.  If he killed Rin now, Kane would follow, and he would not have the chance to torture the tiger the way he wanted to.

His demon sense picked up on another presence in the gardens and knew who it was immediately.   Slowly he turned to face his enemy, ready to kill him once and for all.  

Kane stepped from the shadows into the dim moonlight as sneered.  “Have you finished with your wedding night soon, Lord Sesshoumaru?  

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, at the odd question as he took in the sight of the other demon.  Kane’s fiery red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, his bronze skin glowing in the moonlight.  He wore the formal dress robes he had been wearing at the ceremony earlier as well, but it was the sword at his side that caught Sesshoumaru’s attention.  He casually continued his scrutiny of the demon, not allowing his gaze to linger on the sword for more than a brief glance.  

“You did not seek me out to ask me that.”  He said, giving his icy reply to the cocky demon.

Kane laughed.  “Actually, you are wrong.  I was very pleased to discover that you had already left your marriage bed.  Was Binding Kasumi as pleasurable as Binding Rin was?”  He asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Sesshoumaru became utterly still at the comment.  Anger already filled him, but cursed jealousy began to burn a path through his heart and lungs as well.  He pushed the feelings aside and merely blinked at the tiger, outwardly unaffected by any of the demon’s comments.

Kane’s smile faded just a little when Sesshoumaru didn’t react.  “Very well, we will skip the small talk.  Prepare yourself for death, Lord Sesshoumaru.” He hissed as he drew Toukijin from his obi.

Sesshoumaru momentarily felt the urge to laugh at the utter foolishness of the deranged tiger, but he held himself in check.  

Does he truly think he can defeat me with my own sword?        

Slowly Kane began to approach Sesshoumaru, sword in hand, and it was then that Sesshoumaru noticed the look in the tiger’s eyes.  He was insane.  The sword merely contributed to this insanity.

“Tell me, what did you offer to the troll demons to assassinate my mother?’  Sesshoumaru asked as he began to back out of the gardens and in to the forest, leading Kane away from the palace.

Kane laughed again.  “Fool!  They were supposed to kill you!  Your mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time!  Ha!  And what of it anyhow?  Because of you I had to kill my own father!”

Sesshoumaru glared at the tiger, his eyebrow arching questioningly.

“He found out that I was trying to kill Kasumi.  I wouldn’t have tried to kill her if she hadn’t become engaged to you!  She doesn’t want the throne.  Everyone knows that, but if she were to marry, then her mate would take it!  I had to get rid of her so that she wouldn’t marry you!  But father, oh so clever father, found out!”

He began ranting to himself angrily.  “Those idiots were supposed to kill everyone in the camp and dispose of Kasumi and the Panther.  It was supposed to look like a kidnapping!”  He growled.  “But the stupid trolls underestimated the panther demon!”  He hissed lowly to himself, but his eyes suddenly snapped up to meet Sesshoumaru’s.

The tiger’s eyes were beginning to blaze a brilliant green as he became more and more enraged.  He continued to trail after Sesshoumaru as he made his way into the forest.

“When people began to suspect, I had to halt my attempts to dispose of Kasumi, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t just dispose of you!  That’s when I ordered the trolls to kill you, but they killed your mother instead!  Fools!  They are truly stupid creatures, but they will do anything for something they deem “treasure”.  Those idiots actually wanted the Sounga so bad that they were willing to attack the Dog Demon Clan!  Fools!”

Sesshoumaru felt the anger in him boiling through his veins.

“When they failed, they refused to try again, until decades later when I discovered that the Dog demon lord had forged two more swords.  I lured them into a new deal with the promise of the oh-so-powerful swords and hired Ryuukotsusei to aid them, but he succeeded in only killing the Dog demon lord!  What good was that supposed to do?!”  Kane ranted in exasperation, completely unaware that he was rattling off his lifetime of treachery and treason to his very target.  

“I should have known that Ryuukotsusei would not have been able to stay focused on the proper target!  He had always had an unhealthy hatred for Inutashio.”  Kane sneered as he became lost in some unseen memory.  “And then he got himself trapped in an enchanted sleep, so he was no longer useful to me!”  The tiger demon’s eyes became hazy and unfocused as he continued his pursuit of Sesshoumaru, and he began to curse to himself.  He blinked and the emerald fire of his gazed was once more on Sesshoumaru.

It all made sense now.  Kane had been behind all of the attacks from the beginning!  All of them!  He had not even suspected that the rouge attack on the panther demon camp the week before the first marking ritual had been tied into all of his problems.  It was all for greed!  His entire family dead, and years of death and destruction, loneliness and anger, had all been for the greed of this one puny tiger.  

