Complete and Unconditional

AN: Sorry about the cliffhanger again!

Lily Thorne: Sorry for confusing you, Lily. What I meant is that Sango's is in her ninth month. She is due at the end of it, more or less (you know how things are), rather than her being done her ninth month and being late or anything. I always wanted to do a gingerbread house. I hope you had fun.

NefCanuck: I was once renown and hated for my cliffhangers… Im glad that I can still do one now and then.

Siren: I know you did. I got the same snowstorm. The (expletive deleted) kept me stranded in my university town for one extra night and caused my mother to tell me I was going to miss Christmas, so I should go and meet my neighbors. ::sweatdrops:: I was not a happy panda that night.

Fallen Sakura:…That wasn't the end, silly. to think of it, I don't know what the end will be right now…

To everyone I made want to cry: ::sweatdrops again:: Sorry. That wasn't my intention. I like happy. Happy is good. I just love my cliffhangers.

Chadrific: I couldn't make Kouga dead. He's just so cool! It's because of the tail.

….Um, you know, come to think of something else, this chapter is also a tear jerker. Maybe some of you should have Kleenex handy.

This chapter is based on Kagome's PoV. I wanted someone who had some neutrality to the scene. I mean, if it was from Sango's point of view, then there would be a lot more technical details to contend with, like oh, the fact that's she giving brith, and after she falls asleep, I worried that the Miroku-scene would become awkwardly worded. So, I put the perspective from that of someone who gets to see both Sango and Miroku's involvement: Kagome.

Hey, it could have been in Inuyasha's, but then I'd lose the tender moments. ::winks::

Enjoy, everybody!

Chapter Eleven:

Daddy

Shippo was the one who came running to me, telling me that Sango's water had broken. I reacted instantly, without a second of hesitation. Picking Shippo up and holding him close to my chest, still not noticing at the way he hugged my breasts closely, simply wanting to shelter his little body with the same protectiveness I always had, I shushed him and told him to tell me the story over again. I quickly collected my things.

"We were down in the training field. Sango was telling someone to fix their stance, when she suddenly doubled over. Kari, Yugo and I ran to her side, fearing something was horribly wrong. She said the baby was kicking again, it was nothing, joking with us and saying the baby was turning summersaults in her body. She said she needed to sit down, so we took her hands, and we were guiding her to a rock in some shade, when she suddenly doubled over again, and then… there was this dampness everywhere, coming from between Sango's legs."

I closed my back and tossed it over the shoulder to which Shippo was not clinging. "All right. So where is she now, Shippo? Who's with her?"

"Yugo and Kari are taking her to her house. I was told to come and get you." I wished I didn't have to hold her knapsack still so that I could hug the little fox demon again. He looked so worried! Deep down, I was just as perplexed. This was far too early; something had to be wrong.

"What about Miroku?" I asked with some hesitation.

Shippo shook his head. "He's off teaching tracking with Inuyasha. Someone went to go and get them, but Yugo stopped him. Yugo actually had to hit the boy to get him to understand. He said that it wasn't up to them to go and get Miroku. He said that when I went to go and get Kagome, if you thought it was right, that I should go and find him."

I thought about it a second. Yugo had shown extraordinary wisdom for his young age, and I wished that I could pass on the question of whether or not to summon Miroku to someone else. Of course, this was his wife; he had a right to know. But, on the other hand, men were already susceptible to conniption fits when their wives were going to have a child. What would happen to Miroku when he found out she was not only going into possible contractions, but that she was having them weeks too early?

"Go and get him," I told Shippo finally. "Tell Inuyasha first, and then tell Miroku. Inuysha should be able to sustain Miroku if anything happens. I'll go and see to Sango."

The kitsune scampered off, and I hurried to Sango's house. Upon entering I found the scent of sweat, even to my human senses. Sango was in her bed, Kari by her side wiping sweat from her brow. Sango's hair was already plastered to her head. She looked for too pale, and I wished I had gone to medical school for more than just the study of plants as medicine. For her, I would have undergone the years of school, the toil of examinations, and the stress of school just so that I could have been prepared for this one moment.

