The Gift by Mujitsu

The Gift

(Merry Christmas, everyone! This is a present to my beta, Wiccan, for being such an amazing and uplifting person. A short, sweet one-shot in time for the holiday season. May everyone's Christmas be full of friendship and love!)

Dedicated to Wiccan

The Gift

by

Mujitsu

Snow fell softly over the land where the sacred God tree stood like a silent sentinel over the meadow that housed the portal between the feudal era, and five hundred years into the future.

There was something magical about this place, something ancient and best spoken about in hushed whispers. This was the place that had witnessed confessions, regrets, miracles, love, friendship, hate, and all things good and bad in the world. A time traveler had entered this place a nave, tenderhearted girl and, under the watchful gaze of the trees, grew into a beautiful, still tenderhearted, woman. But not nave. For, while the trees were ageless, mortals still remained very much changing; things that are once innocent and pure are made less so by life itself and the hardships contained throughout.

But this woman knew the power of the place she traveled through and, on this snowy night, she stood in silence as well to pay her respects. For the moment, it seemed as if no one else in the world existed except for her and the trees. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sky, letting the snowflakes dance upon her cheeks and tickle her lips, and she gave a small sigh of wonder.

The winds sang a soft song through the leaves, and the young woman shivered slightly in the icy echo, but she wasn't ready to move on yet. This time was hers to cherish, a time without fighting or death. She had seen too much of that in her life and, on tonight of all nights, she didn't want the stench of evil covering her. Pushing those thoughts away as another gust of wind danced around her, she opened her eyes to see that the snow had stopped falling for the time being. An inky black sky glittered with diamonds sparkled above her, and her own bright blue gaze sparkled in delight.

"Pretty..."

Startled, the young woman whirled around at the voice of a young girl.

"Rin-chan!"

Just as startled, the little girl focused on her surroundings. "Kagome-nee-chan! It's been a long time!" Kagome caught the young girl as she hurled herself into her arms, and she laughed.

"You're getting so big I won't be able to catch you next time!" Rin giggled as well before stepping back. "Rin, what are you doing here?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama always travels around this time of year. I didn't know we were so close to Inuyasha-sama's village, though, until I saw the God tree. Are you on your way to meet him?"

"Yes, but only for a little while. It's Christmas Eve, and I need to be with my family tonight. I just came to give Inuyasha and the others their presents, then leave." At the blank look she received, Kagome realized that the child had no idea what she was talking about. "Christmas time is a special time where I come from, where people give gifts to each other."

"Gifts?" The little girls eyes shone brightly. "Rin loves gifts!"

Thinking quickly, Kagome lifted her hands to her hair. "In that case, here, Rin. Because you are my friend... Merry Christmas." The young miko's hair fell in pools of wavy darkness to her waist as she handed the little girl the white ribbon that had held it up.

Rin reached for it hesitantly, then pulled back. "My hands are dirty."

Kagome smiled gently. "Let me, then. Turn around."

Obediently Rin turned her back on the young woman, and Kagome began tying her tangled hair into a cute ponytail, then tying the beautiful ribbon around it.

"Kagome-nee-chan?" Rin's voice was tiny, and Kagome paused in tying the delicate material.

"Hm?"

"Kagome-nee-chan is Rin's friend?"

That timid, insecure question almost broke Kagome's heart, and she had to take a deep breath before continuing her ministrations to the little girl's hair. Tying a little bow, she turned Rin around to face her, and then cupped her cheeks in her hands. Rin's eyes widened at the gesture.

"Rin, you are my very good friend. Understand? You'll always be my friend. Do you want to be my friend?"

Rin nodded enthusiastically, even as tears filled her eyes. "Yes, I do! I'll be a good friend to you!"

"I know," Kagome smiled. "Now, you better get back to your camp before Sesshoumaru-sama comes looking for you. I have to go see Inuyasha and the others anyway, okay?"

"Okay! Thank you for the gift, Kagome-nee-chan."

"You are very welcome. Merry Christmas, Rin."

Waving as the little girl ran off, Kagome sighed and started walking to the village. It was strange how life offered little opportunities to make someone feel special. Being raised by the most powerful demon in existence (at least, to her knowledge... Hell, who was she kidding? Sesshoumaru was downright scary sometimes with his power) and a little toad, Kagome was sure that Rin had very little opportunity to make any friends. Yet, by using a simple hair ribbon, Kagome was able to reassure her that she had human friends as well. Feeling buoyed by feelings of good-will and cheer, she prepared to meet Inuyasha and the others.

