"Ouch!" Rin jerked her hand away from the bush she was reaching under, trying to get something I could not see. I regarded her carefully out of the corner of my eye, making sure she had not hurt herself badly. She was shaking her hand back and forth rapidly, as if the movement would stop the pain. As her hand moved up and down, my attention was caught by several ruby droplets that flew from the wound on her hand.

"Rin," I said softly, knowing I did not have to raise my voice for her to hear me.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Despite her wounding, her voice was as cheery and free of worry as ever.

"Come here," I commanded her. She immediately walked toward me, coming to rest on her knees beside me. She is ever aware, I thought, that she should not stand while I sit. Indeed, I was sitting against a tree, allowing Jaken to rest and her to play while I allowed my mind to wander.

"Let me see your hand," I told her, reaching out with my hand. She obediently placed her wounded, tiny hand in mine. I was struck, for a moment, by the fragility of her human condition. How easy it would be for me to simply close my hand over hers and crush every small bone there. How easy it would be for me to sink my claws into her skin and rip her hand off her arm with a twitch of my wrist. I thought myself stronger for not inflicting that damage, for being able to be gentle with her, as most demons would have ripped her to pieces and consumed her without a moment's hesitation.

A few droplets of blood dripped from the small cut that the thorny bush had given her hand. Fragile, yes, I thought, bringing my eyes back to hers briefly, but so intangibly strong. Not a single tear threatened to leak from her eyes.

"Would you kiss it and make it all better?" Rin's question was entirely innocent, I knew. She had no idea what she offering me. "My…" Rin stopped, her eyes flaring briefly with flash of remembered tragedy. "She used to kiss it and make it all better," Rin continued, her eyes once again lit with mischievous merriment.

Indeed. Kiss the wound. I lifted her hand carefully to my face, keeping my eyes on hers as I did. She waited with quiet, innocent expectance. I lowered my gaze to the wound, to the tiny ruby trails that flowed from it. The next moment, my lips grazed her skin. I could feel her blood tingling there, bringing a hunger in me with only those few tiny drops. I closed my mouth around the cut, using my tongue to lick away the blood from her skin. Only just a moment, then it was gone. I lowered her hand from my face, my attention still on her hand. When I looked up, would I see fear or disgust in her eyes? Would she now see me, her Sesshoumaru-sama, as the demon I was? Would she be appalled with the knowledge that the great Sesshoumaru's primary sustenance, while it was only required once every several decades, was the blood of little girls?

She gasped, though she obviously tried the stifle to noise. I realized then that my hand had close tightly around hers, no doubt a grasp she found painful. I immediately loosened my grip, expecting her to yank her bruised hand from me. But she didn't. I looked up, curious, as always, by her actions.

Rin's eyes were still filled with the same mischievous merriment as before. I thought I saw, perhaps for a moment, an understanding that she knew what it was that had just happened. But the moment passed, and Rin suddenly stood up and started cavorting around.

"Sesshoumaru-sama made it all better! Sesshoumaru-sama made it all better! Jaken, Jaken, look!" She ran off in the direction that Jaken was dozing, eager to show him how I had "made it all better."

So. Ever a mystery, this small girl child I allowed to travel with me. Would there ever be a day when she didn't do something completely unexpected, yet somehow at the same time utterly fascinating to me? I found myself strangely hoping that would not happen. However, I found my thoughts wondering, what would I do with her when she was no longer a little girl?