Even Kari was beginning to sweat through her robes. She looked up at me, and when I opened my mouth to ask, she told me all the windows were already open. I sat down. Sango's eyes were closed and unaware of me, and I opened my bag, digging through it. I pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. I knew it wouldn't do much to help the pain of childbirth, but it was the best I could offer her. I only hoped that the early contractions didn't mean the child was dead already. If it was a still birth…

I was starting to get nervous. I knew that the baby was still alive, because just yesterday I had been with her giggling and laughing as the baby kicked and turned… And turned! Suddenly, it all made sense. The baby had turned inside of Sango, that was why she was going to pregnancy early; not because her body was trying to reject the baby, but because the child itself felt it was time to leave the safety of the womb!

Feeling myself regaining my confidence, I poured a cup of water, and I reached into the knapsack and pulled out a small package made of shiny material. "Boil some water, Kari-chan. When it's boiling, seep this in it until it turns dark brown to black. Something tells me that I'm going to be needing it."

Kari took it and looked at it with some confusion. "What exactly is it?"

"Caffeine. Lots of caffeine."

"Hai, Sensei."

Kari bowed her head slightly and went to do as I asked. I took up her seat beside Sango. I set down the Tylenol and the glass of water, and I wrung out the cloth left in the glass of water. Something about my touch compared to Kari's told her that it was someone different wiping her brow for her, and that it was me. She was trying to say my name, licking her chapped lips, before she had even opened her eyes. I shushed her as I had done to Shippo not too long ago. Lifting her head, I held the water to her lips, telling her take a sip, and then to swallow the pills. Sango took the pain killers without any resistance, and then she placed her head back down against the pillow. She still hadn't opened her eyes.

"Rest now Sango," I purred to her, stroking her wet hair. "Rest now. When the baby decides to come, it will be hard, and it will be long. Rest now while you can."

-

It took hours; it was hours for Sango's contractions to begin to come faster, for her body to prepare itself for the child eager to see the world. She could get no rest, and she faded in and out of grumpy sleep. Each time her eyes closed and her breath regulated, each time it looked as if she might catch a bit sleep, her muscles contracted, and she woke again, rubbing her small, rounded stomach in pain. Then, her sounds muffled as she tried to keep from calling out, her wonderful husband had a panic attack outside the house. Sango and I could hear him demanding Inuyasha let him pass, calling him names that even made my demonic husband blush when he heard them.

Sango managed to take a sip of water with trembling hands. "Can't we let Miroku in, at least until the real work starts? I think it would do him good to see that I am, in fact, alive and well."

"He just saw you an hour ago. He should know that everything is fine." My voice was rather snappy, and I quickly apologized. Just because I was tired, I didn't need to take it out on Sango. However, Sango, caught in a daze, didn't seem to hear the tone of my voice, while Kari did and was looking at me with frightened eyes.

How could I possibly say it? I didn't know how to tell her that it was better Miroku stay outside because it would be easier on him if he never saw the child, because there was very little I knew about childbirth, and the baby probably wasn't going to survive.

But maybe I was wrong about that, maybe seeing her husband was just what Sango needed.

"Tell him he can come in," I told Kari. The young girl opened the door, and Miroku practically leapt into the room. He went straight to Sango, and my blood-sister seemed to smile a little bit as his hand wrapped around hers. She knew who it was without looking at him.

Crossing his legs, he slipped under Sango, supporting her head in his lap, and whispered soothing lies to her, telling her that everything was going to be all right, that he was in the room now and he wasn't going to leave.

Inuyasha lingered in the doorway, wanting to enter but feeling out of place, and he studied me. His golden eyes became worried, and he reached out to pull me close, kissing my limp hair. "How are you holding up?" His marble skin was tighter, paler than normal. He was worried about me.

"I'm scared," I whimpered. I hadn't sounded like that since the last childbirth I had attended; my own. "I don't know what to do. The baby is trying to come out, but Sango's body is reacting so slowly! Her contractions are still ten minutes apart, and she's dilated only…" I indicated with my fingers, the distance between them, and the whispered voice I was using could have slunk between the space with miles in between. "I wish that we were in the future, where a real doctor could have done this…"

Kari touched my shoulder gently. She was still gentle, still calm despite the hot room and the expectancy in the still air. "Kagome-sama, you are our doctor. Please, stop wishing and relying on the things we don't have, and use what we have. You have to know more herb lore than this, you have people at your disposal that know more than this. Can't you or Inuyasha-sama use their experience?"