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"Rin."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make a necklace out of some shells I found at the beach a long time ago for Kagome-nee-chan."

So he was right. His ward had come in contact with the little miko earlier that night, as the lingering scent of flowers reached him. Only the miko smelled of flowers all year long, even when it was snowing. He had never been able to figure out the mystery.

His bright gaze landed on his ward once more, her little tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration as she tried to drill a hole through the current shell with a rock. She pressed a little too hard, and the whole thing broke into pieces. Sighing, she placed the pieces with another smaller pile of broken shells and picked up a new, unblemished one from her other stack.

Without him having to ask the question, Rin continued on. "I met Kagome-nee-chan in the woods earlier, and she gave me this ribbon. See?" Sesshoumaru caught the flash of white in Rin's hair, and his eyes narrowed slightly. The miko gave it to her, did she?

"Since Kagome-nee-chan is Rin's friend, Rin thought that she should give something back, so I'm making her a necklace. I want to give it to her before she leaves tonight."

Another shell broke, and Sesshoumaru caught the faint salty smell of tears.

"I keep breaking the shells though. And I don't have anything to use for string."

She picked up another shell, exhaustion evident through her limbs, and began drilling again, her lower lip trembling. "Kagome-chan said that friends give gifts to each other, and that she was Rin's friend. Rin never really had a friend before, and Rin wanted to give Kagome-nee-chan something that would make her happy. Because Rin is a good friend to her. She said!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened at the intensity in Rin's voice. Apparently the fact that the priestess said that she was Rin's friend was an important thing to a child. Sesshoumaru didn't see the value in friendships. Especially in humans. Too many of them betrayed that trust, and the word had no real meaning anymore. To Sesshoumaru, friends were vague sorts of allies, and he didn't need those anyway. But Rin... Rin was human. Did she need that contact?

He was brought out of his musings by the scent of her blood. His sharpened gaze fell on the broken piece of yet another shell embedded in her finger, and barely restrained a sigh as Rin began crying in earnest. Jaken was dead asleep on the other side of the campfire, so Sesshoumaru stood up gracefully and went to the little girl.

Slowly, he knelt down and took her bleeding hand. Quickly, so there would be less pain, he took the shard out of her finger and ripped a tatter off of her kimono to tie over the wound. Rin was sniffling all the while, and she finally looked up at him in utter misery, her doe brown eyes welling up with renewed tears. "There is only one left," she whispered. He followed her gaze to the last shell in the pile.

It was a pure white shell, rubbed smooth by the sand that had been on the beach, but with a pleasing spiral shape that was elegant. He supposed she had saved the best of her collection for last in case she didn't succeed. A sharp feeling of annoyance at the miko rose up in him. That enigma of a creature was causing grief to his ward, and he didn't appreciate it. It was an inconvenience.

Still, giving the miko a gift would make Rin happy... Finally, sighing softly to himself, he picked up the last, delicate shell and placed it in Rin's hand. "Hold this," he commanded. Immediately, she obeyed and, using his deadly claws, he drilled a precise, perfect hole at the top of the shell.

Before Rin could say anything, he lifted his hand to his head and pulled out a strand of his silver hair. Quickly, he cut it in half, for the length was too long for a regular necklace, and looped it through the hole that he made, knowing that the strand would hold forever. Leaving her to tie a knot, he stood up and waited until the necklace was completed. Face beaming, Rin finished tying the knot and gazed up at her Sesshoumaru-sama, but his look warned her not to speak. Imperiously, he held his hand out for the completed necklace.

"Sleep," he ordered. "The miko will receive her gift tonight."

"Okay!" Rin bounded up and moved towards the two-headed dragon, knowing that Sesshoumaru-sama would keep his word.

And Sesshoumaru-sama did intend to keep his word. He would give Rin's gift to the little miko... after he had a few words with her.

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Kagome, for the second time that night, lifted her face to the night sky to catch snowflakes on her eyelashes. The night of gift-giving was over and she should be heading home, but she couldn't seem to leave the tranquility of the place of the God Tree just yet.

The time she'd spent with the group in the village had been light-hearted and fun, mixed in with a little teasing and mock arguments along the way. Kaede had loved the herbs she received, and Sango exclaimed over the bath salts. Miroku was delighted with the book of prayers Kagome had found for him, and Shippo had been happily playing with his new top even when she left. Inuyasha had replied to his standard economy box of ramen with an equally standard, "keh!" but Kagome had seen the greed in his eyes.

