Months passed.
Sometimes, when the air wasn't so cold and the sun was warm, they would walk down the hill and graze the paths of the woods. They hopped over shadows of tree trunks and talked to one another about everything. They both looked forward to spring.
When the harsh winter winds swept across dry fields and screamed harshly at the castle walls, they would sit near the fire. Kagome would lay her head on his lap; he would sit still and straight, absentmindedly running his claws through her hair. He finished the book, and simply said that it was sad.
'Is all human literature supposed to make you do that?'
'What?'
'Yearn.'
She loved his answerless questions.
By the time the winter faded, Kagome looked older.
She didn't notice it, of course. She still saw herself as the same she looked at seventeen. But Sesshomaru's keen eyes picked out the subtle narrowing of her face, the shallow shadows of crows-feet, and the maturing line of her jaw.
It scared him, how fast she changed. Eventually, he pointed it out to her.
"I could use the jewel," she'd responded.
He thought of how lively she was, and how bravely she lived despite her approaching death. He thought of how quickly she'd fade, and how slowly he'd peel apart from the inside out. She was so natural and bright and brief, and anything else wouldn't be her.
"No," he said. It was the hardest moment of his life.
He didn't want to sentence her to his fate and chain her to a world that was falling apart at the seams. He couldn't do that to her; he couldn't drag her away from her peace.
Kagome's face fell. She searched his eyes for any sort of explanation, but only found pain hundreds of centuries deep. She sometimes forgot how old he was. "Alright," she agreed.
Sesshomaru wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, but instead he wrapped her in a strong embrace and didn't think about letting her go.
A cool breeze caressed Kagome's nervous face. She was in his office, leaning against the windowsill. The spring air was fresh and sweet; it tumbled into the room, ruffling the curtains and sliding through her hair. To Sesshomaru, working at his desk, it carried the smells of damp earth and blossoming flowers. The scratching of his quill against parchment filled the silent room.
Kagome took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and then froze and turned towards the courtyard with a sigh. Her hands were shaking.
The demon finally stopped writing and marched towards the girl. "What is the matter?" He stood behind her, raised one hand and started smoothing her hair with his claws. When she didn't respond immediately, he stopped stroking her hair and pressed a hand against her arm. "You are upset."
Kagome closed her eyes, listening to the wind whisper in the distance. She could feel her heart beating. "I'm pregnant," she admitted. A wave of nausea rolled over her; in her mind 'hanyou rang over and over again, twisted into a vulgar thing on Sesshomaru's lips.
The taiyoukai didn't say anything for a few moments. He looked at Kagome; she was biting her lip and staring at the courtyard spread below them. "That is a good thing," he finally said.
Kagome smiled and sunk into Sesshomaru with relief, her back pressed against his chest. "It'll be a hanyou," she stated.
"I know."
"And you're okay with that?"
He grabbed onto her upper arms, swung around, looked her in the eye, and commanded "Follow me." Before she could speak he was halfway across the room. Kagome took one last longing look at the sky before scurrying after him.
He was standing over his father's grave. Kagome walked up to him, noting that his shoulders were slumped and his head was tilted downwards. She stepped beside him, hands clasped behind her back. The sense that it was a somehow a sacred moment weighed heavily in their silence. Then, a spring bird sang as Sesshomaru lifted his head and said, "I never understood my father."
Kagome glanced down at the wet earth beneath her feet. "What didn't you understand?"
Sesshomaru turned around and faced her. He was smiling a little; she remembered his playful mood with Souta, and half-hoped for another story. "After my mother died," he started, "My father was sad for a few years. But he'd started mourning when she started dying, and by the time she was gone he was prepared. He was soon ready to fall in love."
Kagome nodded sympathetically. He had never told her of Inuyasha's mother before.
Sesshomaru's eyes met hers. "He never loved my mother like he loved Izayoi." It was the first time he'd ever said her name out loud. Not 'human', not 'female', not 'my half-brother's mother'. Izayoi.
"Were you angry at her?" Kagome asked.
"No." Sesshomaru didn't want to admit what he'd felt, although surely Kagome must have known it already. "She wasn't worthy of my anger. She was human: an object, a fading image."
"Okay," Kagome breathed at his side. She wasn't angry. "Continue."
"My father taught me many things, but he always seemed so disappointed in me. I felt that I couldn't live up to his expectations. I never knew what he wanted from me."
Kagome brushed her hand over his, gently feeling his tightly clenched fingers. "What did he want from you?"
At that moment Sesshomaru thought that he mirrored his father; he was in the courtyard next to a human he loved, and the world was bursting with life. "He wanted me to learn that whatever you love, it is important. He wanted me to learn that everything's beautiful and meaningful, because we make it so." A surge of happiness rose in Sesshomaru; he squeezed Kagome's hand and felt at peace with everything. "He wished for me to understand why he loved her. And I do."
Sesshomaru wished that he could reach through time and tell his father: 'You were right.' Even though he couldn't, he felt a calmness that indicated: 'everything's okay.' For the first time in a long time, Sesshomaru thought of his father without sadness.
He sensed Kagome watching him. They were to have a child—a hanyou. The world was unfolding before his feet; he would raise his child like his father raised him, and teach it all the wonders of the world.
Kagome watched the tension in Sesshomaru's body dissolve as he smiled and raised his face to the endless sky. "I understand my father now," he murmured.
Kaede's words: "You will unite them. Fate's mistake will be erased," rose to her mind. Sesshomaru and Inutaisho were united at last.
The human and taiyoukai hugged each other in the blossoming air, overtop the grave. Sesshomaru was content: he'd finally found his peace.
A/N--Sorry for the long delay, there. I know this chapter's short, but it said all that I intended it to. There is ANOTHER chapter left--this isn't the end. Thanks for reading :)
