Dokuga Holiday Exchange 2018 (Part I)
Title: The Day Rin Found the Elf-Lady (Or, the Two times Rin Met Kagome, and the one Time she didn’t)
Giftee: Cookie Asylum
Prompts: Spice, Wonder, Miracle, Pure, Flame, Snow, and Joy
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,509
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the city of D.C., The Legend of Zelda, Star Trek, and anything else that I forgot such as the DC Metro.
December 5, 2018 At a Mall in Maryland on the outskirts of Washington D.C.
Sesshomaru tapped his foot impatiently, his hand inching towards the cellphone in his pocket before taking it back out. Not today, he kept reminding himself, as he glanced down at his niece. Today was all for Rin and her time with Santa, much to his chagrin. The idea of going on an outing with Rin- the most tolerable member of his family-was a treat, but the fact that he was in a shopping mall teeming with kids who were in various stages of tears as they lined up for a picture with Santa was not. He loved his three-year-old niece, but he was tempted to ask her if he could take her somewhere else.
“Uncle Sesshomaru!” Rin shouted, trying to be heard in the din of the Santa area commotion. He raised a brow at her in reprimand, and she sheepishly looked down at her shoes for a moment shuffling her feet together. It was only for a few seconds though, as she went back to her excited and joyful state.
“Uncle Sesshomaru, do you think I can take a picture with an elf too?”
“What?” Sesshomaru asked thoroughly confused by Rin’s question. It was one thing to want to speak to Santa and get a picture with him, but taking a picture with an elf? Just what was going on in Rin’s young mind?
“An elf, Uncle Sesshomaru!” Rin said again this time her face showing a bit of exasperation that was comical on someone her age. “The elfs always work for Santa, but no one ever goes to hug them or tell them thank you. I want a picture with an elf and with Santa.” And with that last statement came her head title and puppy eyes, along with a frown that more resembled a grimace than anything else.
Sesshomaru stared at his niece, once again wishing that she hadn’t learned how to wrap him around her finger from her grandmother. Rin was quite adamant when she wanted to be. He recognized the signs: crossed arms, impatient foot tapping (that she had picked up from him though he would never tell anyone that), and a frown on her face. While it normally got her what she wanted, or at least a compromise of sorts, her actions weren’t going to win her anything this time around. This was even despite her pure-hearted and thoughtful actions.
Mustering his strictest uncle glare, Sesshomaru stared down at her. “Rin, first- it’s elves, not elfs, and second... Second, you just can’t take pictures with them.”
Rin attempted to raise a brow in a comical impression of her uncle but failed miserably. “Why not?” She demanded, her stance not shifting. The line in front of them had lessened some so Sesshomaru ushered her forward as he tried to come up with a response.
“Elves are busy.” He answered his hand resting on her shoulder in a form of appeasement. “They’re always helping Santa, and this time of year, they’re needed the most by him. So, you see, even if you wanted to, I’m afraid they’re too busy helping Santa. See, look at those elves, aren’t they working hard?” Behind him, he heard giggles, but he ignored them. It was the price he paid for agreeing to be the chaperone on this particular outing. It wasn’t as if those parents would be able to do any better.
Rin looked in the direction her uncle indicated, taking stock of the, unbeknownst to her, teenagers in elf costumes running around and helping with the pictures. One male “elf” was taking pictures, while two female elves guided the children up and down from Santa’s lap in the garishly fake snow landscape. And then there was one who walked down the line convincing parents and children that Santa was glad to be taking pictures and asking parents to please make sure babies were fed, burped, and diaper-changed before their picture.
Rin watched all of them eagerly, but as she took a look around the little Santa-photo area, her eyes spotted someone in the corner. There she was, an elf! An elf who wasn’t busy and was sipping her coffee while checking her phone. Rin tugged on her uncle’s pants, eager to show her to him. There was an elf who wasn’t busy. She finally had someone to take a picture with.
Sesshomaru looked down at Rin at the feel of the tug and asked her what she wanted from him.
“Look Uncle Sesshomaru, izz an elf! And she’s not busy!” Rin pointed excitedly, nearly jumping up and down in her eagerness. Sesshomaru reined her in by tugging her arm down gently and keeping hold of her via a hand on her shoulder.
