Chapter 5-

Lord Sesshomaru stood near a clearing on top of an overhang. Jaken stood at his feet, quite confused. "My Lord, what are you doing? You haven't left this spot since morning!"

It was at that moment he saw a hooded being emerge from the woods with a bundle in their arms. The bundle was wrapped in burlap like material. Within it, and infant began to cry. The individual sat it down along the middle of a pathway, giving it one last embrace before leaving. "Did they seriously just abandon that child in these woods!" Jaken commented incredulously.

Together they watched as another individual with horns cautiously approached. Just as they went to pick it up, a demon jumped from the bushes. Like a month drawn to light, the demon was met with a barrier and shocked. The energy sent it flying backwards into the woods from which it came. "Remember this place, Jaken," Sesshomaru told him.

"My Lord… you don't plan on… Do you?" Jaken asked, stuttering along the way. "But, what about Rin?"

When Jaken failed to get a response, he looked over his shoulder to see that Sesshomaru was already gone.

"I guess it wouldn't be surprising if you did, when you leave me behind all the time!" he shouted after him. Lord Sesshomaru stopped to peer over his shoulder, flicking a rock at Jaken, knocking him down.

Kagome and Sango stood just outside the bathhouse with their battle gear, just in case of danger. Sango was on the oppiside side of the entrance, adding sticks and fanning the flames with her weapon. The fire was situated just beneath the tub of water. They were all on high alert.

With a loud shout from inside, Sango dropped her logs to run around to the front of the bathhouse. Kagome was the one to go in and check on her, while Sango kept a lookout. Having just got out of the tub, Rin clutched her large belly. "Contractions?" Kagome asked, putting her arm down. She had been reaching for an arrow. Rin panted, squeezing her eyes together. Her contractions had been getting closer and closer. It was similar to the pain of a knot in her leg, but in her abdomen and much more intense. Her belly felt like a rock as her muscles tensed.

Lord Sesshomaru watched from a great distance as the three of them returned to lady Kaede's hut. Kagome and Sango kept Rin's arms around their necks, her arms slung over their shoulders, helping her along the way.

Lord Sesshomaru glanced at the green demon to his right. He peered back up at him with his big yellow eyes. They were standing upon a tree branch, not a breeze for a miles, yet the leaves slightly trembled.

"My Lord, you're shaking." Jaken commented unfiltered, feeling the movements through the tree. Then swiftly added, "With joy no doubt, not fear!"

"It won't be much longer," Lord Sesshomaru said. "For that reason we must stay close."

Just then then sound of a tree branch snapped near their post. In the blink of an eye his sword was drawn and he had taken up a defensive stance with his feet planted against the Earth.

"Sesshomaru, I knew you wouldn't be far!" Inuysha commented. "Based on the way she's been yelling like a banshee. If only she knew what true pain was!" he snorted.

"Then you know I have more important things I need to attend to, little brother." Sesshomaru began to put his sword away and turned, ready to make his exit.

"Wait, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha paused switching to a more serious tone.

The demon remained still for a moment longer.

Inuyasha looked down at the ground and squeezed his hands into fists. "I'm sure the road ahead won't exactly be easy. My mother was killed and pursued by her own guardsman, simply because of my existence as a half-demon. Whatever the case may be, we still share blood. They will be protected by all of us."

Breaking the serious moment, Jaken fell from the trunk of the tree, despite his efforts to do so quietly. With a bump on his head, he also rubbed his behind, moaning with pain.

"The prophecy foretells of something else," he said before moving on.

The white-eared half-demon looked up with a slight look of confusion. "What? What prophecy?"

It was late and the moon became high in the sky, darkest before dawn. Rin was covered in blankets and a wet washcloth upon her forehead trying to focus on her breathing. While she worked through contractions. The sounds of Sango, Miroku, and Kerala's battle outside came through the windows.

"Hiraikotsu!" she yelled, throwing her weapon. The weak demons were destroyed in a instant. Beyond her, the forest shook with commotion. "Whoever is fighting along with us is only letting weaker demons pass," she told Miroku. "Maybe Inuyasha is prioritizing more difficult opponents first, letting us catch the rest."

"There must be a lot more where these come from then!" Miroku responded.

Through the night, Inuyasha fought alongside his brother until the sun came up the next morning. Inuyasha wiped sweat from his forehead and saw Sesshomaru come to a standstill. The glowing red eyes of the forest began to shrink back into the darkness. A silence, a peace began to fall over the land. "It's… she's quiet now," Inuyasha commented, no longer being able to hear Rin in pain. For Sesshomaru, the scent of human blood had also diminished.

He sheathed his sword and approached Inuyasha. Once within arm's reach, he put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Inuyasha appeared surprised and remained frozen in place even after Sesshomaru had left.

With a barely noticeable deep breath, Sesshomaru braced himself before entering Lady Kaede's hut. His eyes fell upon Rin first, as if it were instinctual to check on her wellbeing before anything else. His eyes then ventured to their two newborns, wrapped in bundles. "I trust you…" Rin's voice rang in his mind. With them in his arms, he left. Keeping them against his chest, he felt an indescribable sensation, perhaps the closest thing he would ever feel to being human. He felt the need to protect. He longed to hold them like this once more and they hadn't even left his embrace yet, that is how powerful the emotion was.

Thinking out loud, he spoke to his girls. "Humans believe that to protect, one must keep another close. However, that is not always the case. Others may require more distance. This is not just a right of passage. This is how we must protect you."

The wind billowed across his face as he flew with haste.

"I had to make this decision and act quickly. Your mother spent nine months with you, sharing her body, blood, and even the materials of her bones to bring you into this world. The limits of my knowledge or experience is there. I cannot fathom the strength of that bond, therefore, I did what needed to be done."

He clinched his teeth together, gritting them even. It was no easier for him than Rin. "Perhaps one day, she'll understand, all three of you."

The first day that Rin went without her girls was difficult, but the more time passed, the harder it became. The others were hopeful that with time, it would get easier, but that was not the case. Rin's body began to heal from birth and her belly began to shrink back down to its normal size. She missed looking down at the buldge, knowing her twins were safely inside and with her. Additionally, her breasts continued to produce milk for some time after that. Seeing the front of her kimono wet only filled her with tears in that her being wasn't able to perform the functions of motherhood that it had been preparing for over the course of nine months. She wanted her children. She longed to hold them in her arms, feed them, nurture them, all of those human mother duties and needs.

Lady Kaede heard her cry and mourn for several nights. Rin's children were not dead, but their absence filled her with grief none-the-less. Eventually Rin stopped crying. She also stopped eating and caring for herself, or allowing visits from others, including Lord Sesshomaru.

One evening, Lord Sesshomaru did choose to ignore her wishes, stepping through the screen of Kaede's hut. The old woman stepped outside to provide them with privacy. Even laying down beneath blankets, he could tell Rin was thin. Her eyes appeared sunken in and she was weak from not eating. "Rin," he knelt down beside her. Her eyes were distant, staring away from him into space. He remembered her in her younger days, always happy to see him, to receive him in high spirits. Rin had been a pocket of happiness and to see her in such a way felt as if he had been the one to take the life out of her.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to protect her this time when the very thing that brought her joy was also that which she had to go without.

There, beside her pallet, on the wooden floor, he laid down next to her. His body contoured to hers in a slight C-shape, and there he held her in his arms.