She was, of course, right. Feeling my self-confidence renewed, I sent Inuyasha out for a few herbs, and with a simple question to many of the friends we had made, and they were only too eager to help their new friends.

-

Two hours later, thanks to a brew that we had made up, Sango's contractions were coming seven minutes faster, and she had grown more. It was only a matter of waiting.

Two hours after that, even Miroku began to look worried, and no matter how many doors or windows we opened in the house, all of us were sweating up a storm. Miroku felt that the heat was coming from Sango herself, perhaps the child inside of her, that they were so eager to come out they were burning her with fire, setting her alive with fire. We had to give him a calming brew to keep from having him get underfoot, and so he ended up pinned against the wall by Sango's form. He whispered encouraging words to Sango and sheltered her body against his chest. Sango once again tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Her contractions were still too far apart, but the baby had moved. It wouldn't be too much longer.

Two hours after that, Sango was dilated enough, and her contractions were coming close enough that we needed her to really begin to work. I made Kari boil some coffee, and sent Inuyasha out for fresh water. He left with his ears back and a growl on his lips, but when he returned I gave him a smile and a quick kiss that would have been a hundred times better if I wasn't so tired.

It seemed as if our men were joining us in the dance of continuing life. I was glad to have their support there with us.

Miroku supporting Sango, myself with my hands waiting to help guide the child, Inuyasha helping to reassure Sango and trying to keep her cold by wiping her brow from sweat, and Kari holding fresh hot water and towels that we needed to clean up with, we all held our breaths and waited for the real trial to begin.

"Alright, Sango," I told her in a reassuring voice. "You need to push."

She pushed, grunting with the effort, her breath coming faster. Her hands tightened so hard against Miroku's that even he began to squirm. Stopping, her chest heaved and she tried to catch her breath before I told her she had to push again. Gathering up her strength again, she pushed again. Her breathing started to even out as best as it could, given the cause of the panting. Sango was a quick learner; her pushes were becoming stronger as she began to understand what she was doing, and she was once again taking control of her body by the reigns and molding it to her liking.

"You're doing fine, Sango. Just keep doing as Kagome says," Miroku whispered in a husky voice, his breath tickling her ears. He was trying to be helpful, but I truly doubt that Miroku could ever talk to Sango without oozing some kind of charm.

Glaring, she whirled on him as best she could. Miroku paled to the color of Inuyasha's hair under Sango's piercing, hawk-like gaze. Her voice was so feral she could have frightened away full-fledged demons.

"How would you know how I'm doing? You're just holding my hand while poor Kagome is doing all the work that Kari, Inuyasha or I aren't! You're the one who had sex with me and helped to put this child inside of me, so why the fuck aren't you down there doing something to help bring this child into the world?! I'm not a baby anymore, Miroku! You can stop holding my hand! And while we're on the subject of childbirth, in the next life, monk, you're the one who's going to be a girl and have the baby, and at least if we're reborn into Kagome's time, you'll at least have the benefit of drugs!!"

Miroku looked as if he had just gotten his head chopped off. If Sango hadn't needed to stop yelling at him to concentrate solely on pushing, I think that Miroku's pride would have shattered at hearing his beloved wife speak to him so harshly.

Inuyasha, my loving and understanding husband, merely smiled and continued to try and keep Sango cooled down. "So, we finally get to see Sango's temper first hand."

"He's right, hon. You're doing fine. Just keep on pushing. I can see the head."

"May I…" Miroku began.

"No you may not! You see that enough as it is! You're not allowed getting in Kagome's way!" Sango screeched at him. Miroku cringed and leaned back against the wall, keeping her body steady. Sango sighed and rolled her eyes, trying to gather her energy as she waited for the next time that she needed to push. "Ah, at least Kirara, Shippo and Yugo had the good sense not to get involved in this."

She closed her eyes. Her head was leaning on Miroku's shoulder, and it looked as if she was waiting for something. When she wasn't presented with that something, Sango smacked him lightly on the head. "Don't I get a kiss for being a good little girl?"

"No." He cringed again when the arm was raised to smack him again. He smiled at her with the charm he carried specifically for Sango. "But you get a kiss for being my brave wife, bearing me a courageous, and not to mention aggressive, little baby." Then he gave her a kiss she eagerly returned, the kind of kiss you wouldn't think that a woman who had had her water broken over ten hours ago could give at all.

