Yay thank you all for reviewing and for reading wow! I have a 3 week break before my next classes. Oh the creative bug is flying!
If anyone is familiar with House of the Moon by resmiranda she graciously allowed me to spoof it. If you liked the Big Spoof, you'll love this!
I've been working on kiss of fate with Kimmigirl9. It's literally a 50/50 endeavor and so worth reading. We're both in love with it.
Trafficked will get a new chapter I hope during the break.
I plan on writing another Avatar one-shot that's also meant to be hilarious :) So please check out my profile for new titles.
Rebirth
If she had a choice, she would follow her father to the borders when he left. Yuki never enjoyed being stuck at home when he was gone, especially with how often he had been gone lately. He came home stinking of ogres and other demons that Yuki could identify and others that she couldn't. There were snakes, bears and one time he even came home sick from a mamoshi bite to the ankle. She never understood if he was as powerful as he was how snake poison could take Chichiue down. But then again, there were a lot of things she just didn't understand.
But then there were times that she preferred her mother's company. The healer had been dead for two weeks and although she heard her mother crying at night, and at times she had nightmares, her mother was slowly returning. Then it was the middle of the night and Yuki heard the sound of pounding feet and a feline smell. It was Akari. Yuki's door flew open and Akari knelt down next to her, "I need your mother."
Yuki rubbed her tired eyes. She hadn't been able to sleep because of her own dreams. "Why?"
"Atsuko is having her baby. Something is wrong. The midwives don't know what to do. Hurry. Is your father in there?"
Yuki sniffed the air twice, "yeah. I think he's sleeping." He had slept every night since the Healer's death and that alone scared her. Chichiue never slept. She pulled herself out of her tangle of covers and her little brother that was melded to her back and pulled open the door to her parents room. They had unlocked it after Rin had gotten her memories back. She made no moves to control the sound of her feet and leapt over their intertwined legs. Her mother was dressed in a rose colored Yukata that was sleeveless and her father had only green hikama on. His arms that were strong and muscle-bound were wrapped around his mother's shoulders and waist.
Lightening flashed outside and then thunder boomed making her jump and cover her ears. One of the downsides of having such sensitive hearing, it sounded like someone had bellowed in her ears. She nearly tripped over her parents legs but was caught her by her father's arms and very alert golden eyes, "you know you aren't allowed in here at night."
"Akari is outside, she said Atsuko is having her baby and something is wrong. She needs Ka-san."
He stroked Ka-san's brow so lovingly and shook her shoulders, "wake up my heart. Wake up." He buried his mouth in her neck making Yuki cover her mouth with shy giggles.
"Get Tenseiga," he said to Yuki. She ran to the corner of their room and pulled out the rusty sword she had only heard of. She knew that this sword was responsible for bringing both her mother and her father back from the dead. Chichiue died the day she was born and was brought back by her Uncle, her Uncle died the day before and was brought back by her father and her mother died when she was eight, twice. He was already out of bed dragging her mother with him, throwing her into one of her rattier brown Kimonos. "Go back to bed."
She handed the sword to her father and then asked, "can I go too?" This was when she liked being with her mother the most. She knew her mother learned under an old Priestess but she had done it to appease the old woman and because when she was younger she loved babies. Ka-san always said it was before the way of the warrior called her, but everyone, especially every woman could benefit from knowing about birth.
"Come on Yuki," Rin said holding a hand out to her daughter. "My love," she whispered to her father. "Who will watch Haru?"
"Hisato," Sesshomaru said quickly, as Yuki scrambled onto her father's back, just as he grabbed his mother around the waist. "Do you need any herbs?"
"No," Rin answered. "Nobuatsu will have them."
Her father nodded and they disappeared so quickly it made Yuki's eyes blister and her cheeks burn at the speed. The moon was waning and hanging high in the sky. Yuki was told that typically men didn't attend births but because so many of the men in their village were demons of one sort or another, they were often in the huts with the women as they birthed. It was messy business, but Yuki thought it was beautiful the way a woman opened to give to create a new life. She had seen many of the children born in the village. She once caught a half-wolf demon and a cat hanyou. "Why did Chichiue bring Tenseiga."
"Just in case," Rin said as she led Yuki into the hut.
Nobuatsu leaned over his lover as she lay weakly moaning on her back. He rubbed herbs onto her stomach that made Yuki's nose itch. There were three other women in the room, one of them was a bat-hanyou and the other two human women. They parted when Rin came forward and knelt down. Her mother never asked questions, "come on Yuki, put your hands on her belly."
"Something is wrong Rin-sama," Nobuatsu always spoke with a soft voice but the tone and the way his skin was prickling with a pepper like smell made Yuki nervous. He was scared.
The sheets between Atsuko's legs were covered in blood and her skin was so pale she put the moon to shame. "What do you feel on her stomach?" Her mother took her hands and put them against the abdomen.
