XX: The Sword of Heaven and the Radiant Barrier
Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, AU, Action
Warning(s): More battle scenes, some violence, fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Two years after ImotC, Sess is challenged to surpass an enemy in recovering a mysterious relic left behind by his mother. But can he protect Kikyou, who now carries his child, at the same time?
A/N: The last chapter before the epilogue, yay! I can't believe it's all going to end soon. I'll miss writing about this story! (Sure, I thought it to be a pain in the neck many times, but hey, I managed to finish it, right?) ;P
...o0o...
Kikyou was looking directly below them from her seat on Mizutori's back, searching for any sign of her husband. All that they can see was a pandemonium of shikayoukai and undead minions, and it was rather evident that their allies were starting to be overwhelmed by the masses of undead bodies; they had to kill Karatake quickly.
Mizutori was nearly shot down by several arrows which came from the archers of the Deer Demons who mistook her for an enemy. But Isamu waved down to them with his naginata, and seeing that the leader of their Clan was alive, and not least in their midst, the fervor of the shikayoukai returned. They eagerly put up their offensive, forcing the undead minions out of the narrow canyons and pushing them to their deaths down the deep crevice of the Minetetsu.
The raven-haired young maiden was beginning to panic; Kikyou could not see Sesshoumaru anywhere among the legions. One would think that it would be easy to spot his silver hair amidst the dark tones of the other youkai, but there was not a trace of white anywhere below her. Finally, she realized that she was looking too low.
Kikyou looked forward, towards the peak of the Minetetsu, and her heart skipped several beats. There, indeed, was the unmistakable fair form of her mate, and another youkai with yellow-green hair...no doubt, this one is Karatake.
Sesshoumaru's amber eyes locked with Kikyou's mahogany, and like Kikyou he temporarily forgot the rhythm of breathing. She is alive! Kikyou is alive! It was too good to be true. Even from afar, their passion for each other spilled out of their hearts and it gave them extraordinary joy to gaze upon one another at a crucial time as this.
Karatake was every bit as surprised as Sesshoumaru to see Kikyou, but unlike the silver-haired taiyoukai he was extremely displeased. Why hadn't his minions killed her yet? But it would be wonderful to dispatch of Kikyou before Sesshoumaru's eyes. Just imagining the look that would appear in his nephew's eyes to see his beloved wife killed gave him extraordinary satisfaction.
"Bring that bird down!" Karatake ordered. Sesshoumaru could not grasp who his uncle was giving orders to, as they were too far from his minions to have any of them cater to his demands. His eyes fell on Karatake's shadow, and he got the answer in a few seconds.
Several shadows shaped like humpbacked humans detached themselves from the Moon Elemental's shadow and slid down the Minetetsu. In a few moments, a dragon corpse which lay at the depths of the chasm rose up, given limited movement by the creatures of shadow which Karatake could form out of himself. It was the intact body of one of the two dragons Sesshoumaru had slain earlier, the one he didn't divide in half.
Seeing the rapidly rising form of the undead monster, jaws agape to swallow Mizutori and her riders whole, Sesshoumaru ran forward to come to their rescue, but Karatake stood on his way, blocking his view.
"You shall not help her this time, dear nephew," Karatake said, his fist ready to punch a hole through his adversary's body.
Sesshoumaru leaped backwards, flinching slightly to feel the sharp sting on his right wrist.
"You shall not live for much longer, dear uncle," Sesshoumaru retorted. Amidst his painful injury, his right hand glowed with the potency of Dokkasou and the toxic spray burned through Karatake's right arm. He was not quite able to aim as well as he wished, but at least it somehow got the target. Karatake appeared furious to see that he hadn't fully paralyzed Sesshoumaru of the Toxic Flower Claw, and his attack caught him off-guard.
Meanwhile, on Mizutori, the Umegae, Isamu and Kikyou were immediately putting up their counterattack. Mizutori lithely dodged the undead monster's swipes, and once or twice she pierced through its hide with her beak. Isamu, himself, managed to sever the dragon's spiked tail with his naginata, but the large youkai was undaunted even without its tail.
Kikyou shot one of her remaining intact arrows at the demon, but the dragon swiftly took a sharp turn and avoided the hamaya. The former priestess gave Rin the knife of Hanazuki to hold, so as to somehow keep the dragon at bay. Although the tsuki no kakera somehow repelled the youkai for some time, the dragon corpse was no simple minion and it continued to cause them trouble by constantly sending strong drafts of wind that blew Mizutori and Kikyou's arrows off-course.