Sango was definitely aggressive when she was cornered and in pain… and not to mention scared! When I had born Kaede, I was terrified, and I was in a hospital with people who knew what they were doing. If I was the one trusting myself with delivering a child I had waited so long just to bring to term…

I had known the responsibility of this when I accepted taking over Kaede's responsibilities, but I had never felt the weight of them until now. This baby was in my hands.

"Keep pushing, Sango," I encouraged. She stopped kissing Miroku to keep pushing. Sango never snapped at me; I was her blood-sister, and at that moment, I was the one in charge of the situation. Glancing at Inuyasha, even he looked nervous.

And so it was. In that hot room, I kept encouraging Sango to push, Miroku tried not to get his head bitten off, and Inuyasha kept trying to keep Sango cooled down. We were all hot, sweaty, and tired, but none more than Sango. After ten hours and thirty-two minutes of birthing, on our equivalent of May 9, Sango gave birth to a healthy baby.

Kari was right there with the towels and the water, bathing off the baby and cleaning up the mess. We cut the umbilical cord and tied it off, wrapped the baby in cloths, and handed her over to the proud mother.

At first the baby cried, as if say that it regretted leaving Sango's safe and warm womb. But like all babies, it stopped the moment it saw the mother. Sango managed to smile at the child, wrapped in Miroku's arms, before her eyes closed, and she held her baby tightly against her chest. Miroku, still crying tears of happiness, kept kissing Sango's sweat-soaked hair.

"I'm a father, I'm a father," he kept repeating, in a barely audible voice. Reaching out, he lightly touched the child's nose, and chin, and the tiny fingers on the hands.

The child had ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes… everything was where it should be. But I was worried. I had held that child when it came out covered in blood and warm, and I knew how light it was. Why had the child come early? I looked over at my husband. He knew exactly what I wanted to do, and he shook his head no. I sulked. "Why not?"

"Kagome," he told me gently, taking my chin in his hand. His gold eyes were serious, and I gathered that this was more than just my husband talking to me, this was also a man who had been through more than I could ever imagine. "Kagome, are you actually asking me why you can't take the child through the well? Why you can't go and take it to a hospital and put it in some incubator until it gains a healthy amount of weight?"

"Well…"

Inuyasha gave me a gentle kiss on my nose, and held me tightly, even though all we really wanted was a cold shower. "Trust me, Kagome. There's no remedy on this earth better than being held in the loving arms of a mother. I should know." Rather than let him fall into bittersweet memories of his mother, I grabbed my husband by the shirt and kissed him with all the strength I had left in me.

"Pardon me," Miroku said, as Kari giggled. Inuyasha and I parted enough to look at Miroku from the corner of our eyes. He held his hands over the baby's eyes and was glaring at us like the overprotective father he suddenly was. "I will not have any kind of that behavior in front of my little girl. I will not have her corrupted by you or anyone else."

"Look who's talking," sneered Inuyasha.

I laughed, and smiled at the proud father. "Aw, he already has his father-voice down. Listen, Miroku, I'm going to head back to our hut. When Sango wakes, the first thing she should do his feed her daughter. She's on the tiny side, and she should put on the weight she missed putting on by being born early. Before we go, do you want to know what Sango decided you should call your child if it was a girl?"

Miroku was surprised. He glanced around at all of us, and at the darling angel held by his slumbering wife. "She… you… you discussed that with her?"

Kari patted his shoulder gently, covering a yawn with the other hand. "We all gave her our input. Just because you two didn't want to get emotionally attached to your daughter before she born incase there was… an accident, Sango couldn't help but get attached. She was carrying her around for the past eight or so months, you know. She asked all of us what we thought of names. We all think she picked the right one."

Inuyasha's smile was that of the sweet man that had always lurked under the sculpted mask he wore. "She decided to name her Arashi."

Miroku's jaw dropped open, his dark eyes wide. He kept glancing around at everybody, particularly Arashi. Then his mouth closed, and he had eyes for only the two most important women in his life. "She named her after Mother…"

"She said it was only right after Kohaku naming his daughter after her mother." Kagome leaned over and kissed Miroku's cheek. "Congratulations… Daddy."