THE BARGAIN

A/N: This idea has been roaming around my head ever since I heard about the Inuyasha sequel. I finally had time this weekend to type it all up. Full disclosure, I have not watched Yashahime so all the info I have was acquired through some promotional articles and a few Tumblr posts.

Being dead was just not what Kagura had expected. She was bored out of her mind. She who had dreamed of traveling distant lands and roaming wherever the wind took her, was stuck in the most horrible place; nothingness. She no longer knew tiredness, thirst or hunger; in fact she felt almost nothing. She was surrounded by nothing. Just a grey gloomy open space filled with nothing. The few other souls she sometimes happened upon amongst the fog were mere shadows or rotten corpses with the inability to speak. She had expected to suffer the same fate as them, but she never did. While there was neither wind nor air for her to command, she still retained the appearance she had on the day of her death.

She had waited and continued her aimless walk until she could not take it anymore.

Wandering endlessly in the afterlife as she waited for her turn on the reincarnation wheel was not how she wished to spend the next couple centuries. It had taken her some time, but she had hatched a bold plan. It took her a while to understand how to go about it, but when she did, she did not hesitate to put her plan into motion.

Naraku had always had a fascination with death. It had been one of his favorite topics to lecture her upon whenever he would torture her. That had provided her with enough information on the inner workings of the afterlife, and made it possible for her to hatch her plan. Thinking of her old master always made her want to check if she still had her heart. A palm placed on the front of her kimono confirmed to her that the treasured organ was still in place.

"Goddess of life and destruction, mistress of the underworld, I call upon you."

The words had barely left Kagura's lips that a flash of light blinded her. After being stuck in semi-darkness for so long, it was unsettling.

"Who dares summon me?" A deep female voice barked.

Kagura looked up and was stunned by the woman standing before her. She was tall, dressed in all white and would have been stunningly beautiful had she not been a decomposing corpse. Good thing the wind sorceress possessed necromancy powers, so a walking corpse did not phase her at all. However the maggots crawling all over the woman's body were gross.

Masking her disgust the wind sorceress steeled her resolve. "I am Kagura of the wind. I am the one who asked for you."

The deity's empty eye sockets turned towards the smaller woman. "A youkai? Interesting. What is it that you want?"

Good at least she had managed to get the attention of the goddess.

"I want to come back to life. "

Her announcement was met with a hearty laugh. Kagura feared the otherworldly being would snap its rotten jaw, but clearly the goddess of death had perfect mastery of her body.

"For a dead being to be granted the chance to walk among the living once more is costly. What could you possibly have to offer in exchange of such a favor?"

Kagura had agonized about how to convince the deity, and knew she only had one option.

"The only true possession of value I have: my soul." She had thought long and hard and knew that it was the only bargain she could strike.

That picked the curiosity of the goddess.

"You would forsake your chance of reincarnation and willingly walk into the abyss of nothingness?"

"Yes." Kagura answered without hesitation. It would be worth it. Considering the bad karma she had accumulated while she had been alive, odds were she was going to be reborn as an insect that would end its life stuck in a web and devoured by a spider. Getting to live her life once again then being reduced to nothingness was a much better alternative.

The deity stared at her long and hard. If she expected to see hesitation, she would be highly disappointed. "Alright, we grant your request."

Kagura gasped. Even as she offered her soul for the chance to come back to life, she had not been sure the deity would actually agree, or certainly not this easily.

"Alright, how do we…" The wind witch's sentence was cut off with a snap of the fingers of the deity. In the next second Kagura felt her body being torn apart.

Kagura's consciousness came back to her suddenly. She sat up and looked around her in shock. No more gray fog. She realized then that she found herself in a field of white blooming flowers that she knew too well. She found it quite fitting to come back to life in the exact space where she had breathed her last. She threw her head back and laughed. Her plan had actually worked.

