CYCLE OF RIN

By Lady JenDragon

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Author's Notes: …

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Delivery

Alone in the quiet of the afternoon, Sesshomaru placed Rin her bed. Covering her with the blanket, he felt the birth of his daughter imminent. His amber eyes stared down at the woman who used the Fang Cross on would-be suitor demons seeking to covet the Demon Bearer as their own. She refused all of them.

Rin chose him.

The idea would be ludicrous had it not been for their physical encounters during her pregnancy. She resisted the idea he would care for her, his abandonment never forgotten. To attempt to commit suicide to escape her fate, while pointless, showed she had been willing to die to avoid becoming his human. His child had prevented her from dying.

He allowed his thumb to cross her lips, soft lips he had kissed before but never understood their meaning. His hand held her fingers, fingers whose touch was soft and caring. Remembrance of those nights Rin spent feeding him, holding him, surrendering beneath him. She fought him, she fought herself, all along the way. Those nights he allowed himself to believe were necessary to maintain his possession of the Demon Bearer, he had been a fool to believe meant little else.

"Father…" His eyes rose to the wooden wall opposite him and used a word he did not allow himself to utilize often. "I finally understand you."

Sesshomaru heard the arrival of the demon cat along with the demonslayer and miko. They would take care of Rin during the birthing process. He would remain close by until his daughter was born.

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Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku returned to the village exhausted from their battle with Rasengan. They found Rin placed in her hut away from the village sleeping soundly. Sango and Kagome agreed to remain there for the night in case there were side effects from the battle. Inuyasha and Miroku opted to stay for dinner and return the following morning. KiRaRa and Shippo would come to find them if there was a problem.

After dinner was made and served, Inuyasha and Miroku set out home to check on the village. Set about their task of making Rin comfortable, despite her unconsciousness, Sango and Kagome tag-teamed straightening up the place. Fresh water was fetched, blankets were folded and stacked, food was placed in a bowl knowing her appetite would be ferocious when Rin finally woke from her slumber.

Just passing the three month mark, Kagome was suspicious about Rin's pregnancy. At three months, there should only be a small bump at the abdomen. But Rin appeared as if she was full-term to her. Kagome wondered just how long a gestation period was for a demon.

Sango noted the expression of concern. "Kagome?"

She looked up. "You can guess what I'm thinking."

Nodding, Sango replied. "You think it's possible the demon child comes tonight?"

"I know it's way too early but Rin…she looks like she's about to drop." Kagome had been through Sango and her pregnancies to know the difference. "She knocked out from exhaustion."

Sango nodded it was likely. "We'll sleep in here then." She set her mind to the task of making an additional two beds in the room. "If Rin has any problems, we'll know about it."

Within the hour, Kagome and Sango made beds and slipped into them for the night.

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That night, Rin woke to excruciating pains and cramping awaking her friends. Kagome and Sango set into motion Shippo and Miroku to arrive as soon as they were up. Once they arrived, Sango put them on the errands for more towels and hot water. The baby was coming!

Kagome removed Rin's kimono and draped a bed sheet over her to make the birth go smoothly without creating too much laundry. A trick she learned from her grandmother, bless her. Sango kept up a story while Rin moaned and gritted her teeth through each contraction. Rin felt the sweat on her brow as each contraction seemed to get worse than the one before.

After six hours later, and the rising sun greeting the landscape rose above the horizon, a demon baby girl was born in silence, amber eyes open and staring at the ceiling of the hut. Perfectly content with her washing and wrapping in a silk shawl, Kagome placed the baby with the new mommy.

Rin settled quickly now that her daughter was delivered and the contractions stopped altogether. Taking deep breaths to bring her heart rate down, Rin concentrated on mediation while she lay still. It was a good idea to have just the sheet over her when she held her daughter for the first time. She sighed deeply, elated that this ordeal was over. Rin blinked that her hand rested on her flat abdomen…that wasn't right. Kagome and Sango took months for their abdomens to reduce the stretching their children had done to them. Must be a trait of bearing a demon. Rin shrugged it off as nothing.

"Looks just like Sesshomaru, alright." Sango peered at the little bundle smiling.

Babies were babies.

"Sure is." Kagome smiled lifting the child up off the table after rearranging the closure again. "Now let's let Rin feed the little one. She must be hungry."

The amber eyes watched her but remained silent as she placed the baby next to Rin on her right side. Not even a cry. Kagome knew they shouldn't expect a rush of excitement, but a baby was a baby! Sango seemed perplexed that certain things hadn't occurred in this birth that normally did in human childbirth but Kagome shushed her, leaving the two alone to enjoy their first feeding together.

