A/N: Dear all, I'm so happy so many are enjoying this fic so far. A special thank you to those who left reviews (Laylay lives, AmorPorSiempre, Freakonomist). In order to fit with Sess/Kagura week, I'll post the next chapter this weekend!

Part 3: Blue, wishful thinking

Kagura chose for them to meet in one of her favorite places. A clearing hidden away in a forest, run through by a clear water stream. It was part of Sesshoumaru's territory, but in all the years since she had claimed this place as her hiding spot, and all the times she had visited, he had never once come to meet her. Considering how sharp his senses were, she was sure that he must have known every time she was around and had just refused to acknowledge it. This would end tonight. She retrieved a feather from her bun and let it drift on the wind. She knew it would get to Sesshoumaru and she knew he would understand her message. It was time for them to meet and talk.

While she waited for the Lord to answer her summons, she plucked a few summer blue flowers and slipped them in her hair. It reminded her of a little girl who years ago had managed to put a dent in the heart of an icy inu youkai and a cynical wind sorceress. When Kagura had once come back, Rin had loved decorating her dark tresses with elaborate flower crowns. She was the only one Kagura had ever let play with her hair. For some reason the kid had been fascinated with the wavy texture, and Kagura had been unable to say no to the kid. She still carried some guilt about kidnapping her and using her as a tool against Sesshoumaru. Sure, it had been under Naraku's orders, but she was still loath to think she had brought fear and violence to the kid. Well that was water under the bridge and for years Rin had considered her as an ally; hence why she'd started playing with her hair years ago. This felt like a lifetime ago. Time sure flew by fast. That kid was all grown up now. Rin was too old for such games, preferring to dedicate the time she spent around plants to gather all the knowledge she could on healing arts. Well, the former sunny child was still in there as shown in the fact that Rin still took the time to teach Sango and Miroku's youngest girls how to make flower jewelry.

Her mind invaded by nostalgic thoughts, Kagura settled on the branch of one of the tallest trees to watch the sun set. Who knew how long it would take Sesshoumaru to get to her? She might as well make herself comfortable. While she waited for him to respond to her invitation, she thought long and hard. She knew she could do worse than him as a father for her child. He was handsome, strong and a protector. He had taken in Rin and raised her, and Kagura would always be grateful to him for looking after Kohaku after her disappearance. Just like her, he was also a nomad by nature, a person who made his own way in life and would not like to be weighed down. She had a hard time imagining he would want to keep her locked up in his castle for the sole use of popping babies, or pups as it seemed inu youkai referred to their young.

"Wind sorceress."

The wind had whispered to her that he was nearing, but she had to admit she was impressed that Sesshoumaru had joined her so fast. He was alone, good, his green frog would not be witness to their intimate conversation. She liked looking down on him from her current perch, but still decided to make their conversation as conducive as possible by coming down to meet him on the ground.

"Yo!" She hopped down to greet him.

"I believe this is yours."

Her feather floated from Sesshoumaru's palm to return to its rightful place in her bun.

"So, you want to have a baby with me." She had never been one to beat around the bush. "I gotta admit when you first approached me, I was quite surprised by your request. Now that I've had time to think about it, I find myself intrigued. Tell me more."

"What is it that you wish to know?"

She cleared her throat. By summoning him she had wanted to get the upper end, so she was quite upset to be the one so unnerved. Damn the dog demon and his freezing cold blood. He had not even batted an eyelash at her sudden proclamation. She vowed before the night ended she would crack his veneer and make him lose some of his cool.

"Are you dying?"

He blinked slowly.

"No." He finally answered her after a long pause.

She flicked her weapon opened and gently fanned herself. "Why then the sudden urge to father a child? Is it because you're jealous of your brother?"

His placid facial expression did not change, but she did notice that his eyes darkened from gold to rich amber. Oh, so she was close to the mark.

"Let me guess, you saw Moroha and figured you wanted one of those for yourself? Were you mad that your hanyou little brother beat you to the punch and managed to have a kid before you did? I always figured you suffered from an inferiority complex."

This time around his eyes narrowed, she loved that she was so clearly getting on his nerves.

