A/N: Okay, here is where I start asking you guys to suspend belief for a while. The next few chapters may have some unlikely situations designed to fit the ending I'm going for. I'll do my best to keep it plausible, but I'd appreciate as much leniency as I can get. If I think it's getting too out of hand, I'll adjust the ending, so let's see what happens, okay?
Onward!
Chapter Eleven.
"Shippou, how high?"
The little fox kitsune twiddled his fingers in guilt, hiding his eyes from Kaede. "I lost count."
The old woman groaned, going back to the pot of water she was pulling from the fire. Behind her, Kagome clenched tight to her blanket, beads of sweat beginning to form on her face as her stomach fluttered in anticipation. This was it, she was sure of it.
"Keep breathing, Kagome-chan, it's not so bad yet, right?"
"Easy for you to say, Sango-chan," she ground out between clenched teeth.
After a bit, the wave passed and she heaved a deep breath. Yes, she was forgetting to do her breathing, but proper exhalation and inhalation were the furthest thing from her mind.
"How far did you get before you lost count?" Kaede turned back to the kitsune, hoping the little fox could give her an estimate, at least.
"Um… I know I made it to six hundred," he answered.
"And if you had to guess, how much longer was it after six hundred before Kagome cried out again?"
"Same amount, I think."
Kagome bit her lip, doing some quick mental math. "So that's about twenty minutes, if Shippou's counting right."
"Hai, I think this might be the real thing."
"That's what I was afraid of," Kagome cried out, fear coursing through her. Maybe if I close my eyes I'll wake up and find out that this has all been a bad dream. She shut her eyes, opened them, and found herself looking down at her very large stomach, surrounded by blankets, salves, and buckets of steaming and cold water. So much for the nightmare theory.
"I want to stand up," she announced, raising an arm up for some help.
Sango ambled over to her, holding a hand over the bandaged wound in her side as she attempted to help the young woman to her feet. With a good deal of tugging and groaning, both women found themselves upright in the middle of the hut. "Are you sure you don't want to stay seated, Kagome-chan?"
"If I'm going to be like this for the next 36 hours, then there's no way I plan to spend all of it sitting. I'm going crazy in here."
"There's no guarantee it will take that long," Kaede assured her. "I've witnessed births as short as five hours in some cases."
Kagome prayed that she could enjoy such fortune, stumbling over to the front door to gaze out at the rising sun. It figured her baby decided to wake her before dawn. Kagome was NOT a morning person.
Another wave of pain rose up from her abdomen, rippling through her muscles like a small earthquake and making her feel thoroughly nauseated. She grabbed hold of the door jamb, feeling her legs buckling beneath her.
"Kagome!"
"I'm okay, just… give me a min—"
"EEW!"
Shippou stared in horror and disgust at the sight before him. He quickly turned away, hiding his face in Sango's kimono while the young woman began to chuckle. "You said you wanted to help, Shippou."
"Is that the baby?"
"I wish it were that easy," Kagome moaned, feeling thoroughly disgusted by the stickiness. "But at least that confirms it. This is really going to happen."
Sango sent a sympathetic look to her friend, and lifted Shippou away from his hiding place. "Why don't you go find your friends and stay outside for the day, okay? I think we can handle this on our own."
Needing no further encouragement, the kitsune dashed out of the hut making great pains to avoid the pool of amniotic fluid on the floor.
"I feel so disgusting right now."
"Why don't ye go take a bath?"
"Nani?"
Kaede laughed at the stunned expression on the young women's faces. "This is only the first stage, child. I'm guessing ye have a whole day to go still. Take some cloths with ye, but don't actually get into the water. If ye would like, I can send along some of the other young women to help ye."
"A bath would be nice," Kagome acknowledged. "Okay. Sango-chan, can you move?"
"Yes, we'll just have to go slow." Gathering up some towels, Sango came up to the younger miko and maneuvered herself under her arm. "Kaede, we'll go on ahead. Have the others meet us there." Under her breath she added, "I wish Kirara were here…"
* * * * *
The water was wonderfully cool on her legs and Kagome longed to slip in completely. Still, she knew there were plenty of small bacteria and parasites which threatened hers and the baby's health if she dared to succumb to the desire, so she abstained.
Raising the washcloth to her arms, Kagome carefully rinsed off the soapy later she'd scrubbed in. "Sango-chan, do you think they're all right?"
"I hope so," she answered. "When I left, Naraku was in bad shape. I only wish we could have finished him off right then and there."
"Inuyasha will find him," Kagome announced, certain of the hanyou's dedication to his cause. "I can't believe Kagura turned on him like that. Wish I could have seen it for myself."
"It was amazing," Sango agreed. "Shame she had to die, but it gave us the opening we needed. Naraku barely had enough energy left to get away, there's no chance he will be able to hide for long. I wouldn't be surprised if he were already dead."
"You never told me how you got injured," Kagome reminded her, pointing to the moist bandages wrapped around the taijiya's waist.
Snorting bitterly, Sango touched the bandages lightly. "I wasn't paying attention and got blindsided by my own weapon."
