Title: Light of My Life
Author: kazeko
Series: Inuyasha
Rating: M-15 or so
Archive: Sesshoumaru/Kagome
Characters: Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha/Koyama, Sango/Miroku
Summary: A powerful prophecy brings mortal enemies together, but prejudice may well tear them apart and spell the end of all inuyoukai.
Disclaimer: No ownership.
Chapter 10: To Propose a Future
Staring up at her, tiny bolts of pink lightning still dancing across his body, the stunned lord made no effort to stand. Her power and her words held him fast, the realization of her feelings for him forcing him to reevaluate the small human. He stared at Kagome, knowing the truth of her words, wondering if she even realized she had said them. The girl's scent was confused and a little embarrassed as she hesitantly stepped to his left side and held out her right held to help him to his feet. "I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama. I did not think I could hurt you."
Sesshoumaru grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, her touch dispelling the web of power that still crackled across his skin, and both froze as they realized that he had taken her right hand in his left. The arm that Inuyasha had taken years earlier had returned with Kagome's heart-filled attack.
"How did you do this, human?" Sesshoumaru was too shocked to call her by her name or rank, unable to comprehend his good fortune or the unimaginable power of the small girl standing in front of him and still holding his hand.
"I don't know," she admitted. "As I released my power, I focused on my memory of you from the night that we helped you with your pups. All I had been able to think about the whole night was that you might have saved your mate and seventh pup if you had both arms. I guess I was thinking about that when I released my power."
Sesshoumaru used his free hand to reach up and caress the woman's smooth cheek, for a moment forgetting his prejudices against the weaker species. "This Sesshoumaru had no idea that you carried such thoughts in your head. Kagome, I am grateful for your kind gift, and now I see that your beast is one of compassion and not anger." He stepped closer, tilting her face toward him, and the tiniest hint of a kind smile replaced his usual cold mask. "I am indebted to you for your kindness, Kagome," he whispered. Her breathing and heart rate increased as he leaned closer, brushing her lips with his own. When she did not pull back, he deepened the kiss, savoring her sweet taste. When he had been with Matsurika, there had been no gentleness, only the need to mate and procreate. Sesshoumaru knew that his mother's relationship with his father had been the same, and for the first time he wondered if this kind nature was what attracted his father to Izayoi. Few youkai females remained kind and gentle through the lonely centuries, so perhaps it was the youth and purity of humans that so attracted youkai males.
Kagome hesitantly raised her hands and threaded her fingers through Sesshoumaru's hair, caressing the silky strands. The youkai released a pleased growl and used his free arm to pull her closer, melding their bodies together. He leaned closer to deepen the kiss when his half-brother crashed through the underbrush.
From the other part of the forest, Satori and Koyama had felt the massive buildup of youki countered by the flash of reiki that signaled the battle between Sesshoumaru and Kagome. Fearing the worst, the two inu had gathered the pups and told Kirara to take them and the three coyotes to the lake they had passed earlier and protect them no matter what. Inuyasha had run toward the source before the neko completely vanished, no longer sure which of them he had to protect. Standing before them, Tetsusaiga returning to its normal form, the hanyou raised an eyebrow, ears flat against his skull.
"What are you doing?"
"We were fighting . . . then I attacked him . . . and his arm grew back." Kagome hadn't moved from the youkai's gentle embrace, not sure if she was supposed to. "He was teaching me how to harness my power and all."
Inuyasha stepped closer, nose twitching. "Do you think you could step away from him? This is a little confusing. Sesshoumaru . . . I thought you hated humans."
Sesshoumaru refused to answer, letting Kagome take a step away from him as Satori and Koyama entered the decimated clearing. Sango and Miroku were behind them, Shippo having been evacuated with the pups and three new servants. Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Un had insisted on following them to see if their lord had been injured. There was a long pause as Sesshoumaru stared at his brother, nodding when the younger inu looked away.
"Perhaps your assessment of this Sesshoumaru's evaluation of humans was misinformed. You should consider the situation more carefully the next time you decide to interrupt such a dangerous training session, little brother." With that, the regal lord walked away, heading to where he knew his mother would have sent the children, officially ending the conversation. In his mind, he wondered when he stopped seeing the little miko as just another weak human.