"This Sesshoumaru wishes to father a strong child to cement my legacy. I have nothing to prove to Inuyasha." She had expected that answer. From what little information Inuyasha had told her about his brother, the one person whose opinion mattered to Sesshoumaru was their long dead father, the only other was of course his own conceited self.

Kagura hid her smirking lips behind her fan. Now that she had gotten him to show a bit of emotion, she was eager to get an answer to the real question she had been asking herself.

"Interesting motivations, but I do have to ask. Of all the women why me? I'm sure you have a gaggle of youkai women eager to throw themselves at your feet who would just dream of you crawling between their legs, so they could pop out your lordly heir."

He ignored her crass imagery. "Such women hold little interest. They could never birth a child strong enough to suit this one's needs. You are strong Kagura, you cheated death itself and you are your own woman. This Sesshoumaru has no need of a Lady or a wife to try to meddle in my affairs, I wish for a woman to bear my child so we may have the strongest youkai to ever walk these lands."

Wouldn't that be something? She, a former lowly incarnation of Naraku, mother to the next Lord of the West? It felt almost too incredible. Back then when she had still been a slave to the evil hanyou, on the few instances that she had dared dream of seducing Sesshoumaru, she had never dared hope that anything between them would go beyond a few nights of passion. That they were now so calmly talking about having a child together was both exciting and frightening. He had spoken earlier about wanting to build a legacy. A legacy she was now realizing would include her. A child was a bond, a piece of her and a piece of him that would merge and live on forever. Thinking about bonds and bloodlines made her think about something less pleasant.

"You do realize that even if the wind restored this body, my ties to Naraku still exist. He created this body that my spirit inhabits." She recalled how upset she had been to see the hateful spider-shaped scar still marred her back.

"Naraku was an offending unnatural hanyou with weak goals and dishonorable ambitions, but he was smart, cunning and resourceful. You represent the best of his few qualities."

The fact that being an incarnation of Naraku had weighted in her favor in Sesshoumaru's choice was surprising. Kagura's heart sped up. She had never guessed that he felt this way about her. She hid her incoming smile behind a purse of her lips. She would never expect him to claim to have feelings for her, but it was nice to see he could admit to holding her in such high regards.

Still before she agreed to go along with his plan, there were still some items she wanted to discuss.

"Was there anything else you wished to know?" His face was sporting a bored expression. She would be quick to change that.

"Oh, plenty!" She noticed the slight drop of his shoulders. Did the man expect her to agree to let him knock her up this easily?

"Have you thought about anything beyond I know this stunning kaze youkai and she and I could make an awesome kid together? Let me try to get her pregnant?"

His eyes thinned. Great, clearly he had not thought things through.

"So, you haven't bothered to think about what would happen after the kid is conceived or born? How we would raise the kid?" She rolled her eyes. What a lack of foresight.

Images of Kagome and Sango flashed through her head. They were the only mothers she had observed up close. Her only frame of reference. On top of their daily activities, and their constant need to save the world, they always seemed to be busy running after their kids. Through them Kagura had seen how tough being a mother was. Especially in the early years as babies seemed to produce an impressive amount of liquids from all parts of their bodies. Not that she'd spent much time around children. She could not even recall ever spending time alone with a baby. She did not count looking after Naraku's creepy demon baby to be any kind of experience.

"You do know the kid won't be born a functioning adult with whom you can play sword fight?" Sesshoumaru's eyes became yet darker at her mocking tone. "I was born with this body, so I skipped over the baby and kid phase, but from what I've observed it requires quite a bit of work to raise a child to adulthood. Parenting is hard work."

"As I have said I have no interest in having a Lady to rule the West alongside me. My dealings are my own, and you will be free to continue to live as you see fit."

"How generous my Lord."

He ignored her quip.

"However, you will be given free use of one of the dwellings of the West of your choosing for as long as you wish."

She was surprised to see he owned not one but several houses. She had not thought he had much interest in worldly possessions. There had to be more to this Lord business then roaming around and defending his territory from troublesome youkai. Maybe she should have found out a bit more about it before discussing birthing the next heir.