Then, Umegae had an idea.
"My sister's hair stick, Kikyou! Please give it to me!" she said urgently, clutching a wide-awake but otherwise calm Yanagi in her arms.
Kikyou immediately yielded to the young Queen and handed Kikumo's jade hair stick to her, the one with the chrysanthemum on top. Once she had it, Umegae threw it sharply to the ground with its point down.
The hair stick embedded itself on the rock like a dart, and at once a large vine grew from where it had touched the Minetetsu. Leaves and tendrils lashed out at the sky and wrapped themselves around the dragon. The monster put up a struggle, but the plant was faster. In a few minutes, the dragon was engulfed in the tangle of crushing vines, its wings flapping weakly in a last-ditch effort to break free. But the plants held firm, and the corpse was soon crushed in the manner of a boa constrictor killing its prey.
Kikyou can see that Sesshoumaru was having a hard time holding out against Karatake, and she decided to help him. In this scene of turmoil Kikyou took one of the last arrows from her quiver. She hurriedly wound the fine silver chain of the Mitsuseki around the body of the arrow, but she didn't use it yet. She fished out the last hamaya and fitting it to her bow, Kikyou aimed at where Karatake was cornering Sesshoumaru.
The arrow served its purpose, and Karatake had to take a leap backward to avoid the arrow, forming a distance between him and Sesshoumaru. Then, at that precise moment, Kikyou took the arrow with the Mitsuseki and aimed it near where her husband was standing.
With a twang, the arrow flew at its intended target with the wind screaming behind it. Sesshoumaru stayed where he was, and his wife's arrow embedded itself on the ground near his feet. At once, Tenseiga began to rattle erratically in its sheath. Sesshoumaru instinctively drew the sword with his left hand, his other hand having been injured by Karatake.
Cleaver of heaven, arise!
Then, the seemingly featureless jewel that was attached to the arrow unraveled itself from the wood, attracted by a familiar aura emanating from the Sword of Heaven. The Mitsuseki, Radiant Barrier as its name meant, glowed blue as it anticipated the end of its dormancy. It bound itself to the exposed blade of the Tenseiga out of its own will, and the teardrop form melted to encase the shining edge in a blue light.
With your unwithering sheen,
Open to their eyes
The side of the moon unseen...
Sesshoumaru felt invisible fingers grasping his hand which held the sword, guiding him through the final processes. Motivated by this cryptic instruction, Sesshoumaru leaped forward and swung the Tenseiga in a graceful arc in Karatake's direction.
The shadow of death foreseen.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then a mysterious black crescent appeared behind his uncle and began to draw him in. (1) From their place in the high breezes, Kikyou and her other companions stared in amazement at this new attack. Then, Kikyou remembered that the Mitsuseki's power is to draw things to the Meidou, or the Netherworld. Now, through Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru was able to channel this power, and Karatake is being sucked into the Other Side alive.
Karatake didn't realize what an inescapable fix he was in until it was too late. But he had known that there was something peculiar in the setting for once the blade Healing Fang took on the glowing shade of blue, Sesshoumaru's form grew more and more indistinct to his eyes. Finally, instead of seeing his silver-haired nephew wielding the sword, Karatake's icy eye widened in shock and fear to see the form of an Elemental...an Elemental who bore the mark of a crescent moon...whose silvery eyes pierced through him with a soul-shattering gaze that spoke of his impending doom...the same eyes which belonged to the woman who had captured his desire long ago.
"Suien..." Her name left his throat before he knew it.
She said not a word, but she charged gracefully towards him, the sword poised in attack. Then, it was as though the entire reel of his life was replayed before his very eyes. His first glance at the sun... The first time he encountered his sister and he fell in love with her... How he tried to lay his hands on her and she took out one of his eyes in retaliation... She and the Inu no Taishou embracing... How he killed her with his own hands...
They were all engulfing him. Throughout the Western Lands, the many beings of shadow that lurked in its forests and canyons began to writhe in agony as their power was exhausted with the oncoming death of their master. The Deer Demons near the Minetetsu were surprised to see the undead they were battling to suddenly drop to the ground as though they had never felt the breath of life.
Sesshoumaru saw that he tried to run away from the light of the Mitsuseki at the last moment, but there was no escape from the pull of the Meidou. In a flash, Karatake was taken into the dark crescent, and an unearthly scream split through the air as Sesshoumaru finally understood the worth of the Tenseiga in his mother's will.
