Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha; they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 12: Devotion

'A healer quickly!' roared Sesshomaru down the hallways. It was the loudest any of them had ever heard Sesshomaru speak. Sesshomaru turned to leave that wing of the palace until he saw the healer, Hana, Sayuri's aunt, and former caretaker of Inunobu. Hana was not familiar with Inunobu's scent, since it had been two hundred years.

'My Lord,' Hana said panting, 'what is the matter, why are you yelling?'

'Hana follow me, there is someone I would have you care for. There may be little you can do; he is close to death already.' If he hasn't already died.

'My Lord! I can smell Sayuri's scent. Is she injured, what has happened?'

'Sayuri is fine; can't you smell the blood from here? It is not Sayuri who is injured.'

'So much blood…we must go quickly,' Hana sped in front of Sesshomaru and around the corner to see Sayuri slumped against the wall, burdened with grief. She looked up as she saw her aunt approach. Hana stopped and look at her. Sayuri merely pointed to the closed door that led to the room where Inunobu lay bleeding. Hana ran into the room and froze.

'Lord…Inunobu. Sesshomaru what happened to him?'

Sesshomaru under any under circumstance would have been annoyed that she had not used his proper title, but overlooked it at this moment. His expression and tone did not change as he spoke.

'The assassin Tsume did this. He threw a large sword and it impaled Inunobu.'

'But my Lord,' Hana continued confused, 'I have seen Inunobu fight when he was younger, and even then he was fast enough to avoid something like this.'

'He did not have enough time to push Sayuri out of the way and save himself at the same time apparently.'

Hana's eyes widened. She understood. Inunobu had sacrificed himself. She knew why Sayuri was crying, and why she looked so worried. It all made sense, and if Hana did not save Inunobu, Sayuri would probably never recover completely. Sesshomaru could resurrect anyone with Tenseiga, but that still meant that Sayuri would see Inunobu die, and she would think it was her fault. Hana rushed to Inunobu's side, and was forced to kneel in a pool of blood, because Inunobu was still bleeding.

'I need bandages!' Hana pulled a healing assistant aside and instructed her to go get the necessary supplies. She returned to surveying Inunobu's wound. It was horrible, she could see through to the bed sheets on the other side of Inunobu's body. He had been moved to the bed after Sesshomaru had taken the sword out of his younger brother and forced Sayuri to get away from Inunobu long enough for him to be moved.

Hana took this time to see who else was in the room. Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha were sitting solemnly on the other side. Kagome was with them and crying uncontrollably into Inuyasha's chest. Shippo and Kirara were outside the room trying to comfort Sayuri.

The healing assistant returned with the equipment. Hana noticed that the sword had broken many of Inunobu's ribs, and one of them was piercing into one of his lungs. She carefully removed the rib from his body. She thought good thing bones grow back completely in demons or Inunobu would have been dead the instant the sword pierced him. Hana reached into the wound again to fix another rib, but it was too painful and Inunobu's instincts reacted. His eye snapped open, glowing red and tried to go for Hana's throat, but was too weak, and his arm only reached a little bit farther than his body before it fell over again. He gave a weak growl and faded into unconsciousness again.

Sayuri was listening for any trace of sounds that Inunobu would make so she heard the growl and came rushing in. She turned ashen when she saw the half of one of Inunobu's ribs on the table beside the bed, and sunk to the floor.

'Sayuri please leave, you can't watch this, it must be so painful already,' Hana pleaded.

Sayuri nodded ever so slightly, and tried to rise but dropped to the floor again, tears flowing freely.

Three Hours Later

The wound had been cleaned and the blood puddle was gone. Sayuri had never left his side for a minute since she had come into the room when Hana was healing him. Inunobu had murmured Sayuri's name once before fading into unconsciousness.

'Sayuri,' Kagome said, 'you need to rest, maybe get something to eat. I know you're worried but we all are.'

