An: This two shot is based off a dialogue prompt I found here awhile back, "If I do this, I die. If I don't, we all do." Loved the possibilities this little quote pulled from me, and so I give you all this. Enjoy!
The council was silent. A first since this ludicrous war had begun. Every general in the room was looking at her as though she was insane. She couldn't really blame them. Her idea was insanity, absolute madness - but foolproof.
Blue eyes slid across their features one by one. Taking in their shock, and watching as their minds processed the idea. Watched as they shoved everything that was her into a small compartmentalized box of 'useable assets'.
Rumiko was the main person she watched. Her eyes taking in his response in favor of drifting to the owner of the aura that pressed against her own with urgency.
His trademark silver hair was shorn short at the sides, and tied back in a braid that flowed over his shoulder. His dark green eyes, that seemed to hold the essence of the forests that surrounded the West, were glazed. His skin - pallid - caused the coal colored markings surrounding his eyes to seem darker as he played out possible scenarios her idea had now added to the mix.
She saw his throat bob, the slight tensing of his muscles - the closest thing to shaking himself he would ever allow - before his gaze settled on hers.
"It is - ," a heavy sigh escaped him, "a viable option, Lady Kagome."
A low, rumbling growl echoed in the chamber, but her eyes held Rumiko's. He would be the key. If he would see her plan's worth, if he could shove aside decades of friendship and show the others that they needed level heads, and not futile attempts to outsmart an enemy that could not be outsmarted, then the rest would be easy to manage.
"You've got to be joking."
Her head swiveled to look at Akira. He had been the one most against her in the beginning. It had taken a good couple of years to get him to come around. To see her as something other than just human, but when he had, he had easily stepped into be her champion since Inuyasha was no longer able to.
His bronze colored eyes were narrowed in anger. Silver hair, that was cropped short in messy layers, seemed to stand on end as frustration and fear and concern pulsed from his aura, and she fought the rising emotion attempting to grip her by the throat.
She swallowed thickly, but kept her head high.
"It is the only option we have left."
"The hell it is," he growled out. Violet markings losing the smooth, flowing pattern to turn serrated.
"We can fight. We can regroup. We can send out for more allies. We can do something, but not this! You are - ."
Her aura flared. Warning evident in the pulse that demanded yielding.
She hated doing it. Hated using her power over them - her friends, companions.
But they needed to see.
"I am an option, a solution. You can't just throw the plan out because you don't like the process it takes to get the results."
"We damn well can."
Her eyes landed on the other general in the room - Takeda - and narrowed.
She hadn't counted on his refusal. Had actually counted on his acceptance and agreement being the easiest one to get.
"You know there isn't any other way. You all but agreed with me the other day."
A pulse of youki filled the room. There and gone, but everyone in attendance knew. The whole army probably knew.
"I did. Doesn't mean I think it's our only option. Doesn't mean I'm willing to accept the after effects either."
Silver hair tied in low ponytail swayed as his eyes, gray as the clouds during spring's first thunderstorm, settled on a point behind her, and her heart clinched painfully before she turned and looked them all in the eyes.
All but one.
"You may not like it. You may not agree with it."
A snort came from Akira that she ignored before continuing.
"However, this war isn't going to end. He is ten steps ahead, and every time we figure out what he's playing at, he changes the rule's to the game. I'm not willing to risk anymore lives. I'm not willing to risk the West. I'm not willing to risk the world for a possibility when we have a certainty."
Her fists clenched in her lap, her jaw tense as she attempted to ignore the rolling waves of aggression pouring out to her senses.
Back ramrod straight, she rose from her knelt position at the table.
"You will all see that the proper arrangements are made, and have a rider sent to the enemies camp. The letter containing our new terms has already been prepared. Just have whoever you choose to be sent to my office to receive it in the morning."
Three pairs of eyes stared at her. Mixed emotions ranging from fear to awe to respect to anger pounded at her resolve, but she held firm as she watched her three generals - because there was no room for friends in the decisions made that day - bowed and then rose.
