I do not own Inuyasha!
Please read and review!
Seira bore signs of fatigue and it wasn't simply from the dull look in her eyes, but by the unsteady movements of her gait as she practically dragged herself out of bed and proceeded to the kitchen for something to eat, or rather for something to drink because her body felt constantly dehydrated.
And besides if she ate anything solid she would become sick and regurgitate the meal afterwards. It was the final week of the gestation period and the little ones were impatient for their birth.
That she could tell by the frequent movements inside her abdomen, and at times the occurrence felt like prickling, stabbing heat making her often wonder about the strange sensations. It was painful, and as she thought about it she remembered quite clearly that the uncomfortable vibrations started a week ago.
"What's going on babies?" she whispered while grasping her belly and stopping.
The sound of her mate's boots trampling the floor coming towards her had her attentions, just as she was about to make the descent downstairs.
Holding onto the upper portion of her arm as he stopped beside her he asked.
"What do you need?"
Gazing at his face she thought how handsome he was but cold, there was no deceit in his scent making her question how truly devoted he was. Could someone's feelings go from utter disdain and spite to love and caring overnight?
He had been nothing but a doting mate and had made sure that she was well taken care of by the nurse and servants; every whim, every need duly catered to for the last three months. So why was she still in doubt?
Or maybe it was the fact that something was off about the kindness that he'd been showing; or perhaps it was the vacant look into his eyes when he'd touched her skin or kissed her lips, it was as if he was performing a duty out of obligation rather than love or genuine concern.
He was tense, his smile if he should ever grace her with them were tight and forced. Although she never questioned him on the subject of his feelings, she felt that deep down in his dark heart there was a tiny trace of compassion buried there for her.
The insight into his soul didn't make her feel any better because he was hiding something and she felt that it was dire. She sighed feeling even more fatigued. It was a very strange relationship and pregnancy indeed.
Before she knew it he was guiding her back to her bedroom. The thoughts persisted regardless, while she could not claim to really love him, she could safely say that she had strong feelings of devotion and a yearning for his body that was bitter sweet, because he had used it to hurt her physically as well as emotionally in recent times.
The softened feelings that she was harboring for him now could be because she was pregnant and her emotions were out of sync, or maybe she was just a pitiful love starved female. She shook her head and hopefully the pathetic thoughts from her mind. Ryoma never let go of her arm as he opened the door and tugged her in slowly.
Sitting in her favorite chair closest to the open window, the warm summer breeze tickled her face and neck. The hands on her shoulders massaging it unhurriedly.
"What do you need?" He asked softly again.
"I was going to get some warm milk…It is the only thing that agrees with my stomach," she replied tiredly.
Uneasy feelings with tiny bits of guilt assailed him, because while he couldn't claim to loved her, he had grown sympathetic.
He'd watched her as she would rub her swollen belly and smile a faraway smile these last few months. It was as if she knew that the tree would die when the fruits ripened. And making the most of the time she had now was of the utmost importance.
"I will go and get it," he replied shortly afterwards and left.
Siera sat for a few more moments before getting up and going to sit in front of the vanity's mirror.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes but she would not let them fall, her babies were killing her, and even with countless reassurance from her mate and a relative of his whom had been summoned two months prior to care for her, she was not convinced.
How could she be anything but sad? Maybe it was retribution for all those horrible things lady mother had her do in the name of justice, but even so she had done her fair share of evil on her own.
She scanned the image carefully of the reflection that stared back at her and did not recognize it. She was a pale reflection of her former self. Eyes sunken into deep sockets had lost their golden shine, once fair skin was deathly pale devoid of blood and unhealthy, the vile red lines that marred her once flawless flesh had spread to her neck and cheekbones.
Her collarbones stood out prominently, it was as if the flesh had deteriorated from her body leaving skeletal remains behind. Still the tears would not come. She only wishes that she could see her children, the ones that she had with Sesshomaru one last time.
Taking a piece of paper and a quill from the drawer she wrote to her children. The need to do so was pressing. She would ask one of the servants to give it to Sesshomaru's half brother and hope that he does the right thing.
The months had ticked off quickly, three months to be precise. Sesshomaru had employed a dozen village men to renovate an old shrine turning it into a school and a civic center. Their welcome wasn't easy in the beginning, most villagers kept their distances, turning away whenever they were around.
Kagome did not let that get in the way of her objectives, they were ignorant and set in an old mold that could break but it would take some doing. It wasn't very hard to get the men to work, times were hard and they needed money and a means to take care of their families.
The lord had sent a written decree with ten soldiers to acclimatize the locals that this family was his guest and should be treated with respect. It didn't help. The children did not fare much better either, because the town's children avoided them like the plague, as they were instructed to do by their parents.
They were often times sad because they wanted to socialize; they had been cooped up for two years with only each other for company. They had none of the prejudices of the human adults because they were not yet painted in colors of hate. They were still innocent and looking through eyes that were the same, they did not understand and were hurting.
Kagome continued to pray for divine intervention as the school was finished and she needed some of the older village woman to assist in teaching children or anyone that wanted to learn about dyes, herbs, simple make-up construction, art and craft and sewing. But none came forward and continued to treat them with scorn.
The gossips were spoken idly so that they could hear. One of the most amusing one was…Does her husband take her doggy style? After they'd found out that he was a dog demon quite by accident. It seems as if not only the women spread gossip but the men. They had overheard a conversation between her and Sesshomaru discussing Yuki's transformation at the work site.
It was late one night about a month ago when screams and shouting of fire woke them up. They ran outside only to see thick black clouds and red from the fire rising into the moonlit sky about two hundred meters from their home.
