Disclaimer: Knock-knock...Who's there? ...Archangelina-dono... Archangelina-dono who? ...Archangelina-dono why she's gotta keep telling you she doesn't own Inuyasha. "I do not own Inuyasha I say!"

Chapter 16 Attack on the Southern Lands

Two months later...

"Kai," a voice whispered urgently in his ear, the soft breath playing no part in actually waking the slumbering cat. "Kai!" the whispering urged further, louder. The leopard roused himself from his sleep as a hand shook him, and the voice continued on with his name. His sister stood crouched over his waking figure, awaiting his greeting.

"Kaira?" he said, ears perking in half-asleep surprise. "What is wrong? I thought you were-" he cut himself off when he noticed the blood seeping through her kimono. He jumped out of the bed, standing beside her, gawking at the wound. He felt the blood rush to his face in his anger. How could anyone be stupid enough to attack someone so close to his heart? "Who did this to you?" he demanded under his breath. Whoever it was, they were going to pay. Kai wouldn't be satisfied until he felt their warm blood seeping through his fingers.

"There were ambushes near the southern castle grounds," she informed, gritting her teeth. Kai tried to keep eye contact as his sister's head began to droop. She couldn't die on him; he wouldn't let her do it. As long as he was there, she had the will to survive. As long as she was there, he had the will to live. It would be near impossible for one to live without the other. "The army ran them off before they could get inside, but those outside were attacked. I," she paused, "was foolish. I...left during the attacks to get to you, and..." Kai did his best to calm himself. What was Kaira doing outside the city walls? Why hadn't she just waited for him? For the madness to end before she left to warn him? "But I'm fine, it will heal."

"Were there any casualties?" Kai managed to ask. Inside, he fought for calm, but he felt the state of mind slip into something more hectic. Kaira put a hand to her wound and started to weep, driving him further into his fit of panic and guilt.

"Seizaburou," she finally choked out. How she hated to have to tell him that! The two –Kai and Seizabouru –were the most genuinely in love pair Kaira had ever known. Kai successfully choked back the tears that threatened his demeanor. First his sister was wounded, and now...

"Seiza..." he tried to repeat, "Seizaburou has been...?" Kaira shook her head, tears once more threatening her lovely face as she lost control of her own calm character.

"She's dying," Kaira cried. "She's dying, Kai!" Her twin brother stood in fear and pain before her. All at once, Kaira felt the rush of guilt circulate through her veins. What had she done just now? Kai's hope once –just a few seconds ago –had only been dim, but now, it was burned out. Still, the leopard did not cry, though it looked to Kaira that he might. "Go to her before she slips away," Kaira implored.

"Kaira, what about you?" he checked. He could live in pain forevermore without Seizaburou, but without Kaira, he couldn't live at all.

"I'll be alright," she argued. "Please Kai...of all the yashas this world has, Seizaburou loves you most. I know that you love her, too." Kai hesitated. He knew it was true, but he couldn't shake the voice that screamed for him to stay at his sister's side until she was well. But then, his heart yearned for Seizaburou. "Go." His sister's word caught him off guard, but he obliged.

The neko-youkai walked cautiously out of the door, starting into a sprint as he left the hallway. Pain overwhelmed him. It was a deep pain that began in the center of his chest and poured through his ribs. It was a heartache he felt only once before. He felt Kaira's gaze on him as she limped to the open window and watched him run. He hoped that the last part of him his sister would see would be his face. He hoped this weren't the last time she would behold her brother. Kaira hoped it too; hoped so much harder. She felt the pain then, also. A deep heartache she felt only once before. The day Kai left the southern lands without her, offering his services to Sesshomaru in exchange for the taiyoukai pulling his troops from the land. She felt then what she felt now: guilt, pain; fear, but she knew it had to be done.

"Go, brother," she whispered.

...x...