With every move that he made to execute the final attack, Sesshoumaru heard many voices and many faces urging him on. His mother... his father... Jaken and Rin... Mizutori...Isamu and his wife, Umegae... countless other youkai that he never knew or knew only slightly... even Kikumo and her parents, Hisano and Azami... They all want him to succeed, and he remained under the spell of their voices even as he touched back down the ground.
"Sesshoumaru!"
The familiar tones of a musical voice were a delight to his ears, making the other voices and faces fade away from his senses. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, and saw an equally enthralling figure dismounting from a ghostly white bird and running towards him, her arms outstretched.
He called out her name, and his world slowed to a standstill as the distance between him and Kikyou disappeared altogether.
...o0o...
"Kikyou...my Kikyou..." Sesshoumaru muttered repeatedly, pressing her delicate body against his torso with his left arm, his hand still holding on to a glowing Tenseiga. Kikyou was crying, digging her beautiful face close to his chest and her arms encircling him in a possessive embrace.
"I thought for a moment that I would never see you again, anata," Kikyou said between sobs. Oh, it felt so good to be with him! Her love poured out of her body to be absorbed by him...healing and filling in the cracks of his heart and soul.
Isamu, Umegae, Yanagi and Rin dismounted from Mizutori after she touched down on the flat pinnacle of the Peak of Iron, but they kept their distance from the two reunited lovers. Isamu's arm went around Umegae's shoulder, and she leaned against him appreciatively, reliving and experiencing the same joy that now enveloped Sesshoumaru and Kikyou.
"There's no need for tears, dear Kikyou," Sesshoumaru whispered, though deep inside he was crying with tears of joy himself. "I am here..."
Just then, a great light opened up in the heavens, making all of them look up at the splendor of the signs in the sky. There were many forms that looked like clouds, but gradually, they took on a more distinct shape and their outlines became clearer. They turned out to be spirits, the souls of long-dead persons temporarily granted to take on the living form they had on earth.
"My beloved son..."
Sesshoumaru and Kikyou looked at the direction of the voice. Rising like a misty wraith was Suien's spirit, from the depths of the chasm from where she had died. They were to learn later that the Lady of the Tsukisawa appeared as a formless fog to the others besides them, but now it didn't matter. A smile was on Suien's face... the first true smile they had seen in many a long time.
"Hahagimi..." Sesshoumaru whispered, nearly overwhelmed by the emotions of having to see his long-dead mother, if only in spirit.
"I am proud of you, Sesshoumaru," she said, her voice echoing clearly in their minds. "You are one of the greatest things that ever happened to me... You have grown into a fine young man; and knowing that, I have no regrets...I can finally be with your father."
Sesshoumaru wasn't pleased at the thought that she would go after a few words. There are so many things he would like to tell her... so many apologies to be said for being an unsatisfactory son at some points... so many questions to ask...
"Mother..." but no other words would come out of his mouth.
Suien's eyes looked deeply into her son's eyes, and they found themselves recalling every moment they had spent with each other...as well as the lessons they taught one another.
"You have Kikyou, my son. Be loyal to her, for there are things that only she can show you...can teach you. I am not the only woman in your life, Sesshoumaru. I may be your only mother, but as far as love goes, my reach only goes thus far. Love your wife and your child with all your soul, and you shall keep my memory alive."
Her voice became softer, more detached, as the misty form floated higher and higher up into the sky. Tears once more welled up in Kikyou's eyes to see a most heart-trending vision in the heavens. Illuminated by the light of the sun, Suien held the Sou'unga on her hands, and behind her another form materialized to embrace her around her waist.
The Inu no Taishou held his beloved close, and she nuzzled her face against him. All these years he had been waiting for this moment when he can finally be with her again. Suien's death had not stopped him from loving her, and not even Izayoi had dimmed that love he had for his first wife alone.
Sesshoumaru felt his body going weak at the intensity of the vision...how his heart reached out to his parents...and he found himself leaning against Kikyou for support. She supported him lovingly, obviously caught up in the same emotions as he. Suien and the Inu no Taishou...they were together now.
But Sesshoumaru's mother and father were not the only ones up there. Lingering nearby were the spirits of two Shikayoukai, a male and a female, bearing strong resemblances to Umegae and Kikumo. They were Hisano and Azami, close companions to the Taishou and the Lady of the Tsukisawa. Tears streamed down Mizutori's eyes. The heron youkai was made fully aware of the fact that she was the only remaining living member of the close circle of friends they used to form.
