"In the deepest dark of night, a woman waits for her demon lover."


Nighttime in the winter always felt a bit more than just what it was. Whether it was the ethereal way that seeing a world of pristine, glittering white made a body feel, or how the moon against the cold seemed to give everything a blue tint, there was a magical quality to a winter's night. Everything was so still, so quiet, so subdued.

The quiet of the night didn't bother Rin. If anything, she was more at ease in the silence that almost seemed to have a sound of its own. She gave a small shiver against the cool night air, pulling her blanket farther up her shoulders until it covered her nose as she leaned forward to look out the window up at the sky. Seeing nothing but the moon and her stars, she gave a small huff of disappointment and rested her chin against the wood sill. One of her hands snaked out of the blanket and idly scratched at a divet in the wood as she hummed a wordless tune under her breath and wondered where her husband was.

He wasn't late—could he even really be late if he didn't follow a schedule that wasn't his own?—but she had hoped to see him much earlier than this. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and sat up, resting her chin in her palm and glancing up at the sky again, just in case he had magically appeared in the last five seconds. She even looked around at the ground for good measure but still, she saw nothing. Her knee jogged up and down in a very unladylike way and she stifled a yawn that bubbled up.

He's fine, she assured the part of herself that was prone to thoughts of worry, nothing could hurt him. He's just... taking his time. With a final glance at the sky, she turned away from the window of the bedroom that she shared with her husband. With the blanket still draped over her shoulders like a brightly decorated cape, she wandered over to where she had laid out some papers earlier in the day. The half-open scrolls and loose pieces of paper were spread out in a corona of yellow-white that glowed in the candlelight as she approached, reaching over to snag a light source of her own so she could actually see what she was doing.

She shuffled to sit cross-legged on the floor and picked up the piece of paper she had deliberately abandoned because it had been so unbearably boring that she could not physically continue to read before it made her keel over. Now, however, in her weird silent suspended existence of waiting, she was turning to anything to pass the time. She cleared her throat and lifted the paper to squint at the words printed there. After reading and re-reading the same four words, she dropped the paper in her lap with a disinterested "Hm" and a cursory look around.

"Well," Rin mumbled to herself as she rocked back onto the floor to sprawl there and look at the ceiling. Laying with her arms and legs out wide she could almost hear Master Jaken scolding her undignified behavior and the thought alone had a giggle escaping her. She tipped her head back to look behind her at the cozy blankets and pillows that called out to her invitingly. She rolled onto her stomach and deliberated, glancing towards the window a final time before giving a defeated sigh and dropping her forehead down against the floor with a dull thud. She was cold, she was tired, and she was feeling silly for trying to wait up for a demon.

She pressed her nose against the floor and blew a frustrated raspberry that made her feel better. She hadn't ever tried to do this before, to wait into the night for him to come home as a romantic gesture. Not that they didn't have romantic tendencies, it was just that they had been so used to living parallel to each other and taking the moments that they had together as they came. Not seeking them out so much as welcoming their appearance.

Forehead still pressed against the floor, Rin again found her thoughts drifting. Back when she had lived with Kaede, she had been visiting Kagome and she had caught the miko nodding off watching the door. When Rin had sincerely asked why Kagome didn't just go to bed if she was tired, she had been answered with a soft smile and shrug. "I like to wait for him." She had answered.

Rin was no stranger to waiting for her Lord. One could argue that the majority of her life had been spent waiting for him, she thought to herself with a small smile as memories of dark forests and wide-open fields from long ago sifted into her consciousness. However, the romance of waiting up for her husband in the wee hours of the night and being able to look at him and welcome him home before the two of them snuggled into their bed had left her sentimental heart thudding and her cheeks warm. Even now, she couldn't stop a small squeak at the thought of the small, special smile that he saved only for her, burying her face in her hands as a giddy flush rose. Ah, well, she thought, sliding the blankets over her head and already mentally giving up on her romantic plan in favor of sleep, I will try again another time.

"Rin."

The familiar baritone had her gasping and jerking herself up into a seated position, her heart soaring that he had made it home just in time. Or, she would have, had she not so firmly trapped herself in her blanket. What she really ended up doing was more of a quick jerk-up before falling back down onto her stomach. After a moment of thrashing, she managed to pop her head out and turn to smile at the doorway, blowing strands of her hair out of her face.

He stood there, face impassive and relaxed as he looked down at her laying in a mess on the floor. His head almost imperceptibly cocked to the side, his eyes looking around as if he was trying to solve the mystery laid out before him. He seemed to tower in the doorway, filling it completely with his presence, but he had always had the ability to do that. He was larger than life, he always had been. His eyes fell back to her face.

She grinned at him, grunting softly as she wormed her hand out of the blanket and pushed her hair out of her face. She wiggled her fingers at him happily. "Welcome home!" She chirped before she rolled over, kicking the blanket off of her and popping to her feet to shuffle over to him. His face tipped down as she came closer to him, his eyes following her. Careful of his armor, she slid her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest, a happy hum escaping her as his own hand slid up her back.

He smelled like the forest and the sky and that unnamable smell that came from a person who had been outside in the snow. His armor was still cold from his journey but she resolutely ignored it and enjoyed the solid feeling of holding him after not seeing him for a day or so. Gently—oh, so gently—she could feel him rest his chin against the crown of her head and she felt his chest rise as he took a deep breath. It was soundless and had she not known him as well as she did, she wouldn't have even known that he was prone to sighs of contentment, but there it was.

She pulled back to look up at her Lord and he let her, gazing down into her upturned face. For the thousandth, and most certainly not the last, time she couldn't believe how much she loved him. How many hours had she devoted to watching him, memorizing the fair color of his skin, marveling at how his hair shone in the light, committed to her heart the gentle way his fingers brushed along her face, her neck, her arm…

"Rin," he said again, his voice pulling her out of her sappy reverie. She blinked a few times as he continued; "Why are you awake?" Giggling at his, honestly valid, question she slipped her hands from his back to his wrists and gently tugged him the rest of the way into their bedroom, reaching around him to slide their door shut with a snap. He patiently let her manhandle him as she began to untie his armor, waiting for her answer.

"I was waiting for you," she explained, pulling the tie loose and releasing his chest plate which he caught in his hand easily and placed to the side. He slanted his gaze over to her and she noticed the way his eyebrow cocked up, the question there plain. She came around to his front again and elevated herself up onto her tip-toes, fingers resting on his shoulder as she placed a small, slow kiss against his lips. She felt his back curve down to reciprocate as his hand came to gently rest against her cheek, thumb brushing slowly. As the kiss deepened, her mouth opening against his and her fingers going from gently resting on his shoulders to grasping at his kimono, she smiled mischievously. She giggled against his mouth as he lifted her off her feet and pressed her down into the blankets of their bed.

As his weight settled against her and the silence of the night enveloped and welcomed the sighs of the two lovers, Rin tipped her head up and thought to herself; Oh, this was well worth the wait.


I hope you enjoyed!