Rin looked at her baby girl with the bright blue moon crescent on her head, her amber eyes staring at her up from the silk bundle as she uncovered her breast to allow the child to feed. The child immediately suckled her breast, fast but not over excited about feeding, draining the sustenance that hardened her bosom. Not a sound emanated out of the child after the birth or during her cleaning. She appeared comfortable with being born into the world. The amber eyes never left Rin's face. And Rin couldn't help but to smile at the daughter that helped her through a most traumatic time in her life.

"Thank you, little daughter." Rin spoke softly.

She wondered what the birth of the child meant for her now. This child was a full demon, a perfect replica of Sesshomaru, only female. But, she didn't see the child as belonging to Sesshomaru at all. Not in her heart anyway. Rin carried this child within her and had fought Rasenaru and a meadow full of demons with the Fang Cross just to deliver this little demon into the world. Sesshomaru had no ability to raise a child, demon or otherwise. Rin would be the one to raise this child to be an amazing person despite her demon origin.

Suddenly, the door opened and Jaken walked into the hut, Sesshomaru ducked beneath the threshold to enter close behind him.

"Where have you been, Jaken?" Rin inquired to Jaken mockingly. "You missed quite a battle."

"I was out on errands." Jaken said defensively lifting his chin.

Which meant he was hiding until he found out if Sesshomaru survived the battle or not. She remembered the Imp's MO and what a coward he was around stronger demons. Rin smiled that Jaken hadn't changed a bit in seven years.

Rin had covered her bosom when Jaken walked in unexpectedly, allowing only the child's face to remain uncovered. Sesshomaru walked to the edge of the bed and peered down at the child. The girl's eyes looked up at her fathers and stopped suckling.

Suddenly Jaken collected the infant, shushed her though that was pointless, and carried the child out of the hut, closing the door behind him.

Rin sat up, keeping her bosom covered with the bed sheet, alarmed that Sesshomaru would just take the child away from her. "Where is Jaken taking her?"

"There is much to be done." Sesshomaru's armor disappeared and his kimono began to invisibly loosen, falling to the floor around him. "The Cycle remains upon you."

She panicked, scrambling out of bed, keeping her form barely covered.

Rin backed away from Sesshomaru against the wall of the hut. "I just gave birth and you…you want to…" This was insane! "No!"

"Come, Rin." Sesshomaru turned towards her, his armor and belt fell away from him. "Resistance is futile."

"I'm just a little demon maker to you!" Rin saw the only door out of her hut was behind Sesshomaru. "I won't stand for it…"

"Do not make arguments, Rin." His eyes stared at her, regarding her with disinterested care to her declaration. "You are the Demon Bearer."

Did Sesshomaru really care for her at all? Part of her wondered if the child just told her what she wanted to hear, needed to hear, to pull her through the battle. This was not how she expected her life to end up! She wanted to be loved, share passion, and be told she mattered to him. Rin was a fool to think otherwise. She blinked grasping to get her emotions in order. His eyes were calculating at the moment.

"I'm a demon slayer!" Rin slid across the wall towards the corner away from him.

"You will continue to slay demons, Rin." His sword belt slid away from him.

Rin felt tears welling up in her eyes, turning from Sesshomaru. "I can't go through this again!"

"This Sesshomaru will not hurt you, Rin." He knew she would find it difficult to accept. Knowing his daughter had drained only one breast of the rich demon nectar, the other calling to him to feed. "Come to me."

Rin slid down the wall, clutching at what resistance she had left, not wanting to have to face another demon pregnancy again.

Suddenly, the room became engulfed in white light, momentarily blinded, she lost all feeling. When the light dissipated, Rin found her body beneath Sesshomaru, his lips latched onto her left nipple, draining her full breast of the demon nectar she produced. The bed sheet gone, her resistance meant nothing to Sesshomaru, his fingers in her wet heat rousing desire she didn't want to give.

"That wasn't fair." Rin knew what was coming next. "Pl…please…"

Sesshomaru said nothing.

In a blink of an eye, Rin felt his reply pushing into her, arching her back as their rhythm began in earnest. Need took over, quieting her complaints, forcing her to accept her unwanted role. Sesshomaru would never give up this right to have full demon children with her. Not until the Cycle ended permanently.

Rin opened her eyes when Sesshomaru pulled her lips to his with such tenderness she hadn't felt before. Momentarily shocked, she responded cautiously, his kiss deepening. Primal need rumbled in his throat, barely controlled, rousing his natural instinct to mate with deep thrusts and slow rhythm. Rin latched onto him, both arms around him just below his shoulders. This would be a long, tender night together. She sighed inwardly letting herself submit to surrender.