"Mother, Father!" Umegae cried out, walking a few steps away from her other companions, looking up at the mother and father which she had never set her eyes upon since she was born. She was filled with the same joy and sadness of a child beholding her parents for the first time.
"Umegae, my girl," Azami said softly, her eyes looking upon the daughter which she never survived to raise by herself. "Your father and mother love you very much and we are sorry for not being there for you. You hold a special place in our hearts just like your sister, Kikumo."
At the mention of her older sister, Umegae searched the sky trying to find the spirit of Kikumo among those present, but she found her not.
"Where is Oneesama?" The answer Hisano gave her was the most shocking of all.
"Young Umegae, the soul of your sister has been reincarnated in the child you now hold in your hands."
Yanagi began to squirm in Umegae's arms, the emerald eyes looking up with childish innocence at her mother's astounded face. It all made sense then, about what happened beside the river Minorikawa...and in Sesshoumaru's point of view, what Kikumo's vision meant all along. She had been with Kikyou all this time. Literally and figuratively.
Having answered the last question, the great brightness of them heavens began to be drawn back, taking the spirits with it. As the final vestiges of the mysterious apparitions vanished, Tenseiga also lost its glow and the Mitsuseki, dormant once more, slipped from the blade of the sword and fell with a little tinkle on the ground beneath their feet.
...o0o...
We are really home, Kikyou thought to herself, walking into their sleeping quarters and letting what remained of her miko weapons fall from her hands. There had been many partings, and her farewell to Umegae, Isamu and the now doubly special Yanagi were especially tearful. They had taken care of her and Rin with their lives throughout the duration of the one-week war, and such was something that Kikyou could not easily forget.
Umegae had winked at her, saying, "Of course this won't be our last meeting, Kikyou. I made a promise to help birth your little one, didn't I?" Kikyou had laughed good-naturedly in reply.
After finding Jaken safe among the good number of shikayoukai that had survived the war, Kikyou retrieved Kikumo's hair stick from where it still lay stuck in the rock. She smiled as she put it back in her sleeve, knowing she had finally managed to see the importance of the Demon Princess' relic.
Then, Mizutori had offered to take them back to Sesshoumaru's fortress on the wing, and to Kikyou's surprise, her husband consented. He wouldn't normally allow lower youkai to help him in any way, for he disliked having to be indebted to them. But they ended up doing that anyway, and Rin waved goodbye to her newfound friends among the Deer Demons as Isamu prepared to lead the remnants of his army back to the Borderlands.
Sesshoumaru's silent, almost indiscernible footsteps drove Kikyou from her musings. She turned to meet her husband, but her smile soon gave way to a frown to see something like a look of pain in Sesshoumaru's eyes.
"What is wrong, darling?" she asked, gently running her hands over his cheeks and looking up with a concerned expression. "Oh, I know. You must be thinking of Okaa-sama. I will miss her too, but it's a comforting thought that she is now happy with Otou-sama..."
"It's not about hahagimi, Kikyou," Sesshoumaru said softly, which served only to increase Kikyou's confusion. What pains her mate so? Her fingers gently inspected the long scratch marring his fair cheek, but the wound was quickly disappearing thanks to Sesshoumaru's full youkai healing ability. Did he suffer any more wounds that needed her aid?
Kikyou discovered his injury by accident. She reached out to grasp his right hand, and a hiss of pain left Sesshoumaru's lips at once. It then occurred to her that he avoided using that hand of his throughout the trip, and he was a little more silent than usual.
Her healer instincts fully awake now, Kikyou gently took his arm and pushed the silken sleeve away. Only a little pressure from her fingers was enough to make his wrist smart. Kikyou gasped; Sesshoumaru must have been in pain the whole time...
"Oh my," she found herself saying, running her fingers as tenderly as possible over his wrist to check on the state of the bones beneath. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier, Sesshoumaru?"
"I don't wish you to worry, koi," he said under his breath, but Kikyou wouldn't accept such an explanation. She retrieved their futon from where they kept it before going away and laid it out on the floor. Then, she made him sit on the soft cushion telling him to wait a while so she can prepare the necessary materials.
"Now, Kikyou, you don't need to be so fully alarmed-" Sesshoumaru tried to say, but Kikyou cut him off at once with a glare.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, do keep your mouth shut for a moment and let me attend to you," she said. Kikyou didn't intend to use such brash words on him, but the statements formed on her tongue before she could help it. "I won't have you walking around with your wrist like that. Allow me to help you for this moment, okay?"