She lounged back in the grass. The comforting beat of her heart in her chest made her smile. No master to obey, no nefarious plan to carry out, she could just look at the bright blue sky, smell the enticing flowers and just enjoy the moment. She could hear a rushing river nearby where to quench her thirst and see fruit trees where she could go sate her hunger. The weather was warm, but she would not go seek shade, she had missed the sun too much. She would just cool herself down with a nice breeze. She missed her fan, but she would be a poor wind sorceress if she could not summon her element without the demonic weapon. Kagura raised her hand to summon a cooling gust of wind, and was shocked when she noticed that nothing happened. She realized then that she could not feel the wind, not as before. She had no power to call forth her element. She understood now. Clearly the deity had played a trick on her, she was brought back to life, but as a human of all things. Better a living human than a dead youkai she told herself.

"Kagura."

Her returned heart sped up. It had been so long since she had heard someone speak her name, but this voice, this man, she had not dared think about seeing again.

"You got here pretty fast. I hope you weren't disappointed that I was not Naraku." Speaking the hanyou's name left a bitter taste in her mouth, but her ties to him were gone and she had every intention of never crossing paths with him again. She sat up and finally dared face Sesshoumaru. He was still as handsome as she remembered him to be.

"He is dead."

The inu youkai's words made her throw her head back once again and laugh whole heatedly. She was alive and Naraku was dead?! How blissful. Something then occurred to her, if Naraku was dead then Sesshoumaru knew who he was going to find in that field of flowers. Delicious warmth spread through her chest.

As if to confirm her suspicions, he stepped closer to her. The fact that his two swords were still at his hip was a good sign. She then noticed his second arm was back. Must be an interesting story there. One she hoped he would tell her one day.

"How?"

"I made a bargain with the goddess of death, and she brought me back. As a human, but hey beggars can't be choosers." He had not needed to elaborate; she knew what he was curious about. "So when…"

"Naraku was defeated four years ago." He supplied fully aware of what she was curious about. "You died five years ago."

Her eyes widened. Five years of wandering in the afterlife, no wonder she had been bored.

"What will you do now?"

"I don't know. Since killing Naraku is off my list, I guess I'll just get used to being a human and travel around." She stood up to stand closer to Sesshoumaru. "You defeated your biggest foe. What do you do these days to keep occupied?"

"Travel around."

His answer made her smirk. "Mind some company?"

True to his words they traveled around. They had even made it all the way to the coast where Kagura had seen the ocean for the first time. She had marveled at seeing how much vaster the world was. She promised herself that one day she would cross the ocean and see what laid on the other side of the world.

Not all days were as happy as their trip to the beach. The beginning was rough. She had to learn how to get by without her trusty wind and her ability to fly. Turns out being human came with a number of drawbacks. Her new human body required much more sustenance, rest and surprisingly shoes. A few hours of walking barefoot in the forest had made it the first item she had to acquire, along with new clothes. Good thing Sesshoumaru's retainer, Jaken, had gotten used to visiting human villages to purchase clothing and other items for Rin.

Talking about the child, Kagura had been surprised to see that Sesshoumaru had left her in Inuyasha's village, but she understood. For the child to grow-up and have a healthy life, it was best for her to be around other humans; particularly ones who knew how to straddle both the worlds of the youkai and human. While leaving Rin had been best for her, Kagura could tell Sesshoumaru did miss his ward, and he made sure to visit her regularly. Sometimes the former wind sorceress joined him.

The first time they had stopped by the village had been awkward. Inuyasha and his merry band had been suspicious about their revived former foe, but over time it had been established that she meant no harm, and they had gotten used to seeing her around town. Kagura remained friendly with the inu gang, but the only person she had been genuinely happy to see was Kohaku. The boy was thriving surrounded by his family and friends. Upon their reunion he had tried to apologize for her first death, but she would have none of it. She had made her choice and did not regret it. Besides she only had one life left, and she had every intention to take advantage of it. No time for regrets.

That was a mindset she intended to put in motion when it came to her relationship with Sesshoumaru. Before her death she had had a crush on him borne of her admiration for his strength and his freedom, but now that they had been traveling together for months, she was convinced that her crush had bloomed into love.

