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"Priestess Kagome, I understand your worry and disgruntled confusion. But I'm not leaving her with everything. I'm still Emperor until she deems me to step down and chose another person for the stand," Isao explained calmly to them both. "Your decision is your partial word, darling. What shall it be?"

Before she could answer his question, she screamed out, "Kagome!" A poison green whip lashed out from the bushes, nearly killing Amaya as she grabbed it with one hand after she jumped in front of her friend. The acid hissed loudly, sinking into her skin while she held it in her grasp. Throwing it to the side, Amaya watched the poison whip as it recoiled to its owner.

"Sesshomaru…" She said breathlessly.


Sesshomaru stepped out from the wooded area into the clearing, his eyes deep red with rage. Despite the very danger of him being her, Amaya felt her heart flutter with love and relief. "Sesshomaru…it's me, Amaya…"

"Cease your babbling, shadow." He snarled coldly. "Why should I trust your words when I do not trust yourself?"

Whatever Amaya felt seconds before shattered when she heard those cold words. 'I can't lose him. Not again. I'm on my own here.' She thought. Noticing Kagome bracing herself to grab her bow and arrows and Isao still clutching his own sword, Amaya held up a hand to them. "No. I'm doing this myself, guys. If he kills me, do not be ashamed of him. It would be too much. Please." She half-pleaded.

Isao didn't move from his spot, but he did nod in acceptance of her choice. Kagome, after a moment, also nodded to her, releasing her grip on her bow.

Amaya faced Sesshomaru again, feeling his cold gaze weight down on her heavily. The Emperor Sword was still in her hands, the jewels lightly glittering with energy again. 'I may have to fight him,' She thought nervously. But she shook her head in disagreement. 'No. If I die, at least I can tell him that I love him without any more pain coming my way.'

She loosened her grip on the sword, staring at him the whole time as it fell to the ground, making a soft thudding noise. Sesshomaru broke his gaze on her and stared, his eyes slowly widening at what she did. "Why? Surely you would kill me. Or is this some kind of trick again, after you placed that spell on me, shadow?"

The demoness shook her head slowly, throwing out her arms in a state of vulnerability. "You can kill me, Sesshomaru. But even after you do so, my feelings will never waver for who I've fallen for all those months ago. I've become even stronger because of your words and your support in the past. So go on, kill me and be satisfied with my death." She declared out loud, glaring at the demon lord with plead in her eyes.

Sesshomaru was silent for many minutes, just looking her over in hopes that she was lying. But Amaya meant every word she said. She couldn't lie so easily, she never could. Then he started walking closer, his Bakusaiga still out and ready to slash her into pieces. He stopped just a foot from her, his melted amber soles burning a spot in her forehead. "You lie."

"I do not, and even if I did so, Sessho," She paused, looking away. A blush had appeared on her cheeks and over her nose. "I cannot bear to hold back the fact I've fallen heavy for you, Lord Sesshomaru. I…I love you."

Amaya suddenly braced herself for death of his Bakusaiga slicing and dicing her body into the ground.

When it never came, she peeked open an eye to see him shaking slightly, his face rendering away any cold expression. What replaced it was the features of an unknown emotion. 'What's wrong with—' Her thought of mind trailed off when he, too, dropped his sword, before grabbing her arms and crushing Amaya against his chest. She gasped involuntarily, sucking in all of his delicious scent in one gulp, feeling relief flood through her just as quickly. His arms were around her neck and shoulders, but his whole body was shaking in light vibrations. Then she felt something wet and warm sink into her left shoulder.

Sesshomaru was…crying.

"Sess…Sessho?" She gulped, afraid that she would anger him again. But her only response was the tighten grip around her. It made her reach around and loop her arms around his waist. "Shh…it's okay, my love, I'm here. I'm here for good." She whispered softly against his chest. He pulled away, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. She reached up and wiped away one that trailed down his cheek. Never in her life would she had believed seeing the man of her life crying. 'He's in pain, as am I.' Amaya thought.

"Amaya, you came back. I can sense you finally through the darkness." He said while slowly regaining his composure. She giggled softly at how his ego always got in the way when he started becoming cute and innocent.

Sesshomaru dipped down, placing both hands on her cheeks and kissed her lips affectionately. Amaya melted into him even more, sighing as he kissed her so lovingly, so protectively, it made her skin crawl. When he pulled away to give her air, she quickly reached around his neck and kissed him again, placing all of her love into that one kiss. "I love you, my Amaya; I want you to know that." He breathed into her ear.

She chuckled. "I know. I know." She said simply, nuzzling into his neck. But then she realized that they had company. Blushing madly, she slowly pulled away, clearing her throat and facing Kagome and Isao, only to see them grinning smugly. Growling, she pointed a sharp claw at them. "You tell, you both die."