Kai arrived at his castle like a bullet traveling alongside hurricane force winds, and rightly so. His expression was calm, but all knew he was fierce on the inside. Almost instantly he was at the gates, demanding clearance with a look on his face that challenged all defiance or hesitation. The guardsmen allowed him inside with no contestation, fearing that Kai would not like what he would find inside. They knew then, also, that if the gate didn't open for him quick enough, he would tear the two apart. The gates clanked heavily along the walls as Kai rushed through, his anger resounding to all who were near enough to feel it. He tore into the main hall, looking upon the collective faces of his army and family. He searched through them, noting their grim expression. The way they looked to him like statues haunted him with thoughts of Seizaburou's possible passing. Fear and guilt groped at him, feelings for adauchi –vengeance –rushed through him, but no such feeling was more powerful than the heartache panging him so desperately. His sorrow overwhelmed him on the inside, and it poured outwardly in the form of rage.

"Where is she?" he demanded, his voice booming in the echoing hall. He was answered with naught but silence. "I'm asking you where she is!" he commanded even louder. For the first time in all of Kai's reign, his people were fearful of him, still refusing –or to afraid to –say the slightest word in response. However, there was once who spoke, one who proved unafraid. It was Kai's substitute and cousin: Buntaro stepped forward.

"Come with me, cousin," he instructed calmly –not so mush as a single shiver in his voice. Kai swallowed hard, feeling the gazes of the grim faces about him, and did as he was instructed with no more words. It was as silent as a petal falling from a bloom inside of that room as the two powerful youkai exited. The audience barely even breathed as Kai was lead away from the hall and into a smaller chamber, adding to the tension he felt as he concentrated on his destination; his own steps echoing...closer and closer...to the door ahead of him. Buntaro paused, his hand upon the handle, and looked to his cousin with several traces of regret and sadness dug into his continence. Kai responded silently, looking to the floor and closing his eyes for a second.

"Open the door, cousin," Kai commanded softly. His heart was ripping with suspense, afraid and almost unwilling to look upon what lay on the other side, but his eyes traveled up to see as he heard the paper door slide.

At the center, upon a bed of silken pillows was Seizaburou, bleeding horribly upon the slippery fabric of the feathered cushions. He started; ran to her –the only thing he could see was her, pooling in her wounds. Ai! Why couldn't he have been there, why hadn't he stayed with her like she wanted him to! He fell to his knees before her, putting his hands on either side of her face and looking desperately into her glazing-over eyes. All the life was fading before him, and he had no means to hold it there no matter how he wished he had. The light once so bright gold and green –like the freshly drying leaves of early fall –was dying before him. Why couldn't he lighten it again?

"Kai..." she said hoarsely, "I'm s...I'm...sorry..." she forced on her soar lungs. Her wound was deep in her ribs and abdomen, the blood spurting over the hand she had placed over it as she spoke. Kai suppressed his own desperate call, the urge to command the blood to stop seeping from the wound. Knowing he couldn't, he only placed his hand atop hers, trying to keep back yet more tears.

"No, I should have stayed," he insisted, his voice trembling in his sorrow. "I should have been here to protect you." Seizaburou took a gasp of air. All the light was fading now, the colors mixing into a solitary blackness: she couldn't see him anymore. Tears welled in her eyes. Why couldn't she see her love; her Kai? But the fate grew crueler, as all the sound began to take from the room. "Who did this to you?" The words were blurred in the neko-yasha's ears as her hearing deafened. She knew her time was nigh, and there was something she had to communicate with him: something that needed to be said about...

"Sehs...sho...ma...ru..." she trailed, trying to get out the taiyokai's name, "...he..." She let out a cry of pain, the blood beginning to pour less. Kai panicked, putting pressure against the wound, not wanting his love to die.

"Seizaburou," Kai called to the dying yasha. "Seizaburou!"

A final gasp of air, and the bleeding neko knew she didn't have the means to relay her message. Allowing more tears to slip, she closed her eyes in desperate pain.

"...Kai-sa...ma..." she called lowly tears streaming from her face. "...I'm...afraid..."

