Disclaimer: I only own Saisyo, and a couple other characters that come into the picture in this chapter... :P
Notes: Hehe...
Saisyo had finally got her energy back, so she, Sesshomaru, and Rin were going for a walk in the forest. Rin was sitting on his shoulders while pulling off cherry blossoms and sprinkling them all over him and Saisyo. "There," she said, plucking off a cluster of them over head and leaning over to put them behind her mother's ear, "Now both of you look pretty!"
Saisyo laughed, making her stomach hurt and pause for a moment before continuing to walk. "Are you alright?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine,"
He picked her up and carried her bridal style. "Sesshomaru, you don't have to carry me, I know that I'm probably really heavy at the moment." She laughed again.
He looked at her funny. "You're not heavy at all," he said, choosing his words carefully. He had said the wrong thing at the wrong time too many times for his liking, and she was moody enough anyways...
She smiled at him, knowing that he's been having a hard time with her lately. "I'm sorry, but I can't control my emotions anymore,"
"Don't apologize to me, it's not your fault."
Saisyo closed her eyes and let the gentle gliding motion of Sesshomaru's walk soothe her. Suddenly she felt a shooting pain throughout her body and shuddered while suppressing a groan. "Momma, are you okay?" asked Rin sincerely.
Saisyo smiled at her. "Yes, thank you, Rin,"
Sesshomaru suddenly stopped, almost unseating Rin from his shoulders. "What's the matter, Daddy?" she asked after regaining her balance and steadying herself.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Saisyo asked.
"You can't feel it?" Sesshomaru said, feeling a wet spot on his arm.
"Feel what?"
"You... You're water broke..." he replied in awe.
"Oh, crap... Well, then... We'd better get back to the village, huh?" Saisyo said weakly with a small smile, then passing out in his arms.
'Dammit!' Sesshomaru yelled at himself, 'Stop panicking and get her back there!'
"Rin, you may want to hold on, Saisyo needs to get back to the village. Fast."
"Okay," she replied as he began running back through the forest.
Sesshomaru ran so that Saisyo wouldn't be bounced around too much; his feet hardly even seemed to touch the ground! When he got back to the village, he saw a woman walking with her child. He stopped and asked her to get Kaede. She first looked suspiciously at the youkai standing before her, then saw the human child with him, and a sweating lady in his arms and changed her mind about him. "Hai!"
While she ran off, Saisyo woke up. "Sesshomaru..." she said meekly.
"What is it?"
"Sorry about your kimono,"
"Don't worry about the kimono, just try to stay awake, alright?" Sesshomaru urged her.
She nodded in answer and groaned as another surge of pain racked her body. Rin began to cry at seeing her mother in so much pain. "Rin," Saisyo said, "You know I hate to see you cry like this..."
"I know," Rin sniffed, "But I hate seeing you hurt."
"I won't hurt for long," Saisyo replied with a smile and a laugh.
Rin wiped away her tears and force a smile also. Sesshomaru held Saisyo in one arm while he helped Rin down from his shoulders with the other, then he wiped some on the sweat off of Saisyo's face. "Don't worry, I'll be by your side the whole time," he comforted.
"Sesshomaru, you know men aren't allowed-"
"I don't care. I want to help you, so I will and they can't stop me." he said, ending the subject matter.
"Rin," Saisyo asked.
"Yes, Mommy?"
"Stay with Sango, okay?"
"Okay,"
Soon, Kaede and Kagome came into view. Seeing a clearly in pain Saisyo in his arms, they beckoned Sesshomaru to follow them. They entered a hut and he laid her down on a bed, kneeling beside it and holding her hand. "Sesshomaru," Kagome began, but Saisyo interrupted her.
"He's staying!" She saw the hurt look on Kagome's face and added, "I'm sorry, don't take it personally."
"That's okay, I understand completely,"
That's when Kaede told her to push and Sesshomaru got his hand broken... Just kidding, but he might as well have the way Saisyo held it. "DAMMIT!" she screamed, falling back on the bed from her previous sitting position.
Rin heard a scream and stopped walking beside Kilala. "Was that my momma?" she asked Sango.
"Yes," She knelt down in front of her. "But don't worry it won't last too long."
Rin took one last look back at the village and heard another scream, but shrugged it off and hopped up onto Kilala's back with Sango.
Five LOUD hours later...
Kagome ran as fast as she could to go get Rin. She tripped over a rock on the way, and fell down with a squeal. Someone asked, "Are you okay?" and helped her up.
"Oh, thank goodness..." Kagome said, "Rin, come on and follow me!"
She ran alongside Kagome for about five minutes before getting back to the village. They began to walk as soon as they got close to a large hut so they were quiet and could catch their breath. Rin stopped at the door, looking back at Kagome questioningly. "Are you coming?" she asked.
Kagome just smiled widely and stood there with her hands behind her back. "Nope. Go on, your mommy and daddy need to show you something!"
Knowing exactly what it was, Rin smiled and quietly walked through the door. Saisyo was sitting up and holding something in her arms. She looked up at Rin and smiled, patting the bed beside her as a way to tell Rin to come sit with her. Sesshomaru held another one and just stared with wonder.
There was an infant in Saisyo's arms with silver hair, a blue crescent moon on its forehead, and one red stripe on each cheek. "That's the girl," she said quietly.
The baby girl opened her eyes and blinked. They were blue; a blue just like her mother's, light and crystal clear. "What are you going to name her?" Rin asked, still looking at the baby.
Saisyo looked over at Sesshomaru. Almost as if reading her mind, he said, "Akemi... Bright beauty,"
Rin giggled and hopped off the bed and over to the baby that Sesshomaru was holding. "This one is the boy?" she asked.
He nodded and smiled at her. This infant had brunette hair, gold eyes, and the same markings as the girl. "What is his name?" Rin inquired.
Sesshomaru looked at Saisyo who nodded as a way to tell him that he can choose. He thought for a moment, and remembered those words that his father spoke to him so long ago.
"Father, do you insist on going?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Do you intend to stop me, Sesshomaru?" Inu no Taisho replied, not turning around to look at his son.
"I will not stand in your way, however, before you go, you must entrust the swords Sounga and Tessaiga to me."
"And if I refuse... Will you kill me, your own father?"
Sesshomaru stayed silent and Inu no Taisho sighed, annoyed. "Do you desire power so much? Why do you seek power, my son?"
"The path I walk is the way of Supreme Conquest, and it is power that will reveal the way for me," Sesshomaru explained.
"Supreme Conquest..." his father repeated with a smirk. "Tell me, Sesshomaru, have you someone to protect?"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Protect...?" he wondered, then said to his father, "The answer is no. I, Sesshomaru, have no need of such."
He smirked as he remembered that. Now he knew that he had many things to protect, though he didn't have them back then. He looked at Rin and said, "Mamoru. It means 'protect.'"
Saisyo smiled, knowing why he named him that. "In memory of your father?" she didn't expect him to answer, but he surprised her.
"In memory of my father's words." he corrected her.