Chapter 9 – Where?

As Inuyasha had ran to his destination, Sesshoumaru was 'stuck' to take care of his son, as no servant wanted to do it. 'At least he hasn't woken up yet.' Takato started to squirm in his arms. 'Great. Me and my big mouth' he thought.

The lord looked down at his son; the baby was talking gibberish while putting his tiny fist into his mouth, drooling. He looked up to meet his father's eyes.

Sesshoumaru sighed. Takato tugged at his father's clothes to gain attention; then a nauseous odour started to emanate from the kid. Sesshoumaru tried to ignore it as he didn't want to change Takato; in his opinion, lords are not supposed to change diapers, and that's final.

The baby started to cry… a bit too loud, in Sesshoumaru's taste. That's when he decided to do something: 'If a woman can do it, so why shouldn't I, the great Sesshoumaru do it? I changed Inuyasha a few times when he was a baby; surely I could do it again…'

So after half an hour, he finally made it; the baby was clean, but the lord wasn't anymore, as Takato peed on him and he had to change himself. But, he made it, and that's what was the most important.

Although the baby was clean, he was still crying. Sesshoumaru checked again to see if there was something again in the diaper, but there was nothing.

He tried to calm the baby by rocking it slowly, but it wouldn't work. Now he was becoming anxious as he didn't know what to do to soothe his son.

He decided to go to the gardens, and he made it clear to a passing healer that, unless there was an emergency, he didn't want to be disturbed. So after this, he walked through the castle and got to the gardens. He went to a gazebo that was installed in a remote part of the garden; with the sky being covered, he didn't want his son to get wet and maybe catch something in case there'd be rain. Gladly, the air wasn't as damp as the previous day; but in a way, it was also announcing autumn gradually.

Arrived at his destination, he sat on the wooden floor that was occupied with giant pillows. He sat on one of them and made himself comfortable. The baby had quietened a bit, but was still a bit weeping.

He sighed, as he was hopeless. "Why won't you stop crying Takato?"

"Because he's hungry, that's all."

Sesshoumaru was startled by a familiar voice. "Chi-Chikara?" he looked up.

"Yes, love?" she smiled.

"But how- why are you here? They didn't come to tell me you were back…"

"That's because I'm not." She approached the demon and kneeled down to caress the baby's forehead. "I'm still unconscious. The Chikara you see now is only an illusion, a projection of my body that I created."

Sesshoumaru frowned: "You shouldn't be here; you must rest in order to recover and not use your powers," he hesitated, "dear." He remembered that dream from the previous night and decided to make some changes in his life.

Chikara, although she didn't let it show, was surprised by the way he had called her, but she was also happy. "Don't worry, darling, I don't use any powers. I came here to help you; I heard from our room Takato crying. Are you having problems?" she asked.

Since he didn't want to say it aloud, he only nodded. "I don't know what to do."

"Well I just told you that he was hungry, so you simply have to feed him."

"But how?" he asked, no really wanting to hear the answer.

She rolled her eyes: "Sesshoumaru, don't play dumb with me; as a demon, you know very well that just like human females you can feed your youngster."

Sesshoumaru mumbled something under his breath; although Chikara didn't quite understood, she added: "Come on dear, do it… unless you want me to show you?" she asked, amused.

He didn't answer and to her utmost surprise, he blushed slightly. Even though she was only a projection, she was in her day form and her childish attitude took over: "Oh! You're so cute when you blush, sweetheart." She smiled and gave him a ghostly kiss on his lips; he didn't feel anything, but he was happy to see her smiling since the battle.

"Now, I'll show you how to feed him, okay?" He nodded. "Good. Firstly, you have to open your shirt." He blushed again, but did what she said. "Now you simply have to bring the baby closer to your chest and give him time to notice what's going on."

As soon as Takato was brought closer, he sniffed around to find what he was waiting for.

"He'll probably do the rest, after all, it's a baby's job" she chuckled.

Sesshoumaru waited a few seconds and then he felt it, just like Inuyasha did the previous day, the strange sensation of a baby sucking to you. Sesshoumaru looked like he had seen a real ghost; his face was emotionless and it was like his brain was empty.

Chikara a bit worried at the lack of reaction waved her hand in front of his eyes: "Darling, are you okay?"

Sesshoumaru finally said something: "Yes… it's just that it's an odd feeling."

Chikara chuckled.

°°°

Breathe, jump over the log, run and run again: that was Inuyasha had been doing for a few hours, since sunrise. He stopped a bit, staring at the landscape, wondering if he was still far. He wouldn't admit it, but his memory was playing tricks on him, and sometimes, he could even believe that he was lost. Seeing a small river nearby, he took some water in his cupped hands and drank. He just hoped that it wasn't far, as he wanted to come back before sunset, but where is it? He was running the fastest he could; the sooner, the better. That's what he was repeating to himself. Chikara's fever was worsening, and he hated it when people he loved were suffering like this.

