I do not own Inuyasha!
"Kagome can you here me?" Sesshomaru asked his mate anxiously but doing it softly as he knelt by her side and pulled her into his arms tenderly.
And as his gold gaze focused on her face he realized that she was barely breathing, and for an instant he was consumed with immense guilt. Fading blue eyes opened for the briefest of moments at the sound of his voice and looked at him weakly, seeing the pain and remorse that dulled the light of his spectacular orbs; eyes that captivated her from the first moment that she had seen them up close and personal, and his perfect lips compressed in a thin line with worry for her.
It pained her heart seeing him thus. "I am sorry." The words released from her half opened lips as a whisper riding on the wind, as her mouth moved and the words barely made it past bloodied lips in the form of a soft and hurried rush of air, and gasping violently on the ending.
Gleaming eyes stared into faint ones pleadingly, willing her to stay conscious and to stay with him, but what he wanted and what he got were not always what he desired as her eyes fluttered close and her heart stilled.
The air around them became unmoving and thick, or maybe it was his mind playing tricks on his fractured soul, however, if his mind was responsible or not it did not matter at the moment, as the sensation of being suffocated caused him to breathe harshly catching rapid breaths of air quickly, responding to the few seconds of distress, while his wounded heart palpitated harshly with his turbulent emotions.
The shock of such strong emotions of grief and regret had him standing and curling Kagome's lifeless body closely to his chest, and pressing his face into her hair and neck as his body shuddered slightly by the profound loss. "You didn't deserve to die my love," he muttered in her hair. His poignant and crestfallen form walked quietly in the stillness of the afternoon with his courageous mate nestled closely into his embrace in death.
The few beings remaining that were strong enough to weather the storm of his mother's sorcery and devious ways, watched as their leader walked away with his motionless mate; and he would be forever changed as a cold and numbing feeling darkened his heart and eyes.
Giving his general a hard look he spoke tonelessly. "Kill them, kill them all for they are responsible," and looking down at Kagome's lovely face in death she seemed as though she was merely asleep. 'I should have saved you, and not the other way around, why did you have to die?' he asked himself feeling guilty.
And as his heart ached and tears that he had seen shed by others and by his mate no less, a feat that he never thought he could accomplish, but now he was not as sure, as the storm that raged in his heart burned his chest and eyes uncomfortably. When the tears started to flow it fell on her eyes, and for one illogical moment he thought that they were hers, but she was dead, and nothing would ever make her feel pain or cry again.
Shaky fingers went to his cheeks momentarily and the wetness there astounded him as it continued to fall on her face. Silent tears saturated with grief blurred his vision while he walked away and hearing the first drop of the axe, taking the heads of the traitors. His tears gave him the release he sought, although nothing would erase the memories from his heart and mind even though they were short lived. He had founded his heart when they loved each other and the memories they made would last a life time.
'Tenseiga?'
The question in his mind was bothersome filling him up with misery as he wondered why his sword did not pulse to life to save her, if anyone deserved to live it would be her. 'Worthless,' he thought in despair, and in one insane moment he reached for it and was prepared to destroy it, but an unknown sensation of benevolence stayed his hand. With quiet acceptance he returned to his castle and to his children, and in the ensuing days he would have a very difficult task to get through and to perform; he had to say goodbye and bury his mate.
He placed her upon his bed and called his children to his room, making them familiar with her form, they were sad as they could feel their sire's emotion of discontent. Taizo stayed close and he hugged him because he was quite aware that the boy had been through a very traumatic ordeal. And because of her, the woman that they were all gazing upon his son lived, he should be happy, but he wasn't, he loved them equally and sacrificing one for the other was torment and hard on the heart.
In his bed she remained that night while he lay beside her unresponsive body that was cool to the touch, he wrapped her closely in the thick sheets. He could not sleep, and as he watched her he hoped that she would breathe, that she would live and be with him and his children.
Loneliness consumed every fibre of his being and she was not yet below the ground. How could he live without her in his life? The thought was bitter and hard and he held his head in his palms and sighed heavily feeling despondent. The frustration ran was so deep that he felt like growling into night air, but that would only serve to frighten his children, and so he fought it hard clamping down on the reckless feelings with a will that was fast being eroded by grief.
The west was being prepared for her burial; the streets were filled with people that wanted to get a glimpse of the beautiful human mate of the lord who had sacrificed herself to save his son and his empire, and she did it all out of love. His friends and sub-ordinates remained to help with the procession and to build the podium that would host her remains as it would be drawn by horses through the streets of the west.
It was the second day of her death, and gloom surrounded him and his house, more so now because today was her funeral. A human priestess and a female demon healer were called in to pray over her body and to cleanse it from all the evils visited upon it from his mother's villainous actions.
Sesshomaru stood aside and watched sadly as her body was made bare, washed and oiled. Then suddenly the two spiritualists stopped what they were doing with their mouths hanging open. "My lord," one stuttered when she was capable of speech, "come and take a look," she repeated impatiently which quicken his steps away from the window.
"Look!" And she pointed to the space between Kagome's lower abdomen and the tops of her vagina. He stared and stared but saw nothing and became annoyed gritting his teeth in the process, upset that they had given him a false sense of hope. The tick or pulse beneath her flesh quivered as quick as a flash causing his eyes to widen in disbelief; wandering eyes looked from one female to the other as the pulse ticked quicker and stronger for an explanation. "Your mate lives my lord…And she is with child."
The sudden revelation pierced his mind and heart with joy. But it also threw certain questions at him. If she lives why doesn't she wake up…And why doesn't her heart beats? The priestess was familiar with how the lord's mate came to be in such a state, but she feared telling him the answers he seeks, as she could tell that he was perusing the solutions to his mate conditions within the confines of his mind, by the way his brows furrowed slightly in concentration.
"My lord," the priestess said timidly, "I fear that your mate's spirit is trapped between this world and the netherworld." The glare directed at the female made her gulped in unease as the lord's eyes were pure ice with its coldness and intensity.
"I am sorry my lord," the demoness intervened. "Your mate only lives because the child that grows within has great powers and has thus strengthened its mother." She paused in speech thinking on the next remark that she would make but not doing it carefully enough. "If you want the babe to survive my lord, feed the woman your youki and the blood of a rabbit demon, the babe will thrive feeding from it...But the human will die when the infant is cut from her womb."
The words that tumbled from her lips were dry and unsympathetic, words that were spoken without any real thought for Sesshomaru's obvious affections for his mate. He stiffened at the callous assessment coming from the demoness's lips. The priestess's shocked eyes spoke volumes as she too was angered by the inconsiderate comment. "My mate is not something to be used and discarded like rubbish," he flung at the healer in disgust, and turning away quickly before he unleashed his fury upon the female in anger. 'When will my mother's treachery be silenced?' he asked himself in exasperation. 'For yet again Kagome must suffer.'
The priestess got up and approached the daiyoukai cautiously, because his aura was oppressing as it was being released in the air by the depths of his grief. "Lord Sesshomaru, there is a way to save her, but you must act quickly." Turning and facing the timid woman she took a step back; he searched her face and eyes seeing sincerity there, and then he spoke. "Explain?"
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