'No, I can't leave him. I just can't…' The conversation was enough to push Sayuri over the edge and she buried her head into the side of the bead where Inunobu was sleeping. She began sobbing again, her shoulders heaving up and down. Kagome felt miserable for making her feel like this again, so she left the room.

One Month Later

Inunobu felt himself awakening. His experiences were odd, because he could hear people talking to him the entire time he was lying there, he just couldn't respond. Kagome had said something about a coma, which he couldn't understand. Sayuri cried a lot, which made him sad. He wished he could comfort her. As he awoke his sense of smell came back, and the only thing he could make out in the room was the smell of his own blood, and Sayuri. He opened his eyes just barely to see Sayuri on the floor with a blanket that looked like one of Kagome's draped over her. She was asleep, probably exhausted.

Being in bed for a month made him a little slow getting up; he took it one step at a time. First he sat up in bed and opened his eyes. His chest and stomach ached and burned. He felt the bandages and discovered that the hole in his chest had not completely vanished, but had gotten substantially smaller and stopped bleeding. Inunobu slid his legs over the side of the bed and stood shakily. It was remarkable that he had so much energy to spare after his ordeal. The only thing on his mind was making sure Sayuri knew he was alive. He needed to stop her crying. During the night when everyone else was asleep, that was all he heard.

Inunobu limped over to her sleeping form and half crouched half fell to the ground. She still did not awaken, so she must have slept very little. It was then that he noticed the plates of food and bowls of rice that had been consumed and left in the corner for the servants to pick up. She really had never left his room.

He placed one hand in her hair and stroked it. She showed a very small smile and exhaled deeply. Her eyelids rose slowly, then snapped all the way open as she felt the hand that was stroking her. It couldn't be…Inunobu couldn't be awake…it's just too much to hope for but I can't resist.

She took his hand in hers and rose to a sitting position. Her heart was beating very fast as she stared at Inunobu, who looked fully awake. She put her smaller hands on his face and chest, trying to make sure that he was real and not an illusion, or a product of her imagination. She could feel him, his scent was there, and his eyes were full of life again. Finding Inunobu watching over her as she slept was too much to bear at this point. She collapsed into Inunobu, who held her to him.

'Inunobu…is it really you?'

'Yes, Sayuri, I'm here.'

Sayuri began to sob against his chest. She was overloaded with emotion. Inunobu let her get it all out before he loosened his grip on her, which turned out to last for about an hour.

'Sayuri.'

'Yes?'

'Before I lost consciousness, you told me something, but I was too weak to respond. Do you remember what it was that you told me?'

Inunobu had captured Sayuri's full attention. She hoped he was thinking along the same lines as she was. I cannot waste any more time, Inunobu thought, we were almost separated forever. She must know.

'Sayuri…I love you,' he said tenderly. Inunobu barely got the words out of his mouth before he was tackled to the floor in an embrace. Sayuri draped herself gently on top of him, being careful not to aggravate his wound, and kissed him passionately. He responded by giving her gentle bites on the neck. They lay entangled together for about twenty minutes until Sayuri reluctantly pulled herself off.

'I'm not the only one who has worried about you; we should tell the others you're ok. I bet you would be surprised that even Sesshomaru asked me how you were doing.'

Inunobu tried to stand but was having trouble. Sayuri supported him and slowly eased him into a standing position. They moved down the hallways slowly, only going as fast as Inunobu could walk. On the way to the others, Sayuri filled Inunobu in on the details of the Order of the Claw. They had not attacked again, and were forced to rethink their plan now that Inunobu and Inuyasha had resurfaced at the same time. How they had discovered what transpired in the battle was still a mystery.

They passed through the last of the hallways to get to the main room of the wing of the castle that the group was staying in. Kagome was yelling at Inuyasha, and Inunobu was glad nothing much had changed.