Kagome laughed. "Tell what?" She replied innocently. Amaya scoffed at her action, but her expression turned to that of stress. Her miko friend noticed it. "Are you worried about something, Amaya?"

The cougar demoness sighed, then nodded. "Yes, so much has gone wrong that needs to be fixed before more unnecessary things happen. First, I need to go and find Haruko and try—"As if on cue, Haruko broke through and landed next to her, startling her. He looked distraught like had seen someone important die. "Haruko! What's wrong? Did we win the battle out there?" She asked.

He nodded stiffly, but his expression didn't change. In fact, it only grew worse. "Hai, we won the war, sister. But…" His words trailed off, leaving him in silence.

"But what, brother? Who…who's dead?" She forced out.

Haruko's shoulders sagged farther down. "Many soldiers from the Southern Lands and Eastern Lands have been killed. Many more are injured from the Northern Lands, The Western Lands have suffered many killed and injured. They are being taken to the Grand Ball for recovery. We may lose more thanks to unable arrival of each land's best healers. We've sent our fittest and quickest warriors to give word and bring them here, however it could even a day and a half just to arrive. By that time, we may lose more than we need to. Lady Azumi was severely injured with Lord Kouga but both are already recovering faster than our men. Aneko is watching over everyone with Lord Tadao on sharp eyes " He stated, running a hand through his unruly hair.

Amaya switched into her motherly mode. "I understand, brother, but now isn't the time to simply give up. I need you to stay with Aneko and Tadao while me, Kagome, and Papa search for herbs. Sesshomaru, though we just reunited, I need you to go to the Southern Palace and…obtain my siblings and their servants. They have been through war the most, so our servants are always use to things like this. You must hurry. It is more than likely that we'll be helping soldiers throughout the night."

"Consider it done, my love." He said, kissing her on the cheek one more time. "Be careful."

"Same to you Sesshomaru. Good luck." She whispered, watching his form engulf in a orb and soar into the air.

Haruko ran back to Aneko, but not before he gave a firm 'hello' nod to his grandfather. Though he didn't show it, Isao was glad his grandson was doing well and he missed him deeply. Amaya changed back into her cougar form, but she suddenly sagged to her uninjured leg. Her shoulder had stopped bleeding just as Sesshomaru had attacked her, but she was still injured nonetheless. Kagome kneeled down next to her and scratched behind her head. "Go back, Amaya. We'll do our things here for the night. You grab some rest. Plus, they need something to feed by now." She ordered.

Amaya wanted to protest so badly, to run out beside Haruko and check up on everyone, but she felt too weak, too tired. "I feel stupid leaving you guys and lying to Sessho."

"You aren't stupid. I'll hold onto the sword until you come back, dear. Now go." Isao spoke up, already walking in the direction he could smell herbs. Amaya chuckled humorlessly before she, too, was engulf in her own orb and disappeared from their sight.

The war may have been won, but their hopes would not be risen with the slow deaths of many soldiers. Kagome and Isao had gathered much of the herbs and forest leaves to create the medicine necessary for cases of infection, fever, cold, shivers, salve, extreme blood loss, and potential lung infections. They started helping soldiers inside the Grand Ball Palace right away, going from person to person, getting their diagnosis before using medicine on them. Kagome, on the occasions she was fit enough to do so, she would use her miko powers to heal the most severely injured and mend limbs back into place. She continued pushing herself until Isao himself had to step in and stop her from killing herself of exhaustion. Afterwards, she used herbs and medicine as a replacement of her powers.

Sesshomaru had gone to the limit on his orders by Amaya to grab her and Harukos' siblings. He would admit though, they were not in the least surprise that their father was killed by Amaya. Somehow, he could tell that they had alternated their personalities from other times he had met them, when he was younger. But then they told him that their second eldest, Chou, was killed by Hotashi when rumor had spread around that Chou was going to warn the other Lands of his plans. The other three—Kotone, Masaru and Yuuto— were forced to remain silent about the whole thing.

He and the three siblings had gathered practically all of their servants before transporting back to the Grand Ball Palace. There, the three siblings had even helped out with the servants, doing the same things as Kagome and Isao. Sesshomaru and a few soldiers that could still fight would scout the area of any intruding shadows or other predators.

Aneko helped out with Haruko, and it appeared—to many—that the prince and princess of different lands were growing exponentially close. Kagome grew to becoming a friend with Aneko, proud that the phoenix demoness had befriended Amaya when Kagome wasn't there. And from the way Aneko was describing Amaya to her, it appeared that Amaya has a follower.