But she had decided her best gift of all that night had been the one given to Rin. For some reason, it seemed like the most simple gift had been the one most appreciated. The only happiness that Rin had ever found in her life was Sesshoumaru-sama. Even Kagome had the laugh at the irony of that.

Nothing about that relationship made sense, but hardly anything ever did when it came to Sesshoumaru. The TaiYoukai of the West. Gorgeous, intelligent, powerful... every girl's dream, besides the fact that he had a homicidal streak a mile wide and his aura just shouted, "Come within fifteen feet of this Sesshoumaru without permission and you will see your innards hanging about your throat."

Yeah. Not exactly romance material there. Neither was his brother... half-brother. Actually, that whole family was pretty much screwed in that department. Pity. For all of his coldness, Sesshoumaru was one hot demon. Kagome wasn't blind, just sane. Somewhat.

Pulling her thoughts away from Sesshoumaru's looks and her own mentality, she opened her eyes... only to meet the glittering gaze of the Ice Prince himself, not more than five feet in front of her.

She gasped, then almost choked as a snowflake got caught in her windpipe. 'Smooth, Kagome, real smooth.'

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she managed to say after she caught her breath. She said nothing else, not even knowing where to begin. What was he doing here? Why was he just staring at her? And if her gaze didn't deceive her... he actually looked irritated. Well, as much as an expressionless face could look irritated.

He said nothing for several moments, making her squirm, before his deep voice reached her through the night, almost making her jump again.

"Miko. Refrain from giving my ward any more baubles or trinkets under the guise of a gift. She has no need for them."

Kagome just stared at him. Baubles? Trinkets? Guise? "Wait, is this about the ribbon I gave her? What's wrong with it?"

He stood in stony silence, and Kagome felt the first flicker of her temper ignite. It always seemed to spark quicker with him in attendance.

"What, Sesshoumaru-sama? I'm not a mind-reader here so, if you have a problem with me giving Rin gifts, you'll have to tell me the reason why."

Silence... but a brow lifted at her tone. She ignored it and actually took a step forward, her anger giving her a bravery that otherwise would have been missing. "I can't give a gift to her without there being ulterior motives? Don't tell me this is another gripe against humanity from you, because, quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it. You can take your demon superiority and shove it up your-"

"Tread carefully, miko," he warned softly.

Kagome bit her tongue and reined in the urge to finish her statement. She was actually vaguely surprised she wasn't drenched in a goo of acid right now. Taking a deep breath, she took a step back and faced away from him.

He idly wondered if she realized that turning away from him was either the biggest test in trust, or the biggest insult. Before he could decide, she spoke again, this time in a soft voice.

"Rin would do anything for you, Sesshoumaru-sama. She would follow you to the ends of the earth, to hell and back, and even to heaven, if you one day found a way to take on the Gods." She gave a small laugh. "Not that I'd be surprised. She'd do it all without a word of complaint because you are her Sesshoumaru-sama. But for tonight, and every time we meet hereafter, I will be her friend. A friend is different than a guardian or protector and, whether you believe me or not, they are needed just as much as anything else. Tonight was the first time she'd heard she has a friend, and you should have seen the look on her face."

Sesshoumaru remembered Rin at the campfire that night. "Because Rin is a good friend to her. She said!"

"There was no ulterior motive, no plans to use her. Just simple friendship. Maybe one day you'll open up enough to have one of your own. That's the reason why I gave her the gift tonight, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Because friends give gifts to each other."

"What did you say?" She whirled around just as a gust of wind swirled the snow around her, and she saw that he was gone. Lying on the snow where he had been standing was an object, and Kagome walked closer to get a better look. Picking it up, she realized it was a necklace, a beautiful shell necklace. Instinctively she knew it was from Rin, and she smiled. "Because friends give gifts to each other."

She paused as she was about to put it over her head, when she realized that there was something odd about the string. It was as sleek as silk, and felt as strong as iron. She had also never seen it's distinct color before, not in this time period at least, save on two people... or rather, demons. Mouth agape, she just stared for several minutes where the TaiYoukai had stood previously. Realizing that she probably looked like an idiot, she shut her mouth and finished putting the necklace over her head.

"Merry Christmas, Rin. And Merry Christmas, Sesshoumaru."

The snow continued to fall, blanketing the world in white as the portal to the other world finished flashing blue, and silence reigned once more.