'Inuyasha you idiot!' Kagome screamed. 'Stop picking on poor little Shippo! He never does anything to you.' Kagome looked away from Inuyasha for a second to catch her breath and stopped cold. Walking towards her were the two people she hadn't seen moving around in a month. Sayuri had left Inunobu's room, and Inunobu was actually awake and moving.

'Kagome…uh….Kagome….I'M TALKING TO YOU!' Inuyasha yelled.

'Sit.'

Kagome hadn't stopped staring at Inunobu and Sayuri since she started staring. Sango and Miroku turned to see what could captivate her attention so much. Sango gasped and ran over to greet them. She stopped at Inunobu first.

'You're ok…you're alive. We were all so worried. Come on let's help you over to someplace you can sit down,' the demon slayer said frantically.

Sesshomaru's Private Office

Sesshomaru busied himself trying to straighten out some of the records before he prepared to leave again. The Order of the Claw had not made a move for some time, and it was time to resume normal life without all this hassle. He wasn't sure if his brother could hang onto life. He wasn't too convinced. There was a knock at the door.

'Enter,' the demon lord commanded.

'My Lord,' the servant started meekly, 'it appears that your brother, Lord Inunobu, has awakened. He is in the main hall as we speak.'

Sesshomaru now devoted his full attention to the servant. That wound should have killed him; something kept him in this world other than his own strength. I suspect it is Sayuri's devotion to him that ultimately saved his life.

'Very well, thank you for the report, I will be down momentarily.'

'Yes my Lord.'

Main Hall

'It's about time you got up; I was beginning to wonder if you would ever get up.'

'Inuyasha that isn't very nice,' Shippo reprimanded.

'Yeah, whatever.'

Inunobu had seated himself in a chair carefully. He slouched over so as not to agitate the wound, which was close to healing if he left it alone. Normally a dog demon would re-grow the flesh completely in a matter of days, but Inunobu had to grow back bones, parts of organs, and then the entire center area of his chest. Quite simply, he should have been dead.

'You feeling ok Inunobu? Maybe you should go back to bed,' Kagome said concerned.

'No I'm fine Kagome. Besides, I've had enough of lying in bed for a while. Speaking of bed, who allowed Sayuri to sleep on the floor? She could have taken the other half of the bed; it isn't like I was moving.'

The group fell silent. It wasn't that they hadn't let her sleep on the bed, but that she refused to. She couldn't bear to lay so close to Inunobu when he was so close to death. She had tried to sleep in the bed but ended up crying more.

Inunobu understood somewhat. The group was quiet, and Sayuri rested her head gently on his shoulder. Inunobu took Sayuri from where she sat on the arm of the chair and pulled her into the chair. Inunobu had heard enough of people crying while he was injured, and he wasn't about to allow Sayuri to cry any more. He let her get comfortable and rest on the part of his chest that wasn't hurt. She sighed heavily and sadly. The sad awkward moment would not last much longer however.

'I see you have returned to the land of the living, little brother.'

'You interrupted your work to come check on me, Sesshomaru? I had no idea you cared.'

Kagome sighed. Can't they leave each other alone for just a little while?

Sesshomaru smirked. 'I have a reason besides your well being, Inunobu. The head of my high council, Susumu, would like to speak with you. He asked me to refer you to him when you awoke. His only condition is that you come alone.'

'Very well…I will go. Sayuri, wait for me here with the others, I will return shortly.' Inunobu moved to get up and grimaced as he turned the wrong way, causing pain to shoot through his body. Sayuri looked at him worriedly and sadly. He tried to move again, this time with more success. Luckily, Susumu's office was only one hallway away, on the left of the great hall. Inunobu reached the door and knocked.

'Come in,' was Susumu's reply on the other side of the door.

The door creaked open and Inunobu walked into the room. Susumu was busy writing something. He assumed that it was one of his attendants, since no one else ever entered his office. He stopped writing and looked up from his work. His eyes opened wider, and he stood and hurried over to Inunobu to make him more comfortable, since he appeared to be in mild discomfort, leaning against the door. He was unused to answering to anyone but Sesshomaru, but now he had three demon lords in the palace.