She found the perfect time to act on those feelings one evening as they walked away from the village. Sesshoumaru and Kagura were alone as Jaken would catch-up with them the next day with Ah-Uhn as he wanted to spend one more night in Inuyasha's village to help Rin with some project of hers. Kagura found it curious how the old kappa dotted on the teenager as if she was still the child under his care. It was almost… cute.

They had camped for the night, and Kagura had found delicious berries for her dinner. As usual, Sesshoumaru did not eat, he was reclined against a tree, his amber eyes glowing as he stared into the fire she had built to ward off the night chill. Once she finished eating, she rounded the fire to come sit next to him. If he was surprised by her sudden action, he did not react.

"Myouga told me about you breaking your sword and how you got your arm back."

"The flea should know better than to speak about events that do not concern him."

She smiled. Myouga had been a wonderful well of information about Sesshoumaru. He had happily told Kagura all about her companion's illustrious father and his lineage. It was the flea who also told her about the Lady Mother. It was quite odd to think of Sesshoumaru as having been born to a woman and having had a childhood. It humanized him. All Kagura had had to pay to get access to all this information was a bit of blood.

"In any case, thank you for fighting for my memory. It's nice to know that even after I was gone, someone cared enough to still think of me." She wondered then if he would mourn her after her final death. As a human she would have a much shorter lifespan than he was sure to have. Or maybe not. One thing the elder flea youkai had pointed out upon tasting her blood was that she did not quite taste human, but neither youkai. Something different and unusual. She had filed that piece of information to a corner of her mind, she would seek out its meaning some other time. She did hope that the goddess of death might have bestowed upon her some perks of being a former youkai, such as slow aging.

"Kagura, you did not deserve to die as you did. Your life had meaning, and your memory deserved to be honored. I wanted to make sure it would be."

This was as close as admitting feelings that she thought he would come to.

Before she chickened out, Kagura placed a hand on his cheek, gently turned his face towards hers and pressed a kiss to his lips. Seduction was not something she had ever attempted, but she knew the gist of it. One other thing she did know was that Sesshoumaru was not kissing her back. She removed her hand from his cheek and leaned away. Embarrassment burnt red hot in her gut.

"Is it because I am human?" She dared stare straight in his eyes when she asked the question. He did not answer. "You're being ridiculous. I may be mortal, but I am still me, Kagura." That was infuriating. She had bargained with the goddess of death herself to get her second chance at life. She deserved happiness and had every intention to reach for it.

She leaned forward and kissed him again. He did not push nor reject her this time around; quite the contrary.

To her delight, he deepened their kiss and pushed her backwards, the soft grass becoming their bed of passion. With a few efficient tugs on her layered kimono, he had her bared to his gaze. She shivered when he ran his hand down her curves.

With practiced moves, he discarded his armor and swords, keeping them close in case some fool would dare come disturb their intimacy. When Sesshoumaru unveiled himself, her newfound heart skipped a few beats. In this moment she felt more alive than ever. She eagerly opened her body and her heart to him, and he wasted no time taking her sweet offerings.

Jaken was surprised the next day to find a half-naked Kagura sleeping comfortably surrounded by Mokomoko-sama, but he would never dare speak a word about his master's choice of lover. From that day forth, every night, he made sure to prepare two camps well away from each other to afford his Lord the privacy to enjoy time with his new lover.

Following that night, Kagura and Sesshoumaru became more than traveling companions, and soon they became a family. It took a few months for nature to take its course. By the time Kagura realized she was pregnant with Sesshoumaru's child, they had been climbing a mountain. They often made their itineraries based on their personal interests, and this instance was no different. Kagura loved standing on high edges to feel the wind blowing everywhere. It felt as if she was still the mistress of the element. Sesshoumaru had heard that in the valley on the other side of the mountain dwelled a blood-thirsty hog youkai who asked for human children to devour as tribute. He would enjoy testing how strong that demon was. She getting to do some sight-seeing and him getting a demon against whom to fight was a win-win.

Kagura waited until the hog had been dispatched to tell her lover he would be a father soon. She had been nervous about his reaction, but he had not said anything. They had kept on traveling, albeit at a slower pace. Sesshoumaru might not show his affections in words, but rather by actions. He sought food she enjoyed, outfitted her with appropriate clothing for the changing season and each night encircled her in his fur to help her sleep. They had spent blissful months together as her pregnancy blossomed. The children were strong in Sesshoumaru's blood and developed fast.