"When it comes to caring for the child, Jaken will be at your service."

She scoffed, as if she would let that annoying frog alone with her precious baby. Besides if the kid was lucky enough to take after her, he or she would run circles around the kappa easily.

"Well, fuck this. I don't agree with that. I'm not going to be some broodmare you can stow away in your castle somewhere while you wait for the kid to come of age. This child will be yours as much as mine. Your involvement can't start only when he or she will be able to pick up a sword. The only way I'll agree to do this is if we raise the kid together. We don't have to live together, and frankly I don't care about your Lordly business, but we have to be in this together. You'll look after the child as much as I will."

She was not sure how to interpret his lack of reaction. Was he too stunned by her candidness? No matter, she would say all she had on her mind.

"The way I see it, the only way this works is if we alternate having the kid around. We'll agree on some timetable to make sure we each spend an equal amount of time looking after the child. Having Jaken do it for you does not count. The kid stays with you and not him." He frowned. She rolled her eyes. "You'll still be able to do what usually keeps you oh so busy. If Inuyasha can handle carrying his daughter around and still fight, I'm sure you'll be fine. You're supposed to be stronger than him, aren't you?" She knew that evoking his brother would wound his pride and make him more receptive to her alternate proposal.

He considered her words long and hard, his head thrown back to stare at the dark blue sky dusted with brightly shining stars. She wondered if he was silently asking his deceased father for advice. Or maybe he was struggling with his urge to strangle her for all the insults she had flung his way. Finally, after an eternity, he lowered the full strength of his glare on her.

"Just as long as you understand this Sesshoumaru will not coddle the child."

She scoffed. She knew how hard the world was, there would be no coddling of their child on her end either. Their child. Hum, she was already projecting herself.

"Then we are in agreement."

Kagura's heart sped up. They were actually going to do this. They were going to have a child together. Up until now having Sesshoumaru's kid had been a hypothetical thought, and arguing with him a fun form of flirting, but now this was becoming real. For years, even before she had been cut down by Naraku she had often dared to daydream about being Sesshoumaru's lover and a time or two the mother of his children, but she had expected it to remain a wishful thought. Some hidden desire never to be fulfilled let alone even spoken about. However, he had chosen her as the mother of his future child and sought her out to make his ambition a reality. This went beyond her wildest dreams.

She hid the excitement bubbling in her chest. He did not abide displays of affection, so she reigned herself in. He seemed to want things to be as straightforward and clinical as possible, she could deliver on that. She extended her hand towards his. He looked at her offered palm in silence before finally taking a hold of it and shaking it.

"When?"

Shivers ran down Kagura's spine at his simple question. She had to let go of his hand. She would hate for him to know how affected she was by the mere prospect of sleeping with him.

"In two weeks." Life was strange. She had travelled south with the summer winds to honor her promise to help train Kohaku, and she now found herself discussing her menstrual cycle with Sesshoumaru in order to maximize their chances to conceive a child.

He nodded. If he was excited at the idea of getting his hands on her, it never showed; His face was as placid as ever.

"Upstream, behind the hill you will find a house, we shall meet there two weeks from now at nightfall."

"Got it. I've seen that place before. Didn't know it belonged to you." The house was not overly large and pretty run down, she would have never guessed it to be one of the homes of the Lord of the West. The man was full of surprises.

He leaned forward and she fought the urge to step back. What was he planning on doing? Was he trying to kiss her all of a sudden? A foretaste of what they would share soon, or a way to seal their agreement? Before his face got too close to hers, he reached a hand to flick away from her shoulder a small blue flower. Of course, he was not going to initiate something as intimate as kiss her. He was just cleaning up one of the buds she had placed in her hair earlier. She needed to get it together. She was no flustered human female.

He straightened back and nodded once in her direction before turning around and heading for the trees.

"See you then Kagura."

When she had summoned him, she had wanted to see him crack, but she was the one left emotional, apprehensive, yet excited. She only had two weeks to manage to compose herself. Who was she kidding? After years of fantasizing, she would finally get a taste of Sesshoumaru. How would she ever manage to keep it together?

To be continued…