'Lord Inunobu please come sit.'

'What's with the formality Susumu?'

'I think I owe it to you Inunobu, more than anyone else. That and my gratitude. I never realized that you…I am sorry that you suffered so much.'

'Susumu, I was asleep the whole time, really, I am fine.'

Susumu had by now put away everything he was doing, and was standing in front of Inunobu. He had a bright and happy look in his eyes.

'Inunobu,' Susumu began, 'let me begin by saying thank you. You saved my daughter's life. You put your own life on the line to save her. I can never repay you fully. You have my full permission to take Sayuri as your mate whenever you feel it is the proper time.'

'I am deeply grateful, Susumu.'

'Oh how different you have become! I can hardly contain myself here; it's like talking to a new person. I remember you 200 years ago, and now….I have never seen my daughter so happy as when she brought you here a month ago. And then of course there was the injury…'

Inunobu was really getting annoyed at this treatment he was getting. All he had done was make the logical sacrifice for the one he loved. It was something that every demon would do, wasn't it?

'Susumu, can we avoid talking about that injury for a while?' Inunobu asked. 'I hope you have not had to see the way your daughter reacted. I could hear her…while I was asleep.'

Susumu took this very seriously. He breathed more heavily and sat down in the chair facing Inunobu.

'You could hear? I don't understand how…but nonetheless what did Sayuri say?'

'I mostly heard her crying. She believed that it was…her fault. It was ridiculous, but I still could not reach out to her. She never left my bedside.'

'She what? I…I had no idea…I was gone on business until today. I left three days after you were injured.'

Outside the Door

'Miroku are you crazy? Do you have any idea what Inunobu will do to us if he finds out we are eavesdropping?'

'Sango be quiet I can't hear them, this door is thick enough as it is.'

Inuyasha and Kagome had stayed with Sayuri, not wanting her to be left alone if Inunobu's conversation took longer than expected. Kagome was enjoying actually having a conversation with her friend for the first time in weeks. Inuyasha looked bored, until he saw Miroku and Sango trying to listen in on Inunobu. Inuyasha started to laugh. Kagome, who could not remember a time when Inuyasha had actually laugher, was staring at him like he was insane.

'Inuyasha, what's wrong?' Kagome asked, getting worried. Inuyasha stopped laughing but still chuckled lightly.

'Kagome, look at them, Inunobu's going to kill them.'

'What? Kill who. Inuyasha start making sense right now or I'm—Oh god.'

Sayuri was confused as well, not facing her father's office, and she turned around to see what was capturing everyone's attention. She smiled; it seemed everything was back to normal. It was about time anyway. She also realized Miroku was in some danger.

Inunobu meanwhile was still listening to Susumu talking about how grateful he was and so on. It was getting boring. He decided to use Miroku as a distraction. He held up a hand and Susumu stopped talking. Inunobu pointed to the door.

'Can that door be replaced?'

'Well yes of course, why?'

'Good.' Inunobu flung his hand at the door and his red light whip flashed in the air before completely destroying the top half of the door. Miroku looked more than a little stunned. Sango was tugging at Miroku's robes.

'Come on Miroku, we have to get you out of here before you get in even more trouble!'

Inunobu was already on the other side of the door, leaning one arm on the doorframe looking at the monk with a bored yet amused expression. Miroku took one look at Inunobu and ran in the other direction around the hall. Sango followed him. Inunobu figured that now was just as good a time as any to run around again, and jumped over the door to give chase.

'Oh no you don't!'

Inunobu stopped in the middle of his stride when he heard Sayuri's voice.

'You are not going to run around until you are fully healed. I have spent too much time worrying whether you would be alright for you to go hurt yourself. Now I am going to go back to that chair where you told me to wait and stay there.'