Considering her human status, Sesshoumaru had brought them to Inuyasha's village once her due date grew near. Kagura's labor lasted an entire day. Kagome and Rin alternated staying by her side. Even Sango had stopped by to offer words of encouragement. Inuyasha and Miroku had been tasked with keeping the expectant father busy. This had turned out to be harder said than done. Sesshoumaru did not particularly enjoy spending time around humans, and the fact that there was nothing he could do to ease the cries of pain coming from his lover was maddening. More than once he and Inuyasha almost came to blows. He only made an effort once Rin left the birthing chamber to ask him to wait patiently lest he make Kagura worry, which would bring on greater stress and slow the birthing process. His patience was finally rewarded when a few hours later he heard not one, but two sweet cries.

Except for their unusual eyes and hair coloring, the two babies did not have any outward hanyou features. This made the former wind sorceress wonder once again about what Myouga had said about her blood tasting neither human nor youkai. All that mattered to her was that her two daughters were perfect and healthy.

"How shall we name them?" Kagura was exhausted and in pain, but still managed to sit up so she could get a better view of Sesshoumaru holding their twin daughters.

He thought silently for a long moment. "Their names are Towa and Setsuna."

"I like it."

They exchanged the happy smiles of proud new parents.

Sesshoumaru had no home, he was a nomad by nature. So even following the twins' birth, they still roamed. It was not always easy with two babies. More often than either of the two new parents would have liked, they had had to go back to the village. Inuyasha, at Kagome's prompting, had finally given them use of a small hut on the outskirts of the village. The past winter they had had to stay for long stretches of time as Kagura's human body proved to be ill-equipped for the cold temperatures. The following spring they had undertaken a trip well beyond all the places they had been so far. At some point they had found themselves in an inhospitable mountain range. After ensuring his family was settled in a cave, Sesshoumaru had ventured ahead to find a proper passage over the mountain.

The day following his departure, a rainstorm had broken out. Jaken and Ahn-Uhn had been sent to find food and some dry wood to keep the fire alive, leaving Kagura alone with the babies in the cave. Shivering with cold, she nursed the twins then put them to sleep in a makeshift crib warmed by the comfortable Mokomoko-sama.

"What a delicious treat to find on such a day." A deep ominous voice said from the mouth of the cave.

Kagura growled when she saw a massive bear youkai stalk towards her and her children.

"You and your brats will make a wonderful meal." The demon licked its massive chops.

"If you think I'm going to let your hurt my kids, you're crazy." Never had Kagura missed her fan more. Weapon or not, she would do anything to protect her daughters. She braced herself for the incoming attack.

The scent of Kagura's blood on the wind made Sesshoumaru rush back. Something horrible must have happened. He had a terrible sense of deja-vu. He could not help but feel like he was taken aback to the cursed field of flowers where she had died the first time around. The first thing he saw upon arriving at the cave was the overwhelming scent of blood and the carcass of a large bear youkai. The beast's throat had been slit. It was the red substance covering the claws of the demon that made the inu youkai's blood run cold. He only had to walk a few feet to realize his fear had come to life. Kagura was lying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, large claw marks covering her entire abdomen. He immediately went to her side.

He heard the gently coo of his daughters coming from the back of the cave. Despite her lack of powers, Kagura had managed to kill the attacker and keep their children safe. She was still clutching the sharp rock she had used to inflict the mortal wound to the large youkai.

He cradled his lover in his arms. "We will find a healer."

It would be useless they both knew. Her blue kimono was so sodden with blood it had turned red. The injuries to her abdomen were so grave that even Sesshoumaru did not dare look upon them. Kagura felt numb. She was beyond feeling pain and knew this meant she was too far-gone.