Kaori stared into the darkness, her brothers arrayed behind her, as Kagome slipped out of her bedroll and walked into the forest. She did not know they were awake, assuming that the pups were as tired as her companions from the week of hard marching and would not be able to follow her. In his tree, Inuyasha was too tired even to snore, Koyama slept soundly branches below him, and the humans were silent on the ground. Shippo crawled away from his sleeping place with Rin and Ah-Un to stare into the darkness with the pups, reminding himself to tell Sesshoumaru in the morning that Jaken failed in his duty to protect the pups once again. The three new servants were deeper in the forest, Satori letting them sleep away from the pack as they had been accustomed to doing in their own family group.
Speaking of Sesshoumaru . . .
Shippo and the other pups watched as Sesshoumaru leapt down from his own tree and followed Kagome's scent into the dark trees, his golden eyes glowing in the dark. He was hunting, and his prey had no idea. Shippo moved forward to warn his adoptive mother, but Kaori's hand on his arm stopped him. "Do not interfere," she whispered. "Something transpired between the two of them a week ago, and now my father has decided to confront Mother Kagome about it. Let them be. We'll get Master Jaken into trouble in the morning and have our amusement with him."
Shippo glared at Kaori a moment, nodding his acquiescence after she smiled in that sweet way that was for him alone. He grinned back and puffed out his chest, leading the pups back to their beds, knowing that Sesshoumaru could protect Kagome at least as well as Inuyasha . . . probably much better than Inuyasha. He had nothing to worry about.
"I wondered if you would follow me."
Sesshoumaru froze as he entered the clearing, eyes locked on the miko sitting so calmly beside the small lake. "This Sesshoumaru is not used to being detected so easily."
"You cannot hide from me anymore, Sesshoumaru-sama. I have memorized your aura and could detect it no matter how well you hide." She sighed and looked across the lake, wondering at the silver reflection of the crescent moon on the still water. She waited for him to tell her why he followed, knowing that his curiosity would not let him wait until she began the conversation.
"Something changed the day you returned my arm."
"Yes."
"Something between us."
"Until that day, there was no 'us'. You were an aristocratic taiyoukai who craved your father's sword in the mistaken belief that you were not strong enough without it, and I was a bumbling miko-in-training desperate to find the shards of the jewel that I shattered. A strange twist of fate led me to be a mother to your daughter, but soon that role will end and we will part our ways. After Naraku is dead, there will be no reason for you to stay with us."
"Perhaps there will still be a reason." Sesshoumaru sat beside Kagome on her chosen rock, scenting the small female's confusion. "Perhaps this Sesshoumaru does not travel with this group because of the pups. Perhaps there is a female in this group who has managed to cast some spell over this Sesshoumaru making him reluctant to leave her side. Perhaps this spell . . . has made even this cold-hearted youkai wonder what his father saw in the human female. Perhaps . . . I can see it, too."
"When you kissed me . . ."
"Yes, Kagome. It was then that I realized that there is more to humans than I have ever imagined. There is more to you."
Kagome blushed in the moonlight and turned away from the youkai, flinching as he touched her hand. He growled deep in his throat and ran his claws up her arm, grinning at the pale welts that appeared on her fair skin. Her blush deepened as he pulled her close and nuzzled her, taking in her scent as his beast purred in contentment. Kagome felt her heart begin to beat faster as he wrapped both arms around her, easily lifting the small miko into his lap. Heat filled her body at his gentle caresses, and the woman leaned her head on his shoulder. "What are you doing to me?"
"Only what you want me to do," Sesshoumaru whispered. He nibbled her neck and she felt every muscle in her body relax. He grinned as she melted into his embrace, wrapping his fluffy tail around the pair of them. "I think I finally understand what Father saw in Izayoi that he never saw in my mother."
"What did he see?" Kagome was so overcome by the sensations running rampant through her body that she could barely piece together a sentence.