“Rin, we don’t point at people, that’s rude.” He closed his eyes suddenly feeling glad that Inuyasha and Kikyo-not him-had to take care of her 24-7. Reprimanding her on her manners twice was something he’d never done. He was the cool uncle, and yet, today, he was starting to feel more like her parents. He inwardly cringed at that, clearing his throat and getting back to the conversation topic that Rin clearly wanted to have with him.
“Look, it’s nice that you want to take a picture with an elf and great that you want to thank them. But, the lady you pointed to is most definitely not an elf and is clearly in the middle of doing something.”
Rin shook her head causing her uncle to close his eyes in frustration at the little girl’s tenacity. “Uncle Sesshomaru, elf-lady is NOT busy. Mommy told me so. She said when people drink coffee and look at their phone they are not busy. They are busy if they stare at it and write on it without coffee.”
Sesshomaru stared in shock at the words coming out of Rin’s mouth. While she was quite loquacious for a three-year-old, there were times her ability to pick up on and remember things was quite impressive and shocking. He doubted that Kikyo had meant for her words to be repeated, but they had. And now, here he was with the consequences. Sighing, he decided a compromise was necessary, loathe as he was to do so with someone less than a tenth of his age.
“Rin, I’ll make a deal with you.” At this, the girl perked up, her eyes widening. She liked making deals with her uncle. They often ended up in her getting treats, or him getting in trouble and her getting treats, nonetheless. “If, and I really do stress if, the lady is still there after your picture with Santa, we will go up to her.” He stopped then, trying to figure out the next part. “You will ask her if she works here at this Santa house, and only if she says yes, will you take a picture okay?”
Rin nodded, but then frowned as she thought about what her uncle said. “But Uncle Sesshomaru, why do I gots to ask her about where she works? Isn’t she an elf?”
The giggles were now full-blown smothered laughter, and Sesshomaru mustered all his patience as he turned around to glare at the couple behind him. They had sheepish smiles on their faces, in apology no doubt, and he turned around realizing that was the most he could get out of the encounter. Rin was still staring at him waiting for an answer to her question. He decided to go ahead and humor her, choosing to forgo correcting her on her wrong wording this time around.
“Rin, that lady is simply enjoying her coffee. Why do you want to bother her?” The littler girl pouted again before sighing dramatically in a manner that was extremely amusing when done by someone as young as she was.
“You just don’t get it Uncle Sesshomaru. Izza wonder you even like Christmas.”
If this was home Sesshomaru would have picked up the little girl, thrown her over his shoulders, and deposited her in front of Kikyo complaining about her sass. But, this wasn’t home, and Rin was quite obviously repeating something she had heard without realizing the full implications of what she was saying. It didn’t mean he couldn’t pick her up though so that he could have a talk with her eye to eye. So, he did just that.
“You need to watch what you say missy. What you said was rude and could result in a whole host of trouble.” Rin gasped audibly, her eyes wide.
“Rin izzn’t mean or rude Uncle Sesshomaru!” She threw her arms around his neck holding, and hugging, him tightly. Sesshomaru smiled giving her a pat on the back.
His eyes strayed to the woman on the bench taking in her attire. She was clearly not an elf, though, after staring for a while, he could see why Rin might have mistaken her for one. She wore some kind of pointed ears prop-a plastic ear prop that reminded him of Spock, and a forest green dress with a brown belt and khaki pants. The outfit looked familiar, causing him to stare at the woman longer than was polite and continue to sneak glances at her as the line moved along. It wasn’t until he was the next in line with Rin that he realized what she was dressed as causing him to nearly burst into laughter.
The woman dressed as the Legend of Zelda character was clearly not an elf like Rin thought.
“Uncle Sesshomaru!” Rin’s urgent yell and tug of his shirt made him look at her. “It’s my turn!” She shouted, joy radiant in her features and voice. “Down! Down!”
Sesshomaru complied with her demands watching as she clambered out of his arms and scampered her way to Santa’s lap barely giving Sesshomaru time to do anything. He did however dutifully give the ticket of pre-purchased Santa picture items to the elf photographer who placed it into a box. Kikyo had kindly informed him of the fact that times had changed since his era. Santa pictures came as a pre-packaged deal now and pictures would be available for purchase and pickup online. You
had to sign up for a picture time and once that was done, get the picture taken and wait 24 hours before you got a digital link from where you could share and purchase pictures.