"She's too weak to scream in pain?" Yuki said afraid. "Well…and, is the baby the wrong way?" She had learned how to palpate a stomach from her mother. If the baby was the right way the base of the skull was hard just above the hip bones and wiggled, but if it was the wrong way the baby's whole body would move and the wiggly part was at the top of the tummy. The easiest way to check was between the legs. "Can I look? But Ka-san? I don't hear the baby," she bent over Atsuko's swollen belly. Her ears were like her father's. She could hear the weak thud of Atsuko's heart giving up, but the baby's was absent.
"We need to hurry, get Chichiue."
"Why?"
"Nobuatsu," her mother touched the father's hand gently. There was something said in that touch that Yuki didn't quite understand. Was it pity? Compassion? "We need to cut the baby out."
He shook his head with tears in his silver eyes. "No."
"Listen to me, Yuki now. These knives aren't sharp enough."
"I can do it," Yuki volunteered.
"Next time, get Chichiue. His claws are sharp enough to cause her the least amount of pain."
"NO!" Nobuatsu yelled.
"Listen to me, she has already lost too much blood. I can save them both, but you must let me cut the baby out before it's too late. I can't feel it moving. The harbingers come faster for the unborn, he can save them both."
Yuki ran outside through the throng of people and yelled, "Chichiue!" at the top of her lungs.
She found him in a circle, speaking with the other sentinels. He turned quickly following Yuki into the hut. They came back to find Nobuatsu cradling his lover. Her weak head in his hands. Somehow Chichiue knew what Ka-san needed from him. He knelt down and sliced into the stomach and pulled the baby out by its red, bottom. Yuki covered her mouth as the blood oozed out the side. "She's not breathing," he set the purple baby down next to its mother.
"What's he doing?" Yuki held her mother's hand, tears came from her cheeks.
"Don't cry little one," Rin held her daughter. "Atsuko lost too much blood. Chichiue is waiting for her to die. When the harbingers come, he'll destroy them with Tenseiga, she'll be healed and whole."
"What about the baby?"
"It's dead," Sesshomaru said as he knelt over the child. Even Yuki saw his hand trembling.
"Can you save it?" But then she covered her mouth in shock, not wanting to talk about the baby that her father wasn't able to save, the one that he buried under the red Camellias in their garden, the one that Ka-san cried about at night. "Ka-san?"
But her mother had tears in her eyes, "he'll save them both."
Nobuatsu sat unmoving crying over his lover. Even his tears were as quiet as his voice, like a brook. It was moments like these, she needed to be closer to her mother than her father. "Is she in pain?"
"She's lost too much blood to be in pain," her mother said quickly.
Tenseiga was unsheathed.
"Will they be able to have more babies?"
"Tenseiga is a sword of healing," her mother said faithfully, "as soon as he sees them, Atsuko will be healed."
"Does Chichiue love Atsuko?"
That made Rin snort, "he has compassion for all of those that live in our village."
"When they serve a purpose," Chichiue said tersely. But his fingers were still shaking and his scent changed. He smelled like salt, sorrow and mourning.
"Chichiue? Are you sad because you can save this baby and you couldn't save ours?" Yuki held his fingers.
"Yuki," her mother tried to scold her but she shook her off.
She held her father's hand and hugged his arm. "It's okay Chichiue." She gazed at her father with the love, adoration and faith that only an eight year old girl could as he raise the katana and slashed through something she couldn't see.
Even she heard the soft thudding of the baby and it's shrieks. Nobuatsu sobbed in relief. It wasn't Nobuatsu that knelt down and wrapped the squalling infant in a blanket, it was her father. He held onto her, sniffing her forehead for a few seconds before handing her to Atsuko just as the woman's eyes opened. "Congratulations." Her father said and then he left.
Her mother knelt down next to Atsuko with a big grin on her face and tears in her eyes. "You did it." Her mother said.
"Ka-san, are they okay now?"
"They're fine now. You'll see," Rin placed a palm on the baby's head. "Everyone gets a second chance."
"Will you we get one too?"
Her mother didn't answer. "Let's give you some time alone with your new baby."
"Thank you Rin-sama," Atsuko hugged her mother. "Thank you."
"It wasn't me," her mother said humbly.
"We both know, without you, he never would be who he is," Atsuko whispered exhausted. "You'll have another one. I want to name her Rin."
Her mother only smiled, "enjoy her."
She followed her mother and helped to wash her hands as they left the hut. Outside her father was waiting. He held a hand out to Rin and motioned to his back to Yuki. "Do you remember them being so small?" Rin asked Sesshomaru.
"Yuki fit here," he pointed to his mokomoko. "Harutoga was bigger than she was."
"He was not!" Yuki protested curling into her father's back and giggling when his free hand found her foot.
They flew slower this time, letting the wind beat at their skin. "We will stay until after the celebration."
"I thought you wanted to leave sooner."
"New life, my heart. It should be celebrated."
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Oh stories to plug! Dog Tags by Lemonlush amazing Inu/Kag
Cruelest Winter by AM78, Mir/Sango also wonderfully written
AM78: Most of the time I totally forget about Jaken. Like there are literally scenes where I forget about him. He gets some love time in Drabbles and in Lost Memories and instinct. I have no idea about Kirara but I do know some animals like Huskies have extra layers of skin and fur to keep them warm when it's cold.