"Don't be afraid," Kai tried. "I'm here for you." His love exhaled for the final time, her pain –and his own -reaching its peak. "Seizaburou," he said, at last allowing a single tear to make itself known. "Seizaburou," he whispered. She turned her head to him, closing her blind eyes. Kai felt her let go then. Felt the life in her fade; allowed the tears to fall. His forehead resting on hers, he let his salt mix in the onyx tresses of his lifeless love in despair –and in hatred. His heart screamed for revenge, but it was too painful to bear. This thought...was unfair to someone close to him, but as the seconds slipped by, his desire to kill Sesshomaru grew heavier and stronger.

Buntaro walked forward.

"No one saw it happen," he said lowly, "but..." Kai's cousin peeled the sheet covering Seizaburou's body: revealing that she had been bleeding profusely between her thighs. The semi-dry blood clung to her garments and forever into the banks of Kai's memory. He noticed something then, a familiar and unfamiliar smell. It was no doubt blood, but it was different than Seizaburou's...though, not entirely. Kai clutched a pillow to control his anger, his claws retracting into the fabric of the harmless, soft thing.

"Raped," Kai growled. He had actually put it past Sesshomaru to do such a thing, but apparently, he overestimated the guy. His mind helplessly wandered to Rin. Would Sesshomaru rape her as well? He never noticed before that moment how alike the two –Seizaburou and Rin –actually were in personality and a little in appearance. Was Sesshomaru...? His mind snapped back on Seizaburou.

He touched the icy skin on her cheek.

"She was pregnant, wasn't she?" he choked, at last recognizing the semi-familiar smell coming from Seizaburou's wound: young blood.

"A little girl," Buntaro confirmed. Kai stood then, pulling the sheet over Seizaburou's body.

"A funeral," Kai ordered softly.

...At Naraku's castle...

"Naraku-sama," Kagome called from her chambers. The dark one approached on his own time, arriving to Kagome calmly.

"Yes, Kagome," he said more than asked. The woman looked at him smiling, reaching for his hand. He offered it and she placed it to her stomach.

"Feel," she instructed excitedly. Beneath her kimono and skin, a baby kicked. It was an odd first experience even for Naraku. He half smiled. "Can you feel that?" Two more kicks. "He just started this morning."

"Hm," Naraku uttered in approval, "He's going to be a handful." He put his other hand on her stomach as well, hoping to feel the sensation again. There was a thick tension, as though the child within was afraid of the pressure against his wall, but certainly enough, a kick shook the skin of Kagome's stomach. The father looked into the eyes of the woman carrying his child. How he felt those eyes searching within him!

"When the time comes," Kagome began, looking down at her stomach and resting her hands on the largest part. "What will we name him?" Kagome was looking at him expectantly, knowing that if Naraku could think of a name quickly then it would mean he thought about the baby often. The few seconds he thought seemed like days until -at last -Naraku put a hand upon Kagome's stomach.

"Hiiru," he said thoughtfully, "or maybe the name 'Kaze.'" Kagome smiled widely.

"Kaze," she repeated. She put her hand beside Naraku's, contented with the name. "I like it," she sighed happily. The kicking ceased then, but Naraku allowed his hands to linger on Kagome's stomach a little longer. He masked it, but he was actually a little disappointed the little hanyou stopped his tantrum. Kagome didn't notice the feeling that tugged at Naraku's –again –mostly human heart, nor did she notice the contradictory loathing toward it. Onigumo seemed to be interfering with Naraku's thoughts more and more recently.

He allowed his hands to slide from Kagome's stomach. He smiled his normal, half smile at her, kissed her softly on the lips, and took her hand in his. This was the little bit of softness that Kagome received from Naraku daily, courtesy –unbeknown to her –of Onigumo, though Naraku seemed to notice it less.

"Naraku-sama," she opened again, formally as always. Sometimes Naraku hated it, even though he instructed her to call him in that manner. What was wrong with him, anyway?

"Yes?" was all he said in return. Kagome smiled.

"I love you," she responded in a whisper so that no one else might hear. Inwardly both amused and hurt –oddly enough –Naraku let out another grin.

"I know," he toyed. Kagome ginned flatly, sarcastically.

"Don't you...?" she asked, not finishing the question, again so that no one might know. He let out a breath of a chuckle, leaning his forehead against her own. His hair tickled the sides of her face.