If only he could get there faster, but he was doing the best he could; sure if he had been a full demon like Sesshoumaru he could have gotten there faster, but it wasn't like that. If only he could have called the goddess from a source of water, it would also have been quicker; but he didn't know her name to invoke her.

He looked again at the landscape again before resuming his journey to the water goddess' shrine; a group of dots, was approaching. Inuyasha raised his nose in the air to smell. The scents were familiar and after thinking, he remembered that it was Koga's pack: Ginta and Hakkaku and a couple of wolves.

They were coming in his direction, so he decided to meet them.

"HEY!" he yelled to gain their attention. As they came nearer, Hakkaku was the first to speak: "Hi Inuyasha. What are you doing here? Isn't the gang with you?"

Ginta didn't let the hanyou answer as he continued: "Hey if you're here, who's protecting Kagome?"

That made Inuyasha a bit guilty, but he had something more urgent to do: "Look guys, Kagome can defend herself, plus she has the others with her; she's not all alone." Both wolf demons shrugged.

A little silence installed itself and it was a bit uncomfortable. Ginta said: "Well we'd better go if we want to catch Koga."

So, they resumed their journey.

Inuyasha also continued to run, in hope of finding the water goddess.

°°°

He smiled when the landscape was becoming more and more familiar.

He had finally arrived, but unfortunately, the sun was already setting, he was slowly transforming into his human form.

"Damn it! Why already?" He looked around, and decided anyway to go see her, even in his human form.

He followed the road in the village and finally took a boat to access the shrine.

When he looked at the shrine, it hadn't changed since last time he came, except that the broken things had been repaired.

He approached and opened the huge doors. As soon as he stepped in, the Suijin appeared in front of him.

"What brings you here traveler?" she calmly said.

"Don't you recognize me?" he said. She looked at him, but showed a negative gesture. He continued: "My name is Inuyasha, my friends and I came here a while ago."

The water goddess thought for a moment: "Go ahead, I'm starting to remember something…"

"Well, when we arrived you had been tricked by a false Suijin and we helped."

She tapped a finger on her chin. "When you saw 'we', who are they?"

Inuyasha had hope: "Well there was a small demon fox, a demon cat, a priestess, a demon slayer, a goddess and her son, a monk and I, a dog demon."

She frowned a bit: "You? You're not a demon… oh right, you were that guy with the long white mane and the cute dog ears" she smiled.

He blushed a bit: "Well yeah. Anyways, I've come to ask you something. Please it's very important."

"Say it, I'll see what I can do."

Inuyasha took a deep breath, as the goddess was a bit intimidating. "I need you to clear the sky, to get rid of the clouds."

She looked at him with a strange expression: "I'm sorry, dear, but there are regions that haven't received rain in weeks and they need it for crops."

With his quick temper, Inuyasha almost yelled: "But it's a question of life or death!"

Her eyes widened. "What? How come?" she frowned.

Inuyasha regained his composure: "Well, death isn't in the question, but- but my friend is really badly wounded, and with those clouds, she can't heal."

"I'm sorry young man, but I don't understand what you are saying."

"Chikara!" he simply added. "The Sun and Moon goddess is injured and I came here to- to- Damn those human emotions!" he wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

"You mean that goddess that was accompanying you is suffering?"

"Yes. The sun or the moon hasn't been seen in days and she needs them to absorb the energy needed to heal herself, so please," he dropped to his knees, "help her."

She bit her bottom lip; it was a great dilemma. "Okay, here's something I'll do: since there are some regions of this country that haven't received enough rain in the past weeks, I have to keep those clouds. But, I will take them away for a few hours. With this, she should be able to manage the energy."

Inuyasha, hearing that Chikara will be able to heal soon, was thrilled and jumped at the goddess' neck to thank her. She didn't predict his reaction, but returned the hug Inuyasha had given her. "Great, now I'll get going, since the castle is very far from here."

He bowed at her and was about to leave when she stopped him: "Wait, here, I have something for you." She gave him a small flask in his hands. "This contains strong and pure magic. In your human state, you'll surely be seen as prey for demons. I'm sorry, but it's all I can do." She smiled.

Inuyasha thank her and started to run, though not as fast as he would be in demon form, but it was faster than walking. He smiled, rushing back at the castle.

°°°

After running for a few hours, Inuyasha decided to take a small break, just to catch his breath.

But it didn't take long before some lower demon smelt the delicious aroma of a human.

As the hanyou was going to sit at the feet of a tree, he heard a rustling coming from a bush near him. He started to panic and ran away from where he was.