Sayuri sat back down in the chair and kept her back turned. Inunobu smirked and went over to her. He grabbed her by the waist and swung her around so that he was sitting in the chair with her straddling his lap. Sayuri started to blush, then smiled warmly and rested against him.

'That's more like it,' she said softly.

One Week Later

Inunobu was healed and moving around again. He often sparred with Sesshomaru or some of the fighting masters in the palace. Sesshomaru had personally captured another of the Order of the Claw trying to sneak his way into the palace, and the assassin foolishly mentioned Kichiro's name. Kichiro was arrested the following day, and his execution was scheduled for the following week, which was one day away.

Now there were two problems to deal with. One was what to do about the remaining assassin, and second was how to properly use the Shikon no Tama once it was completed. The only two shards left were in Koga's legs, and Inuyasha was ready to take those at any time. Kagome was getting worried that Inuyasha still wanted to become a full-fledged demon.

Throughout the palace it was well known that Inunobu was back among them, and it was also soon discovered that Sayuri, the daughter of the head of their council, was his soon-to-be mate. The group was preparing to depart the next day after Kichiro was executed. Kagome had not returned home in at least a month and a half, and her family was no doubt becoming a little worried. And much to everyone's surprise, Sesshomaru was going to follow after them in a few more days with Rin, Jaken, and Ah and Un. Inunobu had told Sesshomaru about his visit to Kagome's era and Sesshomaru was very interested, especially about the part where there were no demons. He believed that it needed investigating.

'Inunobu,' Sayuri said, turning to him, 'let's go to bed, its dark and you still need rest.'

Sayuri and Inunobu had begun to share the same room since Inunobu recovered. Everyone but Inuyasha had gone to sleep, and he wasn't very talkative. Sayuri said goodnight to Inuyasha, who made a lazy wave with one hand, and Inunobu just ignored him. The room where they were sleeping was one of the nicer ones at the top of the palace, which meant it was a long walk.

'Inunobu, do you really think Kagome's plan will work? Do you think there is a way to get everyone to be able to cross the barrier of that well that she lives in?'

'She said Inuyasha could take Kagome through the well when she didn't have a jewel shard with her, which means I should be able to get you through the well. If not everyone can make it the first time then we will just return and bring them back. The well seems to allow people to return to their home era without any jewel shard, so they will all be able to make it back.'

'What's this world of hers like?'

'It's crowded, smells awful, and there are no demons.'

Sayuri laughed. 'Any other good news?'

By now they had reached the room, which was guarded full time by a sentry. Inunobu passed by the sentry first, who gave him a salute. Sayuri was next and she stopped and let Inunobu get inside the room and out of earshot, which took a while since his senses were so keen. She slipped a piece of the kingdom's currency into the sentry's hand.

'You don't need to be on guard duty tonight, alright?' she told the sentry. The guard was not stupid, so he gave her a smile and left.

Sayuri entered the room, which was dark, only illuminated by moonlight. Inunobu had not bothered to light the place because he was going to sleep. He removed his shirt, now being accustomed to sleeping without one since he had bandages on his chest for a month. Inunobu looked up when he noticed Sayuri had not gone to bed, but was standing up in the moonlight, looking more beautiful than ever, staring at him. In one move she slipped out of the clothes that she was wearing, revealing her naked body, and climbed into bed.

She put one hand on his bare chest and rolled on top of Inunobu kissing him passionately, a gesture he immediately returned. He placed one hand on the back of one of her thighs, and the other on her lower back. He nuzzled her neck and gently sank his fangs into it, causing her to moan quietly. He kissed her lips, face, and neck, and she melted into it. Sayuri rolled over and pulled Inunobu on top of her, entwining her legs in his, which had somehow removed their clothes. He pressed down on her, and she moaned again, louder. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and kissed him again. He pushed into her again and again, listening with satisfaction at the sounds she made. He proudly took Sayuri as his mate, and they made love the rest of the night.

A/N: R&R please!