"Mother is a regal taiyoukai. As a younger inu, she was cold and heartless, desperate to gain power, find a powerful mate, and birth pups that would increase her own importance. As she gets older, she is less greedy and more kind. It is only in their later years that inu bitches are loving, and it is in hopes of reaching their gentle years that males mate them at all. With human females, you are gentle and loving from the start. I never experienced passion from any of the bitches I bedded that matched what I felt from you when I simply kissed you." He leaned back, gold eyes locking with Kagome's dark blue, and he smiled, showing his true emotions for the first time in centuries. "At that moment, I realized why Father would die to protect Izayoi and Inuyasha. I am feeling emotions I did not knew existed a year ago, and I am feeling them for you. I need you beside me, Kagome, and not just for my pups. I do not think I can lose you after this mission."
Kagome smiled, her heart fluttering in her chest. For years she had hoped to hear something like this from Inuyasha, but she had given up on that dream. Now his half-brother was saying everything she had waited to hear, and she really wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.
Sesshoumaru sensed her confusion, tracing a crescent moon on her forehead. "I don't know if you have learned much about high youkai society, but I think I owe you some explanations if we are to continue this relationship. Do you want to continue?"
"Yes," she breathed. He kissed her gently, pulling away to let her catch her breath. Her reactions to his gentle touches were amusing the youkai, and he wondered how much more it would take to push her completely over the edge.
"Kiyokaoriko is my heir, but youkai law and the stress of court life require me to have a Lady of the West. She must be youkai, and without her my daughter will be denied her lands when it is time for her to rule. I must find a Lady, but nothing says I must mate her. It is common for lords with heirs to take permanent lovers whom they care for more than their Mates. Kagome, I cannot ask you to be my mate because the other females of the court would try to kill you and my pups, but I would like to take you as my father took Izayoi. I would like you to be my lover."
"Oh Sesshoumaru!" Kagome wrapped her arms around Sesshoumaru's neck and kissed him, taking advantage of his surprise to deepen it. She felt his aura reach for her, the fingers of his youki embracing the small miko as her reiki gladly accepted the intrusion. In her mind, Sesshoumaru's gentle chuckle echoed.
"Is that a yes?"
"Definitely."
Satori jerked awake, an unearthly howling interrupting her dreams. "Some stupid wolves rutting," she growled, rolling over in hopes of returning to her dreams. Her nose twitched as the wind switched directions, and she scanned the clearing to see what was wrong. She looked over at Ah-Un's hulking form and recognized Jaken, Shippo, Rin, and the male pups sleeping soundly under the moon. Kaori was sitting a little way off, staring into the darkness in the direction of the lake where the females had bathed earlier that night. In another tree, Inuyasha and Koyama slept peacefully, their dreams unbroken by a howling that sounded eerily familiar to the Lady of the West.
With a suddenness that shook her from her perch, Satori realized what she had heard.
"Yes," Kaori whispered, knowing that her grandmother was awake.
"With whom?"
"Who else is missing?"
Satori looked around and counted the humans as she landed on the ground, groaning as she discovered which female was missing. "Not that miko. He would not be so dumb as to bed a miko."
"Her power will not harm him. They are already one, Grandmother. Even you should be able to sense a change in Father's aura. He is finally coming into his power."
"Because of her? Because he has taken a mortal lover and followed in his dear father's wavering footsteps?"
"It was meant to be thus. With Izayoi, Grandfather sought to fulfill a prophecy he had heard from the day he was whelped, but he was too sure that his second son, a mere hanyou, could overpower the first. He did not see that he needed to put more time and effort into his heir. Father grew to hate his sire, to desire power and swords more than peace and prosperity. He never wanted to protect anything. Only through revelation of his own mortality was Father able to calm himself and take a closer look at his life. He is not seeking the Prophecy, but I hope he can fulfill it. Inuyasha is the catalyst, the swords are the motivation, and that miko is the bridge to a better future."
"Pup, of what do you speak? Youkai of the Crescent Moon line have taken mortal lovers many times over the centuries, but nothing prophetic has ever happened."
"They have not taken the right lover. It must be a miko, it must be greater than need or want, and it must be more powerful than all the rules and regulations of human or youkai world. That he does not know is his greatest hope."
Satori growled and flexed her claws. "How can a pup just barely weaned have such knowledge about prophecies of this family?"
Kaori turned to her grandmother, eyes glowing in the faint moonlight. "I am not just an Alpha Pup of your line, Grandmother. One day, when you least expect it, you will see the truth of my birth."
To be continued