"Hiraikotsu? Wow, I'm amazed you survived."
"If it hadn't been for Miroku, it would have been worse," she conceded. "He pushed me out of the way, so I only got one end. Right after Naraku escaped, he sent me back on Kirara. I was mad at him, but I guess it's a good thing I came back, ne?"
"Hai, I would hate to have to do this alone."
"Anyway, that was a day ago, so hopefully they've finished him off by now. It would be nice if they were here when the baby came. Just imagine what a wonderful gift it would be: the birth of your baby and the death of Naraku, all under the same sun!"
"And," Kagome said, toweling off her shoulders as she smiled, "the Shikon-no-Tama will be complete, too."
"Ready to go back?"
Kagome was about to nod when yet another contraction started up. They were coming much closer together now, but she'd learned to anticipate them and found that focusing on her breathing did provide a small bit of relief. Holding up a hand, she closed her eyes and panted it out, finally relaxing her shoulders when the pain passed.
"I am now, but let's try to hurry. I'm not sure if we can make it back before the next one hits."
Calling to the other village girls, Sango helped Kagome slide off her boulder and led her down the path to the village.
* * * * *
It was nearly sunset when Miroku arrived in the village, Kirara in tow. "Kagome-sama!"
Kaede intercepted him at the door, pushing him back out.
"Really, this time?"
"Hai, Miroku-dono. It would be helpful if ye could go to Asuki-san's hut and get dinner for Sango and myself. We haven't eaten all day. She's agreed to take in Shippou for the night, so if ye could check in on the little one, that would be nice as well."
Nodding quickly, Miroku took off toward the hut Kaede had indicated and set about doing the only thing a man was useful for during labor – running errands.
When he'd returned with the food, Sango joined him outside, taking a break from the humid air and heat inside.
"Houshi-sama, you came back alone. What happened? Is Naraku –"
"Dead." The monk lifted his hand, rosaries removed, his earlier good news having been momentarily pushed aside in the surprise of Kagome's labor.
Forgetting herself in her joy, Sango threw her arms around him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "That's wonderful! Your curse is lifted!"
"Yes, all that's left now is to find the few shards that were scattered when Naraku died. Inuyasha was able to grab most of them, but there were a couple he couldn't locate."
"Kohaku."
With a solemn nod, Miroku massaged Sango's shoulders. "We'll find him, and do our best to keep him alive."
"I know." A frightening thought entered her mind as she remembered her earlier words. "Houshi-sama, where is Inuyasha?"
Seeing the concern in her eyes, he laughed softly. "He's fine, Sango. That little human girl who follows his brother around was badly injured in the fight. He wanted to bring her to a village to be cared for."
"Why didn't he just bring her here?"
"Didn't want Sesshoumaru anywhere near us."
"I guess that's a good thing, considering our current situation."
Miroku glanced back at the hut, hearing pained wails issue from the door again. "How has she been?"
"Amazingly well, considering our luck," Sango replied with a grin. "I can't help but feel like it's my own child being born, I'm so excited."
Looking up at the stars, the monk smiled. "This is a good day for the baby to be born. The stars are in a fortunate alignment." His soft smile suddenly turned less pure and Sango realized the downside to his curse being lifted. Now he had two hands to grope with.
"Not so fortunate for you, houshi-sama." She clunked him on the head with a fist, and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a woman in labor to attend to."
"Matte, Sango!"
"Yes?"
"Should I go after Inuyasha?"
The demon exterminator shook her head. "He's coming back right after he drops the girl off, right?" At the monk's affirming nod she continued, "Then don't worry about it. He'll be here soon enough."
Hearing yet another screech from the hut, Sango quickly turned and hobbled back to Kagome's side.
* * * * *
"I can see the head!" Kaede announced, taking a moment to wipe her hands on a nearby towel. "Next time you feel the urge, I need you to push very hard."
"I'm so tired," Kagome whined. "I don't think I can."
"Do ye want this baby to stay inside ye forever?"
"May…be…" the familiar wave began building. Kagome began to push with all the strength she could muster, faintly aware of Sango counting beside her.
"…four…five…six…"
"It hurts…so…much…"
"….nine…TEN!"
Kagome took in a deep breath, yet another sharp contraction building before she finished.
"Again!"
"Come on, Kagome, you can do it!"
"Easy….for…you…to say….ARGH!"
"Keep going, Kagome, ye are almost done!"
"…seven…eight…nine…"
"PHEW!"
"One more and I think I'll have it—"
Praying to the gods, Kagome gathered every last bit of energy she had in her body.
"OO I HATE YOU, YOU HANYOU BASTARD!"
Sango's eyes widened in surprise at Kagome's words, but had little time to dwell on it as the girl heaved another deep breath and she heard the sound of a baby wailing. Releasing Kagome's hands, Sango crawled over to where Kaede was wiping fluids from the baby's nose –
And gasped.
"Ka…Kagome-chan…"
"Ne?" the girl whispered between gaping breaths.
"You lied to me…"
