Chapter 36-A Brother's Love

The group fell silent. They were all tired having stood witness to InuYasha's ascension. It had been like nothing they ever could have expected, and seeing Sesshomaru save his younger brother had topped the cake. It was more than any of them could hope to take in and Kagome still wanted to go through with this. Sesshomaru pulled Kagome to him. His face strained with emotion.

Kagome couldn't take the tension. "Listen all of you stop acting like I am marching to my death. We can do this. We have all done so much already, we can't just stop here."

"We have to do this." Kikyo's voice came from the entry way. "If we don't we are all doomed. Even if we defeat Naraku, we have no way to ever completely purify the jewel. I thought before that InuYasha could become human, and that would be enough to erase the jewel from the face of the earth, but now I don't think it can be done. Can it Sesshomaru?" Kikyo stared the taiyoukai in the eye.

A defiant gesture only she would risk. When will InuYasha ever get a reign on her. Sesshomaru thought to himself as he stood. "If you are suggesting that I knew when InuYasha would mature from the beginning, I can assure you that I did not. If I had I would have killed him long ago, beforehe started to gain power." Sesshomaru's tone was flat and threatening. He didn't like what she was inferring and he wasn't going to hide it.

Kikyo's look softened. She knew that Sesshomaru wouldn't lie about something like this. Had he been planning on hurting InuYasha, he would have never saved him. "InuYasha is sleeping, I think that he will be okay. Kagome, I think that you need to come with me." Kikyo said to her.

Kagome rose and followed the miko out of the house. "What is it?" She asked.

"Kagome put up a barrier, defend yourself." Kikyo said and lunged at her. Kagome stumbled back, caught off guard, but regained her balance. Three years ago she would have been dead, but she had learned to expect anything.

"What are you doing? Have you gone crazy?" She said to Kikyo.

"No I am not crazy, I am proving a point. You have to learn to control your powers or you will be utterly destroyed, we all will. I can teach you how, but you must feel it within you." Kikyo began to walk down the stairs with Kagome in tow.

"How do I do it? Tell me Kikyo." Kagome pleaded. She didn't have time for grand speeches, there were more important things.

"Calm yourself, half the problem is that your always in a hurry. You must collect yourself, as you do when firing an arrow. Draw yourself in, compose yourself. The world only moves as fast as you view it. Something is only too fast to see if you don't look at it. Quiet your thoughts, listen and feel what is around you."

Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated with every ounce of her energy. She could feel the breeze, it was from the west. Something she would have never noticed before. There were still birds singing off in the distance, two of them, they seemed to be talking. The brightness of the sun was from the west, she could feel its warmth. Kikyo was a few feet from her, Kagome could hear her steady breath, sense her presence. She heard the shuffle of sandals against the earth. For a spit second she focused all her energy toward that sound and her eyes snapped open to see Kikyo's bow crash into a blazing pink barrier. Kagome smiled as she realized what she had done and the barrier disappeared.

"Very good, you learn fast, but your concentration lacks. You and I have a lot of work to do." With that Kikyo began explaining what powers Kagome really held within her, more than just sacred arrows, so much more. There was barriers, the ability to see emissaries of the afterlife, controlling her own aura, there was so much to learn and so little time.

Sesshomaru rose from looked at the others, their faces were worn, tired. His contempt for their weakness quickly waned as he realized that they were not like him, they were human, even the small fox had not grown into his powers enough to recover so quickly from what he had been through. "I will go to see about InuYasha." He said as he exited the room.

The rest simply looked at him, still shocked by what was going on with the great demon lord.

Sesshomaru stepped into the room, it was one of the few times that the door had opened for him since he was a child. This was InuYasha's place of refuge and not even the great Sesshomaru was allowed in, the spell his father had placed on the room had seen to that. His younger brother lay on the bed looking weaker than Sesshomaru had ever seen him. For the first time in his life Sesshomaru was concerned. InuYasha had the strength of the Inu tribe running through his veins, but the first ascension had killed more than it's fair share of his line. It was something that couldn't be taken lightly. InuYasha stirred as if he was dreaming. Sesshomaru sat at the end of the bed wondering if InuYasha would awaken still willing to go through with the plan. Father give him strength, give us all the strength. We can't loose them now. Sesshomaru's beseeched his father silently as he looked at his recovering brother.

InuYasha walked through a place of pure darkness, stumbling over invisible obstacles. There was a light far off, a glowing blue orb that drew him forward. I have to reach that light, if I don't I will never get out of here, wherever here is. As he drew closer he could see that bones of demons littered the ground where he walked, large and small they were everywhere. The light grew brighter, coming toward him until it was almost blinding. InuYasha shielded his eyes and drew his sword.