It was all too much for Sesshomaru who thought taking a picture on his phone was enough.
When Rin clambered up onto Santa’s lap, Sesshomaru picked up his phone to take photos along with the photographer. Hearing hurried footsteps in his direction, he turned to see the elf in charge of letting kids down from Santa’s lap walking towards him.
She approached him haughtily and pointed to his camera. “Sorry, sir, but there are no pictures besides ours allowed.”
“Excuse me?” He managed out his face showing confusion. Surely, even with all this ridiculousness, they weren’t going to strictly enforce this?
“Sorry, sir, but like I said, there is a strict no camera policy here.” Sesshomaru glared at her even as he heard the photographer take his photos of Rin. He wanted to point out that a “no-cameras policy” would technically apply to her colleague’s camera as well but chose against it. Instead, he deliberately closed the camera app on his phone under the watchful guise of the costumed teenager and opened up his text messages as the teenager watched.
Before he could even type a message to Kikyo though, he heard the couple behind him clear their throats asking for him to please move as they were next in line.
At that Sesshomaru looked up at Santa: only Santa. There was no Rin. Panicking, he turned to the elf who by now had disappeared to her post. A quick tap on his shoulder had him turning to the parents of the blond-haired little boy who had taken Rin’s place.
“If you’re looking for the girl you were with, she’s over there, with the lady in the Link costume.”
Sesshomaru’s head snapped up in the direction the boy’s mom was pointing to. Sure enough, there Rin was, bothering the lady she had proclaimed was an elf. Eyes widening, he all but ran to the location, hoping that Rin, in her stubbornness about meeting an elf, hadn’t gone and made a mess of things.
* * * * *
Kagome was tired. She had just gotten off a long five-hour flight when her cousins called and kindly asked her to please help in the video game store. All had been well except for the fact that working and helping at the video game store had included hours-she had stopped counting-on her feet, a ridiculous costume, and more teenage boys checking her out than she felt comfortable with. It was a wonder she hadn’t yet decided to fly back home to California to spend her Christmas with the extended family still there.
At least she thought, scrolling through her brother’s, and her friends’, Instagram feeds, they were having a warmer and better time than she was here in Maryland.
“Excuzzz me!” The tiny childlike voice snapped her out of her scrolling, and she peeked down at the little girl standing next to her putting her Gingerbread spiced (and overpriced) latte next to her as she did so.
The child was a tiny little thing, definitely under five years old if Kagome had to guess. The majority of her hair was gathered in a cute side ponytail, though it was obvious that the ponytail was not working in keeping the girl’s hair contained and out of her face. Her hands were clasped together in front of her and she grinned at Kagome with a smile so wide Kagome wondered how it didn’t hurt her face.
And just where the hell did this tiny child come from?
“Rin Elaine Taisho, what do you think you are doing?”
The voice, raised in volume, came from a male who was marching towards the two of them, his face set in anger. Kagome briefly felt sorry for the kid, but she honestly understood where the man’s anger was coming from. Little kids were not supposed to run away from their parents. She didn’t want to be a witness to the ensuing scolding that was to follow, but the idea of getting up from the bench was even less appealing. She hadn’t exactly worn comfortable “stand on your feet all day” shoes today, and her feet were reminding her of why wearing heeled boots for six hours straight while standing was a bad idea.
“Uncle Sesshomaru!” The little girl shifted closer to Kagome, who raised an eyebrow. “You said, if the elf-lady was still there when my Santa picture finished, I could go take a picture. Santa even told me it was a good idea!”
Kagome swore she could see the man clench his jaw in frustration at the girl. She had to leave it to the man, he was trying quite hard to be patient with the girl. That was when she realized what the girl said. Her, an elf? The idea was so comical Kagome couldn’t help it. She tried to contain her giggles, but they came out, nonetheless. The little girl’s words were absolutely adorable.
Rin’s eyes darted from her uncle to the lady in front of her. “Why are you laughing?” She suddenly had a feeling that the elf lady was laughing at her, and she felt a little sad.
Kagome instantly stopped laughing feeling guilty at the words from the little girl. She knew what it was like to be in a situation where others were laughing at you.