Speaking of Amaya, Kagome had surprisingly watched the day after Amaya sniffing each soldier for any hidden sickness. Here and there, she would run around to obtain medicine bottles to heal the ones she did detect as sick. Kagome tried to help her out, but the demoness firmly ordered her to stand down and recuperate her body. She even did the same for Sesshomaru, who had been scouting for almost two full days. Both of them obeyed her and went upstairs to sleep. Many of the other servants, who had honorably worked very hard, were also sent away for rest by her. Even Haruko and Aneko were told, as well as Lady Azumi, Lord Kouga, and Lord Tadao.

The old Amaya of generosity was back and wasn't going down with excuses from any of them.

Many hours had passed, the sun that had once risen up high in the sky, now started falling behind the distance hills and mountains of the Lands. As Amaya finished up checking on another three patients, she sensed someone behind her. Their aura was tainted with ignorance and rough lines of life; but it was whom she remembered long ago. "Hello Masaru." She sighed in slight annoyance. Turning her head, she looked up at Prince Masaru, who's gray kimono and brown hamaka were covered in blood and medicine juice. He looked just as tired as she, but Amaya always knew her middle sibling had the determination of a bull demon. "Is there something you need? Salve for bandages?" She asked calmly. Inside her head, she was bracing herself for critical comments about her life or harsh disowning words that made her flinch.

But instead, Masaru just nodded. "Changing of bandages for quite a few badly injured men over there," He pointed over to the right. Amaya could tell by the smell of fresh blood that he was right.

Nodding, she silently gathered thick bandages and walked over to the injured men. She gave half to her brother, before kneeling down and replacing the soaked through ones. With one hand on a man's stomach wounds, Amaya inhaled slowly and mended her powers into growing back the skin and muscle tissue slowly. It was long and hard to maintain, but suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and more energy flowing through her. She looked up to see Masaru's eyes glowing a faint yellow. Amaya faced her patient again and saw that the skin had almost completely stitched back together, little blood trickling out from the still open wound. She pulled away, as did Masaru's hand, and wrapped the salved bandaged over his wound firm enough to stay on but not too much so that it would pain him more than what he already was feeling.

Amaya shook the weariness from her eyes and brought more power to her hands as she did the same thing for nearly ten more patients. On the eleventh person, she could barely keep her eyes open, so she went back to stitching up with a needle and string.

She finally stopped after finishing forty more patients. Her head throbbed and her body was screaming for rest. If she thought over correctly, she had helped well over a hundred and sixty patients, thanks to her high stamina and motherly concern for the health of others.

'With things going good so far, many of the soldiers will be fully healed by either this late evening or tomorrow morning.' Amaya thought.

"I'm sorry."

Amaya whirled around on her brother, raising an eyebrow at his sudden speaking. She had always considered Masaru the "quiet" sibling. She narrowed her eyes accusingly. "If it's about all those years before and the abuses, Masaru, forget it. Besides, the only thing I'm truly disappointed in was the fact that…I couldn't be a better sister to you guys. So I'm sorry on that." She said tiredly.

Masaru looked at her flabbergasted, but a smile quickly replaced his confusion. He reached out and ruffled her hair. "I forgive you too, I guess." He said, leaning down till his breath was in her ear. "The others are too scared to admit, so be happy that I came and said it, Amaya."

She held in the blush rising up in her cheeks and nodded in response. Ducking under and away from him, she bowed to him. "I appreciate your words, brother. If you'll excuse me, I'm heading out, once I go and retrieve Sesshomaru that is. I'll be back by tomorrow morning." She said, strolling out of the ballroom and trotted up the stairs. She could hear the slow breathing of exhausted servants, Aneko, Haruko, Lord Tadao and Lady Azumi, giving her a sense of satisfaction. Everyone had worked so hard to heal their men that served bravely for their Lords and Lady. She knew that by heart.

Amaya stopped in front of her lover's door, reaching out and turning the knob gently and quietly so she didn't disturb him nor the others. But that didn't seem to be the case on Sesshomaru, for she gasped upon seeing the dog demon sitting on his bed, his chest bare with his kimono open. He looked up at her and smirked. "What's wrong, Amaya? Does this Sesshomaru have a cat's tongue stuck?"

She mocked a laugh. "In your dreams, Sessho." She countered. Amaya quickly sobered up and looked at him sternly. "I've come to show you something. But it isn't here. Will you follow me?"

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, but got up, tying his kimono back in place. He reached for his swords, but thought against it and left them. "Where to, Amaya?" He asked calmly.

Smiling, she got closer till her hands were on his chest, fingers spread out. Then she closed her eyes just as her markings started glowing lightly. "I'll show you." She whispered. She felt Sesshomaru grab both of her hands, his scent coating her. An orb circled around them, but disappeared in a matter of seconds.