“Are you ready to die Lord Sesshoumaru?  For now that you are bound to Kasumi both of you will perish!  I shall have what is mine!  Your lands, your swords, your woman, and your life!  Prepare yourself!”  Kane yelled as he charged Sesshoumaru, Toukijin raised and ready to strike.  His eyes began to blaze a demonic hue of green, his teeth becoming fangs, his nails elongating and becoming razor sharp talons.  With a single slash of his energy whip Sesshoumaru sent Toukijin flying out of reach, and sending Kane sailing through the air to land hard on his back.  Sesshoumaru’s own demonic aura began to grow about him, his power crackling in the air, and his true form swimming just below the surface of his eyes.  Anger pulsed through him as the tiger demon snarled and charged again.  His body beginning to change shape.  Half tiger, half angry humanoid, Kane roared as he hurtled towards the completely still form of Sesshoumaru.  With the flick of a wrist the crazed demon was thrown back again, and as he rose again he began to grow.  Before Sesshoumaru now stood a huge snarling tiger, flames trickled from its claws, and danced in its glowing green eyes.  Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the flames trickling from the tiger, and he briefly recalled the scorched den of the troll demons.  

So the tiger is a fire demon.

Sesshoumaru felt a twinge of excitement as he began to transform into his true form.  It had been a long time since he had stretched his claws.  Within seconds fire-breathing tiger clashed with poison dripping hellhound.  They slashed at one another, biting and growling, tearing at each other’s flesh as they fought for dominance, each giving as good as he got, and Sesshoumaru found himself mildly impressed with his opponent’s skills.  

But suddenly Kazuo was between the two, slashing at Kane with a sharp dagger and attempting to break the two apart.

The fool!  He’s wishes for a swift death! Sesshoumaru growled a warning to Kazuo, knocking him out of the way, but the panther rolled and with the speed and grace of the sleek feline he was, he rolled to his feet and leapt into the battle once more.

“No!”  He yelled as he tried to pry the huge jaws of the dog demon away from the tiger.

He’s trying to…prevent Kane’s death! Realization hit Sesshoumaru as he battled to shake the pesky panther from him while Kane took another swipe at him.

“Don’t…don’t kill him!”  Kazuo grunted as he rolled to his feet yet again.

But the distraction gave Kane just enough time to strike.  He had a death grip on the Dog Demon’s throat and dragged him to the ground hissing.  But suddenly there was a loud “thunk” and the tiger went rigid.  He began to howl as his entire body suddenly began to steam and then freeze…from the inside out.  It was then, in a puzzled shock, that Sesshoumaru saw it.  The jade hilt of Rin’s dagger protruded from the tiger’s chest.  A deathblow.

Sesshoumaru threw the freezing demon off him and whirled around to find Rin on her knees a few feet away, her arms wrapped around her abdomen in excruciating pain, her eyes locked onto Sesshoumaru.  She mouthed something and he felt his stomach drop.

It had looked like….“I love you.”  He was sure of it.  

The tiger gurgled in agony once more behind him and he watched as Rin began to convulse.  She tipped her head back as though screaming silently.  And then she collapsed.  Kazuo was on his knees at her side in seconds, his eyes glowing with worry, and then Sesshoumaru understood why Kazuo had been trying to stop the fight.  He hadn’t been trying to save Kane.  He had been trying to save Rin.

*****
Rin had lain in the dirt sobbing brokenly.  Lord Sesshoumaru had been so angry!  He had accused her of betraying him, but…she would never do such a thing.  But, she had no way of making him understand.  How could he think that of her after…what they had shared?  How could he hate her?  How could this happen?  

He doesn’t understand!

Suddenly Lord Kazuo had appeared before her, grasping her shoulders and shaking her slightly.  “Lady Rin!  Are you hurt!  It’s a miracle you are alive!  But the panther’s excitement was short lived as he had taken in the wretched state the young woman was in.  “What has happened?”

She pointed in the direction the two Taiyoukai had gone and then turned pleading eyes back to the panther.  He was staring at her face, her scars.  “You are Lord Kane’s mate.”  He stated simply and she realized that he had detected Kane’s foul scent.  Slowly she nodded, her head dropping in shame.  “Lord Sesshoumaru…?”  But he knew what had happened.

Rin lifted her head, her face lined with tears, and patted at her throat to indicate that she couldn’t speak, and he nodded.  “He thinks you betrayed him?”  Kazuo asked as he began to imagine how Sesshoumaru’s heart must have soared with happiness and then plummeted at discovering she was the despicable tiger’s mate.

She nodded.

“He doesn’t realize you are mute?”  He asked as he watched tears stream helplessly down the woman’s torn face.

She shook her head.

“He is just hurt.  That’s all.”  Kazuo tried to reassure her, but a sudden realization came to him.  

“Are they together in the forest?”  He asked suddenly, fear gripping his heart.

She nodded again.

“Stay here!”  He commanded and was on his feet and gone in the blink of an eye.