Sesshomaru flew to the scene of the fire quickly with Kagome chasing after him. It seemed as if half the town was gathered ther looking on helplessly, as the fire spread and consumed some of their homes and meager belongings.
The men stared in utter silence while the women wept bitterly.
"Help me!" was the pained cry of a woman. "My children are trapped in the fire."
Sesshomaru unsheathe his sword just as Kagome came into view and held the woman's hand.
"Please don't cry we will save your children." She said trying to comfort the distraught young woman.
The woman's tear stained face looked up and into Kagome's concerned ones while sobbing quietly. An expression of shock settled on her features, and even though she was distressed she understood the sincere kindness by this woman, as she could see the depths of her pure soul reflected in her deep blue eyes.
It was very strange indeed that the only person that offered her any kind of support was the one woman that she had completely ignored. Kagome squeezed the woman's hands tighter as she could see the remorse written in her eyes as clear as day, and she did not harbor any ill feelings and smiled at her sadly.
Kagome nodded to Sesshomaru, and just as quickly he sent a blast from the Tensaiga into the direction of the burning homes.
Heads turned. Mothers, fathers and children looked on as a whirlwind of blue air rushed past them prickling their flesh as it swirled and dived into the midst of the fire, sucking into itself red flames and dark mist within its coiling energies before dissipating.
There was quiet all around, an entire town stood looking at the fair demon and his woman as the smoke cleared and gratefully the damage was minimal. The woman ran to her home, but it was too late, the children had perished from heat and smoke inhalation. T
he screams she let loose rung piercingly into the ears as her cries of pain and loss came from the depths of her soul, chilling the bones of the onlookers.
Kagome and Sesshomaru walked over to the partially burnt down house and retrieved the children's lifeless bodies, while the woman cried uncontrollable on her knees.
Both of them knowing that this was the defining moment, the breakthrough that they had been waiting for, although the circumstances were tragic, it was a blessing from above, and one that could be fixed.
Laying the two small children bodies down away from the still smoky house, Sesshomaru once again unsheathe his sword, the young mother looked on in a daze and so did everyone else but kept quiet. It was reasonable to think that the demon had put out the blaze with one strike of his mighty sword, then surely he was someone that they could trust although guardedly.
The demon lord stretched his father's heavenly heirloom over the children's bodies looking for that inauspicious sight; the guardians of the underworld, and he wasn't disappointed, because there they were the little imps dragging the tiny souls to damnation. With one arc of his sword he cut the netherworld creatures sending them back from whence they came and waited.
He waited until he felt the first tiny hint of life then walked away. The children woke up coughing and gasping for air but they were fine. The frightened but relieved mother ran to them after being prompt by Kagome to do so, she hugged and kissed her little ones in joy and gratitude.
That incident a month ago had turned everything around, Kagome and the children couldn't be more pleased by their good fortune. Later in the evening the official opening of the community center would commence. The lord of the town would attend, so would the town elders and priest, and the entire village. Shippo and the children had been waiting a long time to put on their magnificent show.
It was a raw scream of excruciating birthing pains that had Ryoma running barefooted to his mate's chambers, his pulse wild, his throat dry as the moment finally arrived. A second scream chased the first one joined by incoherent moans and groans.
It sounded like she was being tortured. Ryoma almost tore the door from its hinges in a bid to save her life, however, it was too late. Seira was drenched in sweat and blood that pooled from her stomach onto the floor beneath. His offspring's had hatched and ate their way out of their mother's stomach.
The image was unsettling as his mate's body lies broken and bleeding in a grotesque angle on the bed. He could tell that she was dying, but her body still twitched with the draining of her essences.
He couldn't move as the bloody dragonlings pecked at the open wound eating the surrounding flesh. A gurgling sound came from her blood filled throat as she tried to speak, but the words did not make it pass her lips. She was suffering and he couldn't bear to watch, regardless, he had to do something.
He stepped closer and held his children by their wings and placed them into the crib that was made for them, they wouldn't need it. Their development would be quick. For a full minute her body spasm, ragged breath escaped her lips.
He sat on the blood soaked sheets and turned her to him. Siera's eyes barely opened with the life and shine sucked out of them. She would die and there was nothing he could do for her at this point, it would be a slow painful death. The least he could do was to put her out of her misery.
His blood throbbed beneath his veins making him hot and uncomfortable; he leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead, while the hand at his side came to her neck. One sharp index finger pressed to it moving left to right with quick precision that cut her throat and with it her jugular.
He watched as if in a trance as her dark red blood flowed and sprayed onto his face catching his eyes. In the end he didn't hate her, it was the bitch lady Harumi that he desired with an obsessiveness born out of hatred, lust and danger. He would make her pay as well as her bloodline.
Closing his eyes briefly and turning away from the disturbing sight, he proceeded towards the crib, but something flashed across his senses causing him to turn around quickly.
The uneaten half of his mate stomach was moving, eyes widened in shock at the most baffling picture. His feet moved on their own accord taking him to the bedside. He watched engrossed as her belly undulated multiple times.
Could it be? He wondered as the movements within her never seized. There wasn't any other logical explanation in his mind. Hands flashed forward digging into his mate's entrails, and he felt it. Another little life was present, but this life force was encased in a bubble, a placenta.
Carefully he cut the rubbery casing and pulled the infant out. No words could adequately explain his feelings; he was as shocked as he was pleased.
The infant was humanoid, and after wiping it clean he saw how beautiful the baby was, black silky hair much like his own covered the head, and when the eyes opened they were pure gold, and it was a female and healthy. The other two were males much like him. His daughter he wondered about as he held her close and kissed her tiny forehead.