“Sorry.” She apologized moving her spiced latte to the floor. “I didn’t mean to laugh at you hon. It’s just that...” She paused taking in the age of the little girl and the fact that she was sitting next to the Santa photo area. Added to it was the fact that she had already been called an elf.
Kagome locked eyes with the man hoping that he was going to play along with her. “I wasn’t laughing at you sweetie.” She continued breaking eye contact with the man to look at the little girl. “I was just surprised that a little girl like you recognized me for who I was.”
She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the task. She acted on a regular basis back home so this should be a piece of cake. She hoped. Even if acting at home was more acting like she hadn’t accidentally forgotten to fill the car with gas again.
“You really are an elf?” The little girl squealed, her eyes wide and her hands coming together in glee. She began to jump up and down, her eyes glistening with such pure joy that Kagome actually felt guilty about the lie she was creating. “Uncle Sesshomaru! Did you hear her? She’s a real elf!”
Sesshomaru could only dumbly nod as the woman continued talking still unable to believe what he was hearing. Of all the things he hadn’t expected this woman to go ahead and entertain Rin’s whims. Though, he mused, taking a look at the pure exuberance his niece was exhibiting, maybe it was worth it. Maybe all of the crazy Santa photo experience would be worth it for this one memory that he would remember even when Rin grew up and was too old to care about Santa Claus and his elves.
“Miss Elf-lady,” Rin stated, “It’s a mircle I get to see you! I wanted to say thank you for helping Santa. And, and...” Rin trailed off suddenly, her excitement waning a little. “Can I hug you and take a picture with you?”
Kagome hesitated, suddenly unsure of the situation she was in. It was one thing to play along with Rin. It was another to have her picture taken with the girl and have it memorialized. She didn’t know how the little girl would feel when she grew up and realized that the lady she met in the mall was a fake.
“Um, sweetie,” Kagome cleared her throat, “we elves don’t take pictures with little girls like you. Only Santa does. We have to run around and get everything ready for Christmas you know? There isn’t too much time for anything but these coffee breaks.”
At that Kagome picked up her drink and took a hasty sip before placing it back on the ground. She was sure that her acting was terrible, but for someone who was winging it on a few hours of sleep, and a large amount of fatigue, she thought she was doing an okay job.
“Oh.” Rin’s face fell a little, but she was adamant that she wouldn’t give up. “Well, Miss Elf- lady, you can drink coffee and still take a piture with me right? A photo? My uncle will take it. On his phone!” Rin turned towards her uncle employing her irresistible puppy dog eyes. Sesshomaru had a hard time saying no. But he wasn’t the only one affected by Rin’s actions. Taking a glance at the woman on the bench he waited to see what she would say.
It was obvious that she was hesitant about the opportunity to take a picture with Rin-and he wasn’t exactly keen on Rin having her photo taken with a stranger-so maybe it was better to nip this in the bud. His hand reached for his niece.
“Rin,” he started, “perhaps its best if we don’t bother her.” His words faded into a question as he realized that in the past five-minute scenario, he had not heard this woman’s name.
“Oh.” Rin’s face fell, but she nodded, seeing that at this point she wasn’t going to win. The elf lady was obviously not ready to take a picture with her, and her uncle was not going to take the picture. Perhaps though, she could at least give a hug to the elf-lady? Mind made up and deciding that maybe she’d get a chance to take a picture with the elf lady another day, Rin steeled her courage and asked the question that she was dying to know the answer to.
“Can I hug you Miss Elf Lady? You don’t havu take a picture with me.”
Kagome was sure that she had never met anyone cuter than this tiny and adorable little girl who just wanted to thank Santa’s helpers. She couldn’t help it. Leaning down on the floor of the mall, and suddenly very glad that this costume came with leggings, she opened her arms to hug the girl. Rin ran into them, knocking Kagome’s breath out of her lungs, and hugging the woman so tight that for a moment woman and child looked connected.
Once Rin let go, Kagome smiled at her. “I’ll make sure Santa knows he has an extra special girl he needs to pay a visit to this year okay?”
Rin nodded going over to Sesshomaru and holding his hand. “Uncle Sesshomaru, let’s go home! I want to tell Mommy all about today!”
Sesshomaru nodded looking first, down at Rin, and then at Kagome. “Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with Rin.”
With that, he turned, Rin’s hand clasped tightly in his, and lead the way out of the mall and towards home.