Rin sat there, her heat broken.  He is alive! She reminded herself.  But then she remembered that Kane had Lord Sesshoumaru’s sword.  That fact would surely anger Lord Sesshoumaru further.

Sesshouamru-sama will kill Kane for certain. But the thought sent chills through her entire being.  She would die with Kane.  The Binding mark would make certain that her bound soul would follow her “mate’s” to the underworld.

She was on her feet instantly and running through the trees in search of the battling demons.  Her heart was in her throat as she thought of all the things she wanted to tell Lord Sesshoumaru.  There were so many things that he didn’t understand!

If I should die by his hand, he must know that I love him first!  

But just as she burst through the trees she saw the most horrifying scene of her life.  Two great beasts tore at each other as Lord Kazuo tried in vain to separate the two, but suddenly the tiger had the great white hound by the throat and twisted it top the ground, ready to tear the dog’s throat out.

Sesshoumaru-sama!   Her heart stopped.  Time froze as she instinctively hurled the slender dagger in her hand at the flaming tiger.  It hit its mark instantly and just as suddenly she felt the sharp pain in her own chest.  But Lord Sesshoumaru was alright.  He was transforming back into his human form.  He was alright!

Her vision began to blur as she watched his face, his eyes upon her now, and she was vaguely aware that Lord Kazuo was running towards her.  

He’s alive.  That’s all that matters.

She tried to tell him; tried to sound out the words to let him know.  But all that came out was a raspy whisper as she fell.

An all too familiar blackness engulfed her soul and she succumbed to it.

I love you…Sesshoumaru.

*****

A disturbing laugh, cold and ironic, made Sesshoumaru turn once more to the dying tiger, drawing his attention from Rin for only a moment.  The tiger’s attention was directed at the dying young woman.  “Little fool!  Faithful to him until the very end.  But, now you’ll die with me!  At least I still have you and he doesn’t.”  He coughed, and then slumped to the ground, unmoving, his last breath falling from his now frozen lungs.

The tiger’s words made Sesshoumaru’s heart shutter painfully and he suddenly wanted only to hold Rin in his arms once more.  He wanted to tell her that he was ready to listen, that he was ready to forgive her, ready to apologize.  He jerked around and strode to her fallen form, Kazuo bowing over her.  The panther looked up when he approached.  “She is gone.”  He choked.

His heart jerked again, as he stood unmoving, and watched the pale haired panther rise to his feet.  “I will go fetch Lord Masahiro.”  He said as he laid a hand on Sesshoumaru’s shoulder for a moment and then headed back through the trees towards the palace.

Sesshoumaru stood frozen, looking at her still form.  This time there was no mistaking it.  Rin was gone.  She lay before his very eyes, dead.  

Smoothly, Sesshoumaru unsheathed Tensaiga and held it poised over her still form.  He poured his yokai into the blade and waited for the demons of the underworld to appear, ready to strike at them and banish then back to hell.  

You cannot have her.   He told them silently as he waited.

Minutes passed, his concentration strong as he watched, ready for the moment to strike, and still no demons appeared before his blade.  His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his heartbeat quickened with unease.  He passed the blade through the air over her body, striking, waiting for her heart to begin beating, waiting for her to begin breathing again.

Nothing.

He slashed the blade through her lifeless body this time.

Nothing.

The demon lord staggered back, unable to comprehend what was happening.  

Tensaiga fails me!

He stared at the blade for a moment before lowering it to his side and sinking to his knees before Rin’s motionless form.  His eyes searched her face, his heart clenching painfully.  She did not look peaceful.  She looked as though it had hurt to die.  Slowly, he reached out and caressed her soft cheek and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.  He leaned over her, holding his breath and watching for something.  Anything.

He couldn’t breath.  He couldn’t move.

What have I done?

A drop of wetness fell thick on her cheek and he wondered where it had come from.

“Rin…you are fine…open your eyes.”  He whispered to her, dimly aware that his voice trembled and his throat ached.  She would never disobey him.  Never.

And still she lay there lifeless before him.

He had failed her.  She had given him her entire life, her love, her very soul, and he had failed her.  His heart ached as he sat back on his knees and then leaned forward over her again, restless and helpless.

Slowly he reached out and pulled her into his embrace one hand still clutching the traitorous “sword of life”.  She was lying in the dirt, on the cold ground, and that simply wouldn’t do.  Betrayal or no, she had died for him.  He pulled her up to his burry his nose in her hair taking in the scent of lavender on her skin, his eyes squeezing shut as he felt them begin to sting painfully.  She does not smell like the cherry blossoms she loves so much.   A thick lump formed in his throat as he cradled her and focused on her scent.  He could feel his body beginning to tremble as he sat there, holding his lost love.

I loved her.  I…loved her.  I….loved…her.

*Pulse*