Title: In Denial

Author: landofthekwt

Rating: PG-13

Prompt: Denial (Inuyasha et al)

Word Count:1613

CU

Pairing: Sesshoumaru/Izayoi

Warning: None

Summary: Sesshoumaru seeks out Izayoi and Inuyasha in Kamakura

Sesshoumaru entered Kyoto knowing that the days of the Shikken were numbered. He hated the duplicity and lies of dealing with humans. So many daggers out ready to slit a throat at the slightest provocation.

He had never been formally introduced to the court. Why should he submit to the humans? They were no more than bugs. He did not recognize the authority Hojo governor in Kyushu. Why should recognize the authority of the emperor, shogun, or Shikken?

Unfortunately, he had to deal with them. Izayoi's flight to Kamakura had drawn him into the power struggle against his will. His father had asked him if he had someone to protect. Unfortunately, the persons that he had to protect were his father's mistress and his bastard.

Once he had pined for her. She had run to his father instead. The birth of their son set off a disastrous war. In order to secure the Western Shiro he her away earning her was unsure how she would receive him now.

She foolishly believed she was safe with the Hojo. Just as she had thought she was safe with his father and her own father. Her own father had turned her over to her deserted fiance Takemura of Satsuma who killed her and set the trap that had slain his father.

He regretted now not going with his father. If he had Izayoi and her son would not be his concern. His father would still be around protecting them from the humans and demons who would kill them.

And so he must prostrate himself before the Emperor, the Shogun and the order to gain access to her. Better that the foolish humans belief the empty words that he uttered. A promise to a human was no better than pig slop. Something for them to feed on and fatten them up before you slaughtered them.

His mother and father had assured that he was astute at politics and diplomacy even though he preferred the direct approach. They all knew that a bad treaty was better than trial by battle. If only his father had admitted that instead of fighting the dragon and the human scum.

It all came down to his father. His father took Izayoi the woman he desired. His father had denied him Tessaiga with which he could have swept his enemies before. His father had denied him the right to claim the power of West by conceding to him before he died.

Instead he left a shattered empire which Sesshoumaru had to stitch together with fire and a silver tongue. The last year had been brutal. Only now was it safe to leave the Western Shiro without fear of it falling to his foes or even his mother.

Now he was coming to see the woman he loved if she would see him. Could she have forgotten all of the tender words he had said to her because he had slammed a door in her face when she asked him to protect her?

He was here now to assume his duties of protector and more if she would let him. He trembled at the thought of her. She was just a woman. They were mortal and died so easily. She owed her very life to the sword that was tucked into his obi. How could she deny him?

He was announced at her grandfather's palace. They made him wait in the antechambers while they decided what to do about him. Izayoi had a more difficult job. She must decide if she would see the person she saw as her betrayer.

He would not be denied. His father had given him his last task and he would perform it out of duty to him and love for her. She might hate him, but he would always love her. If he could only convince her of his feelings. If he got the chance to speak only to him.

At last he was announced. Just Lord Sesshoumaru. He was not the Dog General or the Lord of West. The humans diminished him by this appellation. He cut his claws into his palms. Now was not the time for useless fighting over wounded pride.

He was ushered into her chamber. She was with her maids preparing her for his visit. The boy was with his nurse. She was seated and surrounded by so many kimonos he wondered how she found the power to move.

Her face was as he remembered it. Full of the human emotion that his mother lacked. It was no wonder that his father had been drawn to her. She had a rare beauty which was not found among the demons of the court of the Western Shiro or his mothers court.

She did not hide her feelings, but bared them for all to see. It had been this openness with her feelings that had attracted him to her. He was somewhat ashamed that he had never been able to speak his mind to her. If he had then maybe that disaster of his father's death could have been averted.

She looked up when she heard him come into the room. Her face was a mask of rage. How dare he show his face her after he had failed to protect her? She had come to Kamakura all on her own and found her protectors among her Hojo relatives. No more demons thank you.

" What are you doing here?"

"I came to offer my support to the humans who rule these miserable islands. As for why I am here. Before he went off to give his life for you and your son, my father laid a duty on me. He asked me if I had someone to protect. I assume that he was referring to you."

" You have done a damn poor job so far. He would not have died if you had been there. Where were you when the humans and youkai were hunting me and my newborn son? Closing the gate against me."

" I know that you will not believe me, but what I did for you saved your life. The Western Shiro was and is a death trap. You will never find safety within its walls. It is not I you should be afraid of. The Hojo may protect you from your enemies a little longer, but even you should be able to see the powers which are moving to overthrow them. There is one you have offended who will never forgive you for what you did with my father and will not rest until you are dead"

She had thought to throw his protestations of innocence back in his face. At the mention of his mother, he blanched. In all of the schemes and plans which flew around her how could she forget the woman scorned. Did she actually believe that his mother would allow her to escape unpunished. The woman she blamed for the death of her husband.

It took all the resources he had to protect her from his mother. This trips purpose was to show his support for the humans who were protecting her. Eventually even they would fail. He heard the rumors that the Emperor would rise against the Shikken. He could be getting his funding from only one source. His mother. If that happened not even he could protect in Kamakura.

When she did not speak. Sesshoumaru summoned the will to continue. "Would you let me see my brother? So much has been sacrificed for his life, at the very least I should be able to see the one whom I am protecting"

She nodded to the nurse who fearfully approached the daiyoukai. Gingerly she handed him to Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru stared at the tiny person in his arms. It was amazing how such a tiny being could engender such hatred. The price his mother had put on that tiny head could fund the entire government of Japan.

He understood some of it. His father had left Tessaiga wherever it was to this tiny being. It represented proof that his father had not always being faithful to his marriage. It had ruined all of the plans of her father. He had been willing to give her to Takemaru of Satsuma to dispose of .

Inuyasha was the reason why her father refused her after the death of the Inu no Taisho. His fears had prevented him from giving her refuge in the Western Shiro. All because of this little bundle of joy. He should hate the baby, but he found himself unable to do so. It was his flesh and blood and he seemed strangely drawn to it.

It was so weak and helpless. With a flick of his claws he could kill it. But then he would have failed to protect his brother as much as he had failed to protect Izayoi. He was not sure that he could live the weight of that burden upon him. Instead, he would endure wrath and fear he could see pouring from Izayoi's eyes.

Maybe if he showed some brotherly affection he could change that look in her eyes. She had been denied to him as his father's mistress. Her hate came from her belief that he had betrayed her by failing to protect her.

If he could only show her how he felt maybe he could turn her hate into love toward him. He had show her was that he willing to protect her from all her enemies. Inuyasha could provide the perfect opportunity to step into his father's shoes and take the place at her side that had been denied to him.