'Feh, just as I thought.'

A snake demon got out of the bushes and followed the running human Inuyasha from very close.

Inuyasha started to run in zigzags in hope of escaping the demon; he turned sharply to his right, as he heard the demon charge. Inuyasha rolled on his side, elevating dust in the night air, and as he came back on his hands, he pushed himself up again.

He ran once more, but without is demon speed, alas, he didn't make it as the snake jumped and latched onto Inuyasha's right arm, biting ferociously.

Blood was spurting from his arm; the poison in the snake's bite would soon affect him. He then remembered what the water goddess had given him; he took it from inside his shirt and opened the small bottle with the aid of his teeth.

He spat the stopper on the ground and threw the flask at the demon; instantly it began to purify. To help, Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and even though the blade could not transform, it cut very easily in the demon's now weakened body.

Out of breath, Inuyasha fell on his backside, a bit dizzy.

The battle was somewhat not yet finished since he had poison in his blood. He knew that nobody would hear him if he'd yell, and it would most possibly attract even more demons. He decided to move from where he was; in a meadow like that, he could be spotted very easily.

As he tried to move, he felt something tugging inside his white inner shirt. He searched with his hand and found a necklace; he remembered Chikara passing it around his neck when Takato was in his body. Chikara said something about protection… Well it wasn't much of help at that moment.

A pain flashed trough his arm and he groaned; his vision was becoming blurry.

He got up, and walked a bit wobbly and finally got nearer and nearer from an old tree that the roots were sticking out of the ground. He looked down, it even was deep, so it made a good hiding place.

Inuyasha settled down carefully and out of strength he fell in a coma. At that moment, the godly pendant pulsed and a strong shield raised itself around the hanyou, rendering him invisible to even the most powerful eyes.

°°°

Meanwhile, at the castle, the clouds dissipated. Sesshoumaru saw trough the window what was happening. He immediately got up, shouting orders to the healers: "We must immediately get her to see more of the moon. Outside!"

All the yelling woke up Takato, who was asleep in his father's arm.

"Bu-but, my lord?"

Sesshoumaru snarled. He turned sharply to face the source of the voice: "What?"

The healer almost died of fear on the spot. "But the moon isn't there tonight…it's a new moon…"

"I know that! But we must try it anyway!" he said, with his demon side taking on his self-control. He sighed deeply; he stroke Takato's face to soothe him. "Jaken."

"Yes milord?" the toad demon answered, always following his master.

"Did you check on Rin?"

"Yes milord, and she was sleeping."

"Good. I want you to stay with her. She mustn't get out to see this." He started to walk outside with the healers transporting his mate; he would have brought her outside himself, but with only one arm and her wounded body, it would have been too difficult, so instead he carried Takato.

They marched toward an open area to make sure nothing would block the moon.

"Put her down here, it should be fine" the demon lord said and they did as ordered. "Now all of you, back off, we must give her space" continued Sesshoumaru.

As soon as she was exposed to the moon, her body elevated itself in the air, a soft purple light surrounded her, emanating from her body; then, some energy spinned around her, making the glowing more intense.

Everyone was in awe from this spectacle of light; it seemed to be working very well because the wounds were slowly, but surely, closing and even her damaged kimono was sewing itself up.

When it seemed that the wounds were all healed, Chikara's body slowly set down back on the grassy floor and the glowing ceased.

Sesshoumaru hurried to his wife and knelt beside her. With his only arm, which was already occupied by the baby, he could only wait for her to awake, but he wanted so much to touch her face.

They waited for a few seconds before anything happened. The first thing to move was the fingers from her right arm, from the side that she received the blow on. Seeing this, Sesshoumaru almost jumped of joy, but didn't let it show, since he wanted to stick with his cold exterior in front of his servants.

Chikara scrunched her nose and then she groaned. Sesshoumaru leaned over her: "Chikara, mate, wake up please." Like as told, she woke up, opened her eyes and lifted herself with her arms.

Everyone sighed as a weight got off their shoulders. The Lord smiled at his wife: "Chikara, you're ok. Can you say something?" he said softly.

Chikara looked at Sesshoumaru; she lifted her arm to touch her mate's chin. As she opened her mouth to say something, one of her hands went to her heart, which was on her right side. The healers were confused at her action; to them, she surely wasn't clutching her heart, since it's on the left side of the body. But to Sesshoumaru, it was clear; she had survived the attack because her heart, that must be her only weak point, is on her right side, and the energy blade passed through her left one.

While Sesshoumaru was lost in thoughts, Chikara's eyes widened and she finally manage to say something: "Inuyasha," she croaked, having unused her voice for two days, "he is in danger!"


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