Fawks' rattling breath was the only thing that seemed to keep him tethered to the world. There was nothing else but that room, the gentle weight of her head and his lap and her weak grip on his hand. It seemed surreal that a few short hours ago, they had been preparing for the birth of their first pup, his heir. Now his pup was stillborn and his mate was dying.
He had been careless, Fawks had been under his watch, his protection and an enemy had managed to slip into his home and poison his mate, his future. He had failed her, had failed their pup and now it would all be gone, it was only a matter of time.
"Like a pet dog refusing to leave his ailing master's side…"
Sessho-maru said nothing as his mother came to join them.
"Is there something you can do for her?"
"Other then give her a swift, painless death?" Sachiko sighed, stroking the girl's damp forehead.
Sessho-maru growled but it was weak, there was no bite in it. He had lost his reason and Sachiko could see that.
"There…is one thing…" she sighed, "But you won't like it…"
"Will it keep her alive?"
"Oh most definitely, because you will never have met"
Sessho-maru glanced at her.
"I can reverse her time and give her a different life. She will have never met you, never known you, but she will be alive"
Sessho-maru's grip tightened on her hand, "Her childhood was torture…"
"I like this daughter-in-law, I will erase all the pain and torment and give her a happy life to replace the one she will be losing. But the price is your love, the life you had together, nothing else will do" Sachiko said softly.
Sessho-maru gazed down into his mate's dwindling visage, she was weak and in pain, a shadow of her former self. She had tried to put up a brave front, tried to smile for him despite her overwhelming pain, but now it was all she could do to cling to him for support. He knew she was hanging on for him, that if not for that she would have passed on along with their child. He had fooled himself into thinking she could be saved, he had revived her with the Tenseiga once long ago. He cursed himself for not taking better care of her.
He owed her a happy life and maybe it would be better without him. She was dying do to his negligence, she deserved better then that.
"If she will live then…"
Sachiko gently stroked her son's silver hair, "If you are lucky, perhaps you'll meet again in another life…"
Sessho-maru said nothing, all he could do was hold her hand and listen to her dying breaths. There was nothing else left for him.
Sessho-maru woke with a start, he felt like he was having a long dream, though he could remember none of it. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, he'd only slept for a couple of hours. He sat up glancing at the woman at his side, still asleep, all the better. He showered and dressed, leaving her alone in the lavish hotel room.
Although expensive, he preferred to take his women to extravagant hotels then his own home. It was more convenient to leave in the morning and avoid any misunderstandings, it would be troublesome to come back to some meddlesome bitch in his home.
The concierge greeting him on his way out.
"Good morning, Taiyo-san, I take it your lady friend is still sleeping?"
"Hn, I have given her the day, bill it to my card"
"Very good, sir" he nodded.
The boy was a youkai, a horse if he wasn't mistaken. One of the few of his kind that remained in the human world. Though it was true Sessho-maru didn't particularly like humans, it was surprisingly easy for him to get what he wanted out of them and in his old age he valued that.
The years had been good to him, with the exception of a few wars, he had come out on top, owning several companies around the world and maintaining his status and fortune. He never wanted for anything and that included willing youkai females to pleasure him. He had refused to mate, not wanting to be tied down, his fiancée had grown tired of waiting for him and had committed herself to another.
He never regretted the decision. He was freer now then he had been back in the Sengoku Jidai and he wasn't planning on giving that up anytime soon.