Now waiting for his reply, Kikyou left the room. Sesshoumaru was speechless. She didn't intend to really do it, right? His pregnant wife, nursing his injury... Kikyou might overexert herself and their child would have to pay the price, but the thought of her staying by his side sounded like a wonderful idea...
Kikyou reappeared, carrying a small bowl of lukewarm water in one hand and several clean cloths on the other. Setting these objects beside the futon, she took from one of her sleeves a packet of dried herbs and put laid it with the others. Then, Kikyou knelt by her husband's side and told him to take his right sleeve off.
Sesshoumaru's incredulous amber orbs widened.
"Kikyou?" he said, making sure he heard her instructions correctly.
Kikyou let out a sigh at his naivety. Realizing that they probably won't get anywhere staring at each other, she placed her hands on his collar and began to pull his haori open. Sesshoumaru was at a loss for words; he honestly didn't think that Kikyou would really keep her words and undress him. He tried to push her hands away, but she gave him an irritated look.
"Why, Sesshoumaru, I've seen you much more naked than this," she chastised, trying to sound annoyed, but she can hardly keep from grinning to see her husband turn redder than a tomato. "You don't have to be so shy about it now!" To spare him from more embarrassment, she just bared his right arm and the right half of his chest, lifting his furry pelt away from the shoulder.
"I don't see why you should torture me so, Kikyou," Sesshoumaru groaned, but she only laughed. Kikyou then asked him to give him her arm so she can alleviate the pain for now.
Reluctantly, he acquiesced. But so gently, so lovingly did she handle his painful injury that Sesshoumaru soon lost himself in the quiet beauty of Kikyou as she deftly crushed the herbs in her fingers and mixed in a little water to form a pungent paste. This smelly mixture, she rubbed on to his wrist.
Sesshoumaru had tried to withdraw his hand from her, flinching at the pain. But Kikyou held him firm.
"I see that you are a stranger to things like this," Kikyou said, holding his rigid hand in a firm but otherwise comforting grip as she rubbed in generous amounts of the crushed herbs on the skin of his wrist. "But you have to sacrifice a little, anata, or you would be in even worse pain."
"Is my hand going to be all right?" Sesshoumaru asked, managing to keep a straight face.
"Oh, I'm sure it will," Kikyou said quickly. "Thank goodness you didn't break any bones. I'm sure it's just a bad sprain, and you will recover in a few weeks' time. Though being a youkai, you might even do it in half the time... But how did you get this injury, Sesshoumaru?"
"My wretched uncle did it," Sesshoumaru said bitterly, and a snarl left his throat as Kikyou touched the tender spot a little more roughly than before.
Kikyou immediately muttered an apology and proceeded to be extra-careful in dealing with her pained mate.
"I am sorry, Sesshoumaru, but this is how it has to be," she said, still rubbing the herbs on his skin. "Umegae taught me a thing or two about these painkillers, and it will be worth the torture once the effect takes in. You may not be able to gain full use of your wrist for several days, but at least without the pain..."
True enough, a numbing quality began to spread through his joint, and he was able to flex his fingers more easily as the pain dulled. Kikyou's lips broke into a satisfied smile. She then took a cloth and wiped off the remnants of the tiny pieces of dried leaf from his skin. Tucking several locks of her long hair behind one ear, she held his hand close to her lips and kissed his wrist affectionately, as though to add a touch of her own magic to aid in his healing.
Sesshoumaru found himself grinning, and he gradually withdrew his hand from Kikyou to make her look at him. Once her mahogany eyes met his amber oculars, Sesshoumaru leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Kikyou closed her eyes and kissed him back, realizing how much she missed his caresses. Once they finished with the lip-lock, she rested her body against him, and his uninjured arm went about her.
"I know it is wrong of me to thank Karatake for hurting you like this," Kikyou said, a pleased rumble emanating from her throat as Sesshoumaru ran his fingers through her long hair. "But I never had the opportunity to care for you like this before. Being a full youkai, you don't seem to need me to help you with your wounds."
"Oh yes, I do," Sesshoumaru replied, planting a kiss on the crown of her fragrant tresses. "There is only one person who can heal the wounds of my heart, and that person is you, darling Kikyou."
"Anything you say, love," Kikyou said with a chuckle, rubbing her face against the bare skin of his neck. Then, she caught sight of numerous black-and-blue bruises marring his torso. The largest was as wide as her thumbprint. Alas, he was more injured than he admitted. "You'll need medication on some of those..."