When she opened her eyes again, the orb had landed them in the same forest she had walked to before. Letting go of him, Amaya transformed into her cougar form, eagerly bounding off from Sesshomaru. She smiled, sensing him abruptly beside her as she swerved around trees and under bushes until she stopped at the fallen tree.

"Why have you brought this Sesshomaru here, Amaya? It's only a fallen tree several centuries old." Sesshomaru commented rather bluntly. She chortled at this.

"It will never be just any tree, my love. It is much more than that," She paused, a proud smile spreading over her face.

That's when Sesshomaru heard small but lively squeaks and chirps coming from underneath the tree. He watched her walked over to a large hole before dipping into it. The hole was large enough for even his body to fit under after squeezing rather uncomfortably into it. Sesshomaru brushed off leaves and moss when he realized that the squeaks and chirping noises were much louder now. He spotted Amaya, but his attention quickly dove towards the three bodies nestled against her stomach, sucking greedily on her teats.

"Amaya…how…who are those?" He stammered, an uncommon action even for him to do.

Amaya bowed her head to lick one of her cubs, who was long haired and silver brown tom. He squeaked in protest but quieted down to purring at the smell of his mother. "They are yours and mine, Sesshomaru." She said, her ears dropping down in worry when she noticed the confusion and demand for an explanation features rush over her lover's face. With a intake of breath, Amaya started slowly, "Sessho, my two cubs are the twins you lost with Leiko. The reason for that is because, when she changed bodies with me, she hadn't realized that with it came consiquences. Unless I was dead and gone from this world, she couldn't conceive the pups in the new form. The body wasn't adjusted to her, therefore resulting in either stillborn cubs, miscarriage, or severe birth defects of the children, which would've been extremely painful before they would, sadly, perish within a few weeks of living.

"My sons were born in their humanoid forms and died, but were given a second chance by allowing to live in their demon forms," She gestured to the two cubs, the long haired silver brown tom and one that looked completely identical to her. "It is a procedure that can only be done by the original person's powers. Sesshomaru, I didn't know that I was conceiving our cubs during my journey to warn you until just a few days ago. They shouldn't have gone through death so early in life, but they came back because I am their real mother and I gave them another chance. Plus, they have another sibling with them."

Amaya lifted her tail a little to reveal more of the last form in front of her stomach. It was black and had fluffy curly hair just like Sesshomaru's demonic form. The cougar mother grabbed the little puppy carefully and placed it in front of Sesshomaru's legs. "Meet your daughter, Sessho. Our daughter."

Sesshomaru picked up his daughter and witnessed her bleakly open her eyes, revealing one mahogany and one amber eye, each having the opposite color swirling in the middle. He couldn't help but smile at his newborn daughter. "Hello, sweetheart." He whispered, bringing her till she nestled into his own chest. "You're strong, just like your mother."

"But stubborn than a mule like her father." Amaya chuckled. She loved the way how Sesshomaru dropped his mask and actually showed his true self again; kind, caring, and willing to protect. "What will you name her, love? She seems to like you best."

"Hmm…" Sesshomaru pulled his daughter away, causing her to yip and squeal in protest. Then he smirked. "Kaida."

" 'Little dragon'? Mmm…I think it suits her well." Amaya nodded in approval. She looked down at their two sons. "I'll call the silver one Zeroun, and the other one Toshi."

"Strong and beautiful names, my Amaya. I love them." He said proudly, leaning down to kiss her head, making her purr grow even more. However, it drifted away and seriousness spread over her face, catching Sesshomaru off guard. "What is it, Amaya?"

"I need you to understand one more thing about our two sons, Sessho," She began slowly, grief stricken so sudden that it threw him off for many seconds. "With the second chance of living, they have lost their ability to change into humanoid demons. They will not be able to take the throne as the next Lords because of this, only Kaida would be allegeable to take the throne as Lady." She paused, gulping down a lump in her throat. "Does this upset you and anger you of their disability? Because if it does, I cannot stay with you. It would pain me too much to see my children ashamed by their father because—"

"Amaya," Sesshomaru interrupted her, placing his free hand on her hand to comfort her more. "They are our sons, and I do not mind a simple disadvantage to them. They are who they are, and that's all that matters to me. And to you, I know. They will always be worthy, no matter what. We'll get through this together, I promise."

Amaya felt an immense weight lift off her shoulders. She leaned into him. "Thank you!" She sighed happily. Through the tough times, she was given her one true and accomplished goal; a family of her own for good.

And that's the end! Just kidding! We stil have two or three more chapters to go. And I think I know that some of you know what's going to happen next… -bells ringing in the background- l) until next time R&R please!