"Kagura, are you hungry?"
"No, Sesshomaru, I am fine."
"You haven't eaten all day. I will not let you starve my child." he said in a mock threatening tone. As ruthless as Sesshomaru could be, he was fiercely protective of the unborn baby growing in his Wife's belly.
After Naraku's defeat, Kagura's soul had been freed, allowing her to give in to her feelings for Sesshomaru. From what she knew of him, the only compassion he ever admitted to was for the human girl Rin. Even still, Kagura clung to the memory of the affection he'd once shown her, in hopes that, somewhere deep down, he reciprocated her feelings.
Now, a year later, she was due to bring her husband's child into the world at any moment. And, although she truly didn't have much of an appetite, there was no arguing with Sesshomaru when it came to this child. One stern look from him and she found herself goaded into a light meal. At least she knew that no harm would come to this child while its father still drew breath.
"Kagome, would you sit down already! I told you I would get the water for ya!" Inuyasha yelled. No matter how she struggled, a pregnant Kagome refused to just let others help her instead of trying to do everything herself.
As gently as possible, Inuyasha forced her back into a sitting position before running to get her some water. He returned to their home to find her standing again, attempting to walk outside.
"Uh uh. No way. It is too dangerous and your stomach is too huge for you to be walking around outside. I brought you your water. Now sit."
Kagome's eyes filled with tears, "You think I'm fat?" she asked, her lip quivering.
"What?! No! Don't be stupid!"
"I'm not stupid!"
"I didn't mean it like that, geez!"
"Why are you yelling at me?" he voice had dropped a few levels and her lip went back to quivering. It bewildered Inuyasha how she could go through so many emotions in mere seconds.
"If I'd have known you'd get this emotional I never would've -
"Emotional! I'm not emotional! It's your fault I'm like this! You want emotions! I'll give you emotions!"
Inuyasha's eyes grew wide with fear, "Wha -
"Sit boy!"
His body slammed hard into the ground, denting the floor. He groaned, but said nothing, knowing that there was no reasoning with her when her hormones got the better of her. He'd think twice before enjoying his wife again if this is where it would lead.
On two opposite sides of the land, both Kagura and Kagome lay in an intense labor. Inuyasha stood just outside the room, struggling to keep from rushing to her side. Sango, Kaede, and the women helping her all instructed him that he'd only be in the way. Still, it hurt him to hear her in such pain. Sango's reassurance that this was normal was all that kept him at bay.
Meanwhile, Sesshomaru stood right at Kagura's side as a couple of servants helped her in her labor. He held tightly onto her hand as the women instructed her on when to push and when to breathe.
At the same time, both women let out a scream that seemed to ripple and shake the land. All could feel it; the shake of the ground. It rattled homes and scared livestock. It caused Inuyasha to ignore all previous warnings and rush to be with Kagome just as his child drew its first breath.
"You have a daughter." said the midwives on both sides of the land.
It was hard to say if anyone had ever seen a genuine smile of happiness on Sesshomaru's face, but Kagura could see it now. Pure bliss as he smiled down at the silver haired child placed into his arms. Bright pink eyes stared up at him, the crescent moon on her forehead sparkling in her first few moments of life before fading to match her father's.
"I will protect you with my very soul, my dear Sessharua."
They had never actually agreed on a name. Kagura would spur out ideas and Sesshomaru would grunt in response, telling her that he didn't care for any name she had chosen thus far. He had never once given his own opinion or ideas, so this was the first she'd heard this name. He must've had this name picked the entire time. Far be it from Kagura to deny him the right of naming his child.
On the other side, however, the second brother regarded his child hesitantly. Everyone had cleared the room, and he now stood staring as Kagome held their daughter. Raven hair like her mothers, yellow eyes and pointed ears like her fathers. The perfect combination of the two creating a seemingly perfect child. They'd tried several times to get him to hold the baby, until Kagome finally asked for them to have a moment alone.
"Inuyasha, what's the matter? Do you not want to hold her?"
"No I do!" he blurted out quickly to ease the pained look beginning to form on his love's face, "It's just….what if I hurt her?" he whispered the last part, finally letting on what had been holding him back. Kagome offered a gentle smile before beckoning him closer.
"Sit beside me."
Inuyasha obeyed. The moment he was settled, Kagome leaned over and pushed the child against his chest.
"Mimick me. Put one arm under her head to support it. Use the other arm to support the rest of her bottle. There, that's perfect. You're doing just fine, see?"
Inuyasha's face lit up once he realized he hadn't hurt the baby.
"She's beautiful. And poweful. I can feel it." he was in awe of what he felt from the tiny person in his arms, "What should we call her?"
"I don't know. We never did talk about it much. Do you have anything in mind? Any name you might like?"
"Um, well…how about Inulasia? Yeah, I like that one."
"Me too."
"My sweet Inulasia. I will protect you with my very life, you hear me? No one's gunna lay a hand on you while I'm alive."
Unbeknownst to both sets of parents, a blinding purplish white light had shot up halfway between both and flooded the sky. All could see it, but very few knew what it signaled. Great power had entered the world. But, unknown to even the wisest of monks, was the rift that the great power had caused-and what that rift had allowed to re-enter the world.