"InuYasha, sheath your sword, I have not come to battle, but to save you." InuYasha slowly squinted his eyes focusing on the form in front of him.

"Father?" Though InuYasha had never laid eyes on his father in his human form there was no mistaking it from the pictures in the castle.

"My son, I stand before you prouder than I have ever been. You and your brother have found each other in a new light. You have both realized that you need each other. Not even demons were meant to walk this world alone, and trust me my son, you two will need each other. Your brother was tainted by jealously and misunderstanding for most of your years. InuYasha in spite of his cruelty he has always watched over you, he has never truly left your fate to the hands of others. He carries a weight that you have never known, he has loved and hated you with every breath that he takes. His hatred of you was of my doing, he failed to see that saving you was necessary in order for our blood line to live on. He felt abandoned in his time of need, but he never abandoned you."

"Yeah right, he tried to kill me every chance he got." InuYasha couldn't forget the endless number of battles that he had fought with his older brother, the wounds that had been inflicted on him by the taiyoukai. Sesshomaru's unending hatred of his "dirty" blood. "He thinks that I am a disgrace, that I am not worthy of sharing his blood, or yours."

"InuYasha don't be fooled even now your brother watches over you as you recover." Inu no Taisho pointed to a rising mist at his right hand. There in the mist was Sesshomaru watching over his brother at that very moment. The mist twisted and changed to InuYasha, when the bandits had been ready to attack him as an adolescent."

"I remember, Sesshomaru slaughtered all those humans, just like everyone else he came across." InuYasha sneered.

"Look and listen InuYasha before you judge your brother, your ruler." Inu no Taisho said to his son. InuYasha turned to look, it was as if he was standing right there next to the bandits, he could hear their every word.

***"We'll get that little brat, he is only some half breed. We'll take everything he has on him and kill his worthless mother. There is sure to be more money once we get into that house." One of the bandits said to the rest. In that moment Sesshomaru stepped forward looking down on all of them.

"So you wish to kill the half breed do you? I wouldn't think it a wise choice." Sesshomaru said to them all.

"What business is it of yours demon?" The bandit spat at him.

"He is my brother." Sesshomaru said to him, warning in his eyes.

"Then I guess that we'll just have to kill you both." One of the bandits cried from the back of the pack. With that Sesshomaru drew his youkai whip and sliced them all down in a single swipe. Just as the slaughter was complete InuYasha watched as he himself walked up.

"You bastard, preying on innocent humans again." InuYasha spat at Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru remained silent, turned on his heels and walked away.***

The scene was followed by several others each one with Sesshomaru being a silent hero as InuYasha grew older. InuYasha always walking up just shy of seeing the true reason Sesshomaru had taken human and demon life. InuYasha's mouth fell open, there was nothing to be said. He had misjudged Sesshomaru in so many ways. There was still no doubt that he was a killer, capable of destroying anything that got in his way, but perhaps a heart beat within him for his younger half brother that InuYasha had never known of.

"Father why do you show this to me? Shouldn't you be telling me how to save Kikyo and Kagome?"

"My son, you two must trust each other, protect one another. If you can combine your powers, unify your intentions, then anything is possible. I have faith in my sons that they will make the right choices, that they will claim their places as rulers of this land. I have faith, InuYasha, that you two will change the world. I love you my son, as I always have." With those words Inu no Taisho faded to blackness.

InuYasha sat up straight in his bed, face to face with his elder brother. He had no idea what to say, now that he knew that his brother's hatred was true, that his heart wasn't cold, he couldn't think straight.

"InuYasha, I see that you have recovered well, but you need to rest. Sleep, brother, you will need it. I will let the others know that you have awoken." Sesshomaru got up and was about to leave when InuYasha called out to him.

"Sesshomaru!" The taiyoukai turned, but said nothing. "I saw father and he showed me how you saved me time and again. Why did you never tell me that you saved me when I was younger, why did you let me think that you would rather I die?" InuYasha had to know.

"It was better that way, it gave you someone to hate, someone to blame. Had I told you then you would have never learned to take care of yourself, InuYasha. All men need a battle to fight, a way to prove themselves in life. Do not waste your sentiment on me, I have always done as I pleased saving you was simply clearing a path for me to move on my way." Sesshomaru lied, but he wasn't ready to admit the truth even to himself, even if InuYasha did know differently. "Rest now InuYasha, you will need it."