This was not the outcome she had expected. In truth, though Fuiasu had known death was a possibility, she had expected both of her children to contain themselves at the last moment. It had not occurred to her that Kagome's powers had already become so volatile that such self-containment might kill the girl.
This was not an outcome she had expected.
Nowhere in the visions of the future to come or the past of the girl they'd taken in as their own was this a death she had foreseen.
Fuiasu, accustomed to knowing the designs of the Kami and all their ill-fated plans, was at a loss. Even as her mate turned to her and all but spat out a threat, even as her son stood trembling in his efforts to control his beast, she could not fathom how her visions could not have warned her of this outcome.
If Toga failed and was not able to bring the girl back, then she was uncertain what that might mean for their own tenuous future, if there was a future worth fighting for at all.
As the Western Lady worked her way through all the possible outcomes of Kagome's death, the disgruntled whisperings of servants and guards brought her attention back to an equally as pressing matter.
Sesshoumaru was yet still fighting to contain his beast.
Frowning, she left the matter of Kagome to her mate and strode forward in a whisper of silks and jewels to stare down at her son—only to start with surprise as she realized his markings had finally been born. Granted, they were jagged and sharp as he fought to contain the new powers flooding his system, but they were there. And true to the bloodline that declared the House of the Moon, the crescent gracing his forehead mimicked her own.
"Sesshoumaru," she said finally, expanding her own massive yōki to grab the attention of his beast. "You will control the beast."
Inside himself, Sesshoumaru warred to do just that. His beast, this new found thing inside of him, was all that was primal about himself. He recognized that and understood that reason would not work, but he was hesitant to use brute force even as the creature almost cowered at the feel of his mother's yōki pressing in. "Kagome," he managed to gasp out, the word ripped from his throat like briars against the soles of his feet, raw and burning.
"There are hundreds of possible futures for the girl. None of the ones I have seen end in her death this day."
The beast paused, its blood red eyes focusing on his Alpha female. "Kagome alive?" he snarled, his claws dripping poison and blood down to pool at their feet.
Despite the unexpected outcome, despite the futures she had seen that did not include this death, Fuiasu was certain that Toga would bring the girl back to them alive. There was no other choice, she thought, not if the Kami were to have their way. Whatever wish the original Kagome had made on the Jewel of Four Souls as she escaped the evil hanyou set to devour her soul, she was certain the Kami had granted it and sent her back to this time for a reason.
As far as Fuiasu was concerned, the Kami would haveto bring the girl back from the dead if they wished to achieve whatever ends they had set out to meet by sending the child to them.
A grunt from her son and his beast drew her attention back to them, and she sighed. "No. But she will be. Do you trust in your Alpha, Sesshoumaru? He will not return with her corpse."
And like that, the beast submitted and sank reluctantly back into the cage. The stripes on Sesshoumaru's cheeks smoothed out and his eyes rang clear with gold again as his knees buckled. "Mother," he mumbled, exhausted as his shoulders slumped and he sat at her feet trembling for a whole other reason, "I lost control."
Fuiasu grinned. Leaning down, she scooped up her pup and nuzzled her nose against his soft little jawline. "You did, my son. And what a ferocious little beast you were." Sweeping from the destroyed sparring room and past the dropped jaws of servants and guards alike, she strode towards the bathing chambers. "You were a force to be reckoned with, Sesshoumaru."
"I hurt Kagome."
The words were so soft, she mightn't have heard if she were human, but her elegantly shaped ears understood just fine. "Yes, you did. And she hurt you. I doubt this will be the last time you two have a little spat and destroy a portion of the palace." But she understood now the guilt that settled into his young bones, and the fear.
Upon reaching the bathhouse, she motioned the servants to leave them be and then set about efficiently stripping her pup and herself and then carried him into the soothing, hot waters. "Listen well, pup. You are Sesshoumaru, the killing perfection. You were born of not one line of Daiyoukai, but two." With gentle hands set about cleaning the injuries that had not yet healed over. "Your blood screams of power. It will test you, threaten to overtake you, and hurt the people you most care about."
Under her hands, Sesshoumaru tensed as he listened. "I don't want such power that it hurts my family!" he complained, sulking and trying not to whine as the water and soaps stung the burns of Kagome's purification.
Fuiasu chuckled and tapped a slim finger against his nose until he finally looked at her. "It was not that long ago, in fact mayhap only two days past, you told me you wished to become as strong as your father. Nay, stronger." At the conflict that crossed his young face, just barely still lined with puppy fat, she smiled. "It is possible to have both power and strength and not hurt those you care about, Sesshoumaru. You need only learn control. To control the power inside of you, that is the most difficult task you will ever face because you know now just whatyou are capable of-you know that you will always defend what is yours, as your father and I protect what is ours-but to do this, you must learn to control the very power that thrums inside your veins, a pounding war drum aching for a free hand. You control the beat, Sesshoumaru. Only you."
o.O.o
Word Count - 1084