Their steps echoed as they left her alone with the other person still in the room.
As soon as their auras dispersed, turbulent waves of youki exploded, and she grit her teeth as she let her reiki flow out of her to shield herself from the onslaught.
Turning slowly, she met crimson eyes and jagged magenta markings.
Sesshomaru looked at her with a rage she hadn't witnessed aimed her way since a moment long ago in his father's tomb.
Her breathing hitched, but she remained upright.
"You will not send out that messenger," he rumbled.
Her lips thinned as the pressure began to recede.
"I will. We talked about this - "
"No, miko," he sneered. "You spoke, and as I recall, I disagreed with this outlandish plan."
She watched as he rose, graceful as ever even under the pressure she had just placed on his shoulders.
"I also remember going over with you every nuance of this plan to show there was absolutely no way it could fail. He's cocky. Arrogant. Short-sighted."
"Yes, I remember. I do not, however, remember agreeing to sharing this plan of yours with the war council."
He bared his teeth at her, fangs flashing as a snarl worked it way free on the last word.
"You wouldn't have agreed to it, and you know it! Damnit, Sesshomaru. Don't you see? We have no other option!"
"There is always another option," he roared. His fist slammed down, cracking the table they had all been sitting at into splinters.
He looked like a ragged beast. The animalistic tendencies rising oh, so close to the surface with her declaration.
She let her features soften. Let him see his frustration was not the only one in the room, that his panic was not the only one beating at her mental walls. Showed him that he was not the only one fear had caught by the throat.
"Not this time," she whispered.
She walked up to her mate. Grasping his face, that was close to transforming, she looked into the red hazed eyes gazing down at her and ignored the anger and frustration, and spoke directly to the hurt and desperation.
"Listen to me. We are out of options. We are out of allies. We are nearly out of men. The West cannot survive another onslaught."
She watched as his shoulders sagged, and felt her heart break with the motion. He was so tired. So tired and worn.
Her wonderful, caring, selfless mate.
Silver strands filled her vision as he dipped his head to rest against her shoulder. Her eyes slid shut, lips pressed tight as she fought the tears attempting to work their way free as her hands slid into his hair to hold him to her.
"I know," his voice rasped out.
"The West will rebuild. It will grow and thrive and live."
She pulled back just enough to look in his eyes. Blue met gold, and she rose her hands to his face once more as she caressed his cheek with her thumb.
"If I go through with this, I die. If I don't, we all do. Our people, our friends, our loved ones. Everyone."
His eyes squeezed shut, head turning to the side, turning away from her.
Holding fast, she refused to let him. Hands sliding down to the mark she had given him so long ago.
Hers. But for how much longer?
"Sesshomaru."
Lids framed in thick lashes flashed open, and she saw every bit of the person he hid behind the mask. The person only she ever got to see.
"I cannot lose you," he rumbled.
Claws gripped her arms, and he pulled her closer as he pressed his lips to hers furiously. Everything that was him flowed through their kiss - their bond. Everything they stood to lose and gain and had and shared.
He gave everything, and against all of her restraint and acceptance and determination, tears flowed to mingle between their lips - the taste of salt mixing with the intoxicating taste of him.
He ushered them back in a quick whirlwind. Her back thudding against the wall, just as the sound of tearing reached her ears. Her kimono slid down her body to the floor in shreds as claws traced the bare skin of her breast.
She moaned, the sensual caress of his hands conversing his need, and he used it for the opportunity it was. The smooth glide of his tongue against hers had her arching in an attempt to feel more, the silk separating them as much a tease as a barrier.
His hands ran down her sides, her waist, and over ruined silks as he bent to grasp her ass and lift to allow her legs to wrap around his hips.
Moving almost frantically at full body contact, he reached between them to the ties of his hakama's. His mouth moving along her throat as his fangs grazed the mark he had placed upon her.
Her hands slid across his chest, wishing for a half a moment he had taken the time to remove everything, before her own sharp gasp of surprise pulled her away from thoughts of feeling anything but the forceful thrusts of him between her legs.