Sesshoumaru's hand trailed to the second sword at his hip. His father's fang would not fail him twice. His jaw clenched in anger when the sword failed to react. Sadly, Kagura knew it would. She had made a bargain. Her soul was already spoken for. The pain and shock had ridden her of the ability to speak, but she hoped Sesshoumaru could read all her emotions in her eyes. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, that she trusted he would raise their daughters well and most of all she wanted to tell him not to blame himself for her death.

She never had the chance. Everything went dark.

Back in the abyss. Tears of anger and frustration sprang to Kagura's eyes. The first time she had bargained to leave the afterlife as she selfishly thought she deserved another shot at life. Now, she wished she could go back so she could be with Sesshoumaru and watch over their daughters together.

"You must be surprised to be back already. I may have failed to mention that a bargain as the one we struck is only valid for a year."

Kagura realized then, that it was indeed exactly twelve cycles of the moon since she had first left this cursed place. If it would do any good, she would have launched herself on the devious goddess, but she kept her cool, there was no point to fighting with death herself.

"Why am I back here?" The former wind mistress spat angrily. "I thought you would have devoured my soul and reduced me to nothingness by now, was this not our bargain?"

The goddess grinned, exposing her rotted teeth. "Our bargain has been voided. It turns out your return to the land of the living was beneficial as your daughters will serve a greater purpose."

"Don't you dare mess with my children." Goddess or not, Kagura would find a way to annihilate the woman if she dared touch a lock of her kids' hair.

"Do not fear. They are safe for now. You should rather worry about yourself." The immortal said. "Your soul might not hang in the balance anymore, but that does not mean I shall not get my pound of flesh so to speak."

"What do you want from me?"

"We shall meet again, Kagura, but not now." The deity snapped her fingers. Everything went dark again.

Kagura found out that even amongst ordinary humans one could have a life filled with pain and loneliness. Centuries had passed, youkai were all but extinct, but humans had become much more cruel than their ancestors in the feudal era.

She had been abandoned at birth in a garbage bin as the social worker assigned to her case enjoyed reminding her any time she misbehaved. Unlovable and unwanted. This is how she had felt her entire life. Despite entering the system as a newborn, she had failed to be adopted by a family, one citing her scary red-tinted eyes as a deterrent. Bounced around in orphanages and foster families, when she turned sixteen, she had petitioned for emancipation and had been granted the right to take care of her damn self. For decades she lived a non-descript life of near poverty and hardship with no recollection of the youkai she used to be.

This all changed on an ordinary day. She was working as a waitress in an art gallery. They were exhibiting ancient Japanese artifacts. A gorgeous white and red fan caught her attention. While her employer wasn't looking, she took it out of its display so she could see it more properly. Upon lying a finger on the beautiful silk, her memories of the feudal era came back. She was Kagura, mistress of the wind, and this was her fan. At first, she thought she had gone crazy, and had almost used up her savings to pay for therapy sessions. However, the more she remembered the more she understood why she had felt a sense of longing her entire life. She had indeed been missing a part of her life. She needed to reunite with her family.

She had worked three jobs and saved every penny she could in order to finance her trip. In her limited spare time she researched Japan and youkai folklore. She still had no powers, but she had grown used to living without the wind. She figured it was the price to pay to the goddess of death to be able to be among the living once again. All she wanted was to go back to Sesshoumaru and their daughters.

It had taken her close to a year, but she had made it. She had crossed a continent and an ocean, and she was finally getting close, she could feel it. She had used every recollection she had to try to remember where Inuyasha's village could be located in the modern era. Her research had paid off. After months of searching, she finally made it to the Higurashi shrine. Tears of triumph clouded her vision as she ascended the stone steps leading to the shrine. She did not even make it to the temple doors. For some unknown reason, she was being attracted by a nondescript shed on the side of the main building. She opened the wooden door, and almost cried in relief once she saw a well she had heard so much about. The soft glowing purple coming from the opening was calling to her, and she had every intention of answering the invitation.

Her recovered fan clutched in her hand, Kagura straddled the border of the ancient time portal and jumped inside without any hesitation.

Death would wait; she needed to reunite with her family.

THE END

A/N: And this is how Kagura turns out to be the mother! :) Leave some reviews, I'm curious to find out what you thought about this small fic.