Sesshoumaru was about to say that he didn't need anything for the bruises, as they were minor unlike the sprain and they would heal in no time, but the concerned look in Kikyou's face as she examined his wounds undid him completely.
"I can take care of them on my own," he whispered.
"Making a liar out of me, beloved?" Kikyou said, winking at him. In no time at all, she was staunching the discolored spots with the same herb infusion she had used earlier. This time, Sesshoumaru willingly let her, obviously enjoying her attention.
Finally, after she finished treating the last of the bruises, Sesshoumaru began to tickle her on the waist. Kikyou's eyes creased as she giggled at the sensation, and soon they were rolling playfully on the floor, laughing as they never had before.
"Kikyou-sama, will you-" Rin called out, peering into the room, but seeing the former priestess pinned beneath the shirtless form of her lord, the little girl automatically put her hands over her eyes and said hurriedly, "Oops, Rin is sorry! Rin didn't know you were doing something!"
Sesshoumaru and Kikyou turned red at once at the possible thoughts of their adopted daughter seeing them at a time like this. The silver-haired Demon Prince took his weight away from the raven-haired young maiden and helped her sit up.
"Oh Rin, I promised you indeed that we would walk in the garden today," Kikyou said, hurriedly fixing her wrinkled garbs. "Just give me a minute and I will be there."
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru didn't usually walk in the garden with the females, choosing instead to watch them from the shade of the verandah where Jaken was now dozing. But now was an exception, and he found himself assisting Kikyou as she began to prune the trees and pluck away several withered flowers from their boughs.
The former miko laughed pleasantly to see the normally indifferent Demon Lord allowing Rin to sit on his shoulders so she can pick a ripe pear dangling from a branch too high for her to reach. Kikyou was worried that he would further damage his wrist, but she felt her fears quickly vanishing to see the amused look in Sesshoumaru's face as he put Rin down.
As Rin began to scamper the grounds eating the pear as she played, Kikyou stood beside Sesshoumaru and rested her head on his shoulder, watching the little girl. Her mate then shifted slightly, making her look at him. Sesshoumaru was smiling at her, and to Kikyou's astonishment he fastened a delicate silver chain around her neck, its jeweled pendant resting on her chest.
"The Mitsuseki..." Kikyou whispered, fingering the clear gem which glistened like a drop of pure crystal. She raised her mahogany eyes, trying to read his intentions. "Why are you giving this to me, Sesshoumaru?"
"I really wonder why the sources of our troubles always have to be in these inanimate jewels," Sesshoumaru said, clearly citing reference from the Shikon no Tama. "But the Mitsuseki shall be yours as a token of my love, the way you have given me this as a symbol of our bond." Kikyou saw that he fingered the white cloth of her hair tie, the one that she had given him many years before. He had kept it all along...
"Oh Sesshy darling," Kikyou said, hugging him fully. Sesshoumaru chuckled as he hugged her back. She would call him by a shortened form of his name as a term of endearment, and he had grown to like that throughout the years.
A ray of sunlight penetrated the leaves of the orchard, falling directly on their faces. Kikyou looked up, surprised at the sudden burst of light. It was a clear day in the rainy season, satsukibare as the Japanese call such instance. It was more than perfect to depict their happiness.
"I wonder how our baby is faring in your womb," Sesshoumaru said, gently caressing the growing lump on his mate's abdomen. As though to answer him, the child gave a kick as a sign that he was fine.
Kikyou giggled. Only five months more...they can wait until then. They picked a comfortable spot beside the stream and they sat themselves on the grass, admiring the beauty of the late summer's day. They had gone through so much in a mere sevenday, and there is so much to tell.
...o0o...
Additional story notes:
(1) The dark crescent attack - (Massive manga spoilers!) I derived this move from a true attack of Sesshoumaru, which is featured in the later manga only, that which reaches beyond the animated series. This attack, Meidou Zangetsuha (forgot the translation), is exclusive to Tenseiga.
The nature of Meidou Zangetsuha is much like what I described in my story: it draws the enemy to the Meidou (Underworld) by means of an inescapable dark crescent (but once Sesshoumaru masters the attack, it will already assume the shape of a full moon circle). Probably his most powerful attack so far, if you ask me.
Toukijin was destroyed (yeah, do you think I was really making it all up?) during the later manga chapters (not telling you how ;P), and Tenseiga was reforged, enabling Sesshoumaru to use it as a weapon of battle, thus bringing forth the Meidou Zangetsuha. (But the trademark of Tenseiga to be able to save 100 lives with 1 swing is retained. Pretty cool, huh?)
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