His snarl had her fog filled eyes looking at his, and her breath caught in her throat.
It appeared her tears were not the only cause of the lingering taste of salt on her tongue.
Shaking hands fisted in his haori, and with more gentleness than Sesshomaru was currently showing, she leaned forward and kissed the outside corners of his golden eyes.
His body shook, and his thrusts slowed until he was barely even moving. The slow glide of his hips now background noise compared to the shaking of his shoulders as he leaned down until his forehead rested against her own.
"I cannot lose you, Kagome. Do not make this choice. Please."
Her breath shuddered as a sob caught in her throat.
"I can't watch you die," she choked out, "I can't watch our people continue to be slaughtered. I can't watch my friends sacrifice everything. I can't watch our home burn."
Her fingers slid between the folds of silks draped across his chest until her hand met the warm skin above his heart.
"I can't do nothing when I know I could do something."
Something between a whimper and a groan escaped him as he leaned in to kiss her lips tenderly.
She knew this was killing him as surely as the enemy outside their gates would kill her tomorrow, but she was out of options.
She and Sesshomaru were the only cardinal rulers left. Everyone was gone. The panthers in the south, the bears in the north - the wolves in the east.
Their army had long since depleted. At one point the Western Stronghold had housed tens of thousands of soldiers. They were down to less than a tenth of their original numbers.
Other rulers from the surrounding islands and even beyond had given up on sending aid. Simply biding their time as they assumably watched another reign end while another rose from the blood drenched fields.
She jerked as Sesshomaru slid into her with a little more force. The motion pulling her from thoughts of after.
"I love you. Until my last breath in this life, and every life after. I will always love you."
He shuddered as he pressed even closer, as though he could trap her there until tomorrow came and went.
"Please, miko."
His hips snapped forward. Taking the breath right out of her. The only response she could manage was a warbled version of a moan mixed with a sigh.
"Stay."
His grunts picked up as his speed increased. Eventually the sounds turned to snarls and moans and begging and howling.
Long into the night he attempted to wear her down, never realizing that she was doing the same. Each time he slid into her, she sent a small tendril of reiki down the bond. Used it to coax and ease and relax his youki enough that the subtle hints to rest and cease seemed nothing more than the results of an intense night of coupling under the stress of war.
As she finished tying her miko robes and reached for her bow, she paused - looking over her shoulder towards the bed.
Just one more time. Just one more time she wanted to see this at ease version of her mate. So rarely did he ever rest.
A sad smile drifted across her face as she looked upon the male she had spent nearly a century with.
When she had returned from the future, she had been ecstatic just like everyone else. Her friends and the villagers had went about setting up a celebration to welcome her back. They guys had left to hunt while the women spread out to gather cooking supplies and sake.
It had been a whirlwind of a night. Seeing everyone and recounting the last three years of her life and hearing about others had worn her down. She had eventually fled for a moment. Just a moment.
The silence of the forest had welcomed her along with the bright shinning of the stars above her. She still remembered the night vividly because no sooner had she reached the comfort of solitude, did he step out into her line of vision.
Their first meeting after years of separation had went much better than their first initial confrontation. They had spoken politely, if not a tad stiffly, but overall it was surprisingly pleasant.
Even now she wanted to cackle a bit at the look on his face when she had bowed and addressed him formally. She was surprised a small gust of air didn't push him over.
After that, however, their relationship began to form. One of hesitant acquaintances to confidantes to close friends to mate's.
Shouldering her bow she smirked as she remembered Inuyasha's response as well her own to his vehement refusal to acknowledge any possibility of a relationship between she and the Western Lord.
It had taken a few weeks of begging before he was allowed in her good graces once more.
Walking to the doors she slid open the screen, and stopped to turn back. Silver hair was splayed across the sheets while he slept on his side facing where she should have been. She bit her lip as days, months - centuries - passed by in her mind with him in the same position.
Shaking herself free, she stepped across the threshold, sliding the screen shut quietly.
Turning down the hall she began making her way to her office to pick up the letter waiting for her to deliver.