"Of course," he whispered. He allowed himself to wrap his arms around her back. One day he would kill Onigumo for doing this to him...making him get so close to this woman. He would kill her, too. If Onigumo loved her so much, he could have her in hell.

"Then why won't you ever say so?" Kagome smiled, closing her eyes as she took him in. He absently played in her hair.

"It is much more enjoyable toying with you," he answered in earnest. Kagome nudged his forehead up with her own. When he straightened his neck, she nuzzled against the cradle of his collarbone.

"That sounds about right," she yawned. Naraku hugged her shoulders softly. His heart ached and he hated it. Nothing seemed to make it better.

"Would you like to go to sleep, my Kagome?" he asked gently. "You are tired." Kagome pulled in closer to him and rested her eyes.

"I had a nightmare," she said plainly. That was laughable. Here she was, Naraku thought to himself, practically living one of her nightmares, and still there was another to replace it. What could possibly shake her now that she was in close quarters with him? The questions pressed too hard against his lips to ignore.

"What of it?" he asked, resting his head atop of hers. The woman sniffed in thought.

"A demon," she said after a pause, "wearing red with long, silver hair..." Naraku lifted a brow. "I think he might have been half-blood."

"Sounds like Inuyasha," Naraku consoled softly. Kagome pulled out of his embrace slowly and looked into his red eyes.

"Inuyasha?" she repeated. "That sounds familiar." So Naraku's powers had completely returned to him after all. He had made her forget entirely. Maybe he wouldn't have to kill her after all. Onigumo could be alone in his hell. "Who is he, my lord?"

"A problem," was all he said at first, "...at one time, but now he is dead."

"He tried," Kagome began, "in my dream –to take me from this place." Naraku's fingers encircled her arms tightly for a second, but relaxed just as quickly. He didn't much feel like having her squirm presently.

"Did he succeed?" he questioned instead. Kagome shook her head.

"There was a fight," she answered, "I bore him to the ground somehow. I shot Kohaku..." she looked to Naraku with a confused look in her eyes. "...he tricked me into it...Why would he do that?" Jealousy, Naraku thought.

"Try not to think about this dream," he responded, hugging her softly but firmly around her shoulders. "Go and get some proper rest." The woman sighed in agreement.

"Yes my lord," she said lowly. She rested her hands on her filling-out stomach and turned to her bedding. She didn't have to look back to know Naraku was leaving. She could feel it tugging through her heart, but the tugging stopped short.

"Kagome-chan," Naraku said from the doorway. The woman turned to look upon his face. "I love you." Shock overwhelmed her.

"I love you, too," she stuttered, "Naraku-sama." She couldn't help the smile tugging at her face as she turned away from him, even as Naraku walked away. She put a cool hand to her blushing cheek and lowered herself to rest.

...x...

"Did you get all of that, Yoshi?" Kohaku whispered to the moon demon. "The illusion runs deeper." The ivory haired soldier shook his head. How much more pathetically hopeful could these humans get?

"He's even fooling himself," Yoshi grumbled from his place. Kohaku knew what Yoshi was trying to convey, but he wasn't interested. Naraku never loved Kagome and he never would. Period.

"Well," Kohaku said through clenched teeth, "What're you going to do about it?" Kohaku's heart ached. He knew that what he kept barred inside was no mystery to Naraku anymore; that fact made his heart ache even more. Why hadn't Sango just killed him back at Sesshomaru's palace?

He sighed...there were too many thoughts coming at him from too many directions. He awaited Yoshi's answer.

"We'll have to wait until she has the baby," Yoshi said thoughtfully. "When she does, send word to Sesshomaru and the others about the location of this place. I will take care of the rest on the morning of your arrival." Kohaku's fingernails dug into his palms.

"And what about until then?" he forced. He didn't want to wait until that...that thing was born.

"Until then you carry on as usual," Yoshi advised. "I'll be about, so there's no reason for worry." Kohaku walked away from Yoshi's place in the hedges, throwing a singular projectile at a target on his left side to demonstrate his displeasure. The target broke apart at once, spewing straw at its base.

Author's Note: We're dangerously close to the end, so R&R.