I do not own Inuyasha. Not mine. Never will be.

All Are Architects of Fate

("Night")

Into the darkness and the hush of night

Slowly the landscape sinks, and fades away,

And with it fade the phantoms of the day,

The ghosts of men and things, that haunt the light,

The crowd, the clamor, the pursuit, the flight,

The unprofitable splendor and display,

The agitations, and the cares that prey

Upon our hearts, all vanish out of sight.

The better life begins; the world no more

Molests us; all its records we erase

From the dull common-place book of our lives,

That like a palimpsest is written o'er

With trivial incidents of time and place,

And lo! the ideal, hidden beneath, revives.

Longfellow

The palace was haunted at night. No specters walked its halls, nor long dead visages crept along, whispering their dark intent. It was haunted with the thoughts of men. Perched on the banister of his balcony with one knee drawn to his chest, he looked out over the vast gardens of his brother's palace. There was a child now between them, his beloved and his blood. A child he knew the both wanted but were afraid to have so soon. He could see it in her and, faintly, in him. He'd known the stoic Taiyokai long enough to realize where his true emotions lay. As he'd watched his brother's gaze while Miroku had been attempting to detect the child, Inuyasha had noticed a flash of emotion. Sesshomaru's gaze seemed haunted by something held deep within his soul. What was it, he wondered? He knew what was bothering him. He knew what was plaguing his otherwise easy sleep.

It had been years since the hanyou had actually slept in a bed, however, when he did of late, he found that the soft curves of the mattress stole away all his cares and he slept as if he were still only a child in his mother's house. It was why he refused to go to bed even though he felt his oncoming exhaustion. He was lying to Kagome. She'd asked him for one simple thing. She'd asked him for complete disclosure and honesty and now, when he should have been keeping his promise, he found himself lying to the beautiful miko he loved so deeply.

They say if you love someone, you'll do anything to protect them. She can read you like a book, or so she thinks. She doesn't realize how good a liar you are… Perhaps she should by now, but she doesn't. I'm lying to her and I know that, if I don't, it will mean her life, but I can't help but feel like a traitor. All she asked for to regain her trust was my honesty and I'm breaking my word at the first test. Maybe someday she'll give me another chance. Maybe she'll see… But who am I kidding? Sesshomaru wouldn't help her understand. He'd be the only one who could and he wouldn't. This is like a dream for him. He can take me out and protect his mate all in one action and never needs to save me… It's his perfect opportunity to take everything from me. As if he hasn't already.

He looked at his sword where it was leaning against the banister near him. He scowled softly and looked back into the night sky.

I wonder if he even realizes that I know? That I know, if Kikyo had not pinned me to that tree for fifty years, that I would have been our father's successor… I wonder if he knows that if my mother hadn't made the decision to raise me within the human court after Inu no Taisho had died, that I would have been made his ward. I wonder a lot of things. I know why he hates me. I get it. Or at least where the hatred began… He has every right to hate me, or at least our father. I didn't ask to be made successor over him. I didn't ask to be given his sword. I didn't ask for any of it. I didn't even ask to be born and yet… I know if I were in his same position, I would feel the same way. I don't know what happened to him, not the way Kagome does, but I understand the kind of pain he must have felt because of our father's actions. I know I feel the pain of it every day. I ask myself what might have happened if I'd been the second son of Satori and Inu no Taisho. I loved my mother, but… My whole life I've wanted to know what it was like to be a part of a whole family. I almost had that with Miroku, Sango and Shippo… And Kagome. When it was just us. Now… I don't think I'll ever find a way to regain her trust. Not now. Not after this. But at least she and her child will be safe. At least she'll be happy with him. With my brother. And maybe, someday, if I'm lucky, she'll call me her friend again.

Across the courtyard, hidden by the tall trees on the edge of Rin's field, he stood, leaning heavily while he, also, gazed up at the stars with inky, indigo eyes. His mind traveled back to the afternoon as he had traversed his spiritual sister's energies and had come upon the tiny life force growing so steadily and strongly in her womb. It was further along than a human baby should have been, but not so far along as a pure youkai baby would have been. Hanyou, but incredibly powerful already. He supposed that he should have informed Sesshomaru of that as well, but he had not.

What good would it have done? The Taiyoukai is already beyond headstrong and proud. To know his child seems to already show the potential to surpass both Inuyasha and Naraku… He would probably drown in conceit. But it isn't his blood that makes the baby so strong. It's hers. Kagome. Her miko powers are present in the child as well as these… Almost divine energies she now possesses. But what are they? They aren't like any spiritual powers I've ever encountered and yet… They seem so familiar somehow. As if I've experienced them before. Or their mirror before…

His eyes shifted down to his palm. The prayer beads were protecting him, but he could see the black void swirling just beneath the holy object. It was Naraku's curse. He'd inherited it from his father upon his death. Sucked into its vast abyss, turned inside out, leaving only a crater behind.

Sango. I love you, but as much as I do… As much as I say again and again that I wish for someone, anyone, to bear my child, I know I couldn't do that. Not to my own blood. Not to yours. You deserve someone who won't curse your children with his very existence. I won't allow you to carry that. Anything I give you would only be an abomination as I am… They'd inherit my curse as I inherited it. Maybe, if Naraku is defeated before this wretched thing consumes me, I will be with you as you deserve, but until then… I can't chance it… I can't do what Sesshomaru and Kagome have done. They took a chance knowing they could protect any child they might conceive. They knew they wouldn't curse their child, as I know I would curse ours. I wish someday you could understand that. And as for this… This blackness that threatens to devour everything I love… It is the mirror of Kagome's new abilities. This is not evil just as her power is not good. This is the power of the abyss. Of the void. Of nothingness. Kagome's power, then, must be everything else. Connection, life, and all that is flowing through her. It isn't that she does not have access to her powers… That isn't why she becomes exhausted so easily when she uses them… Oh Kami…

He looked toward the palace and felt a twinge of fear and wonder cross over his heart. It was a kind of awful, awesome realization that left him more shaken than the day he had inherited his father's curse.

Your body can't take it. You are only a mortal human woman. Even with Sesshomaru's vitality and bond, even if you were a full-blooded youkai, you would not be able to contain such power if you used it to its full extent… Midoriko did once and it ended her. She did what you must never do, Kagome… In the morning I will tell Sesshomaru. I should tell him about his son as well. Both of them must never allow themselves to use their full powers or else it will happen all over again. There can never be another Shikon no Tama.

The walls of his room seemed confining. He lay panting with his face pressed into the cushioning of his mattress as another wave of extreme pain passed through him. It had started that afternoon, but he had told no one. What could they do? This was natural for kitsune when they reached their second century. No one could help him. They could only watch as he changed, shifted and became what was destined for him to become. He whimpered, but the sound was deeper now than it had been hours before. The first shift was the hardest, or so his father had told him. It was when his human aspect would become full-grown. What was painful about it was not that he went from being barely an arm full to the six foot, rusty haired man who now curled on his side in agonizing pain. That had been like beating Inuyasha at the hand held video games that Kagome had brought from her time for him to play with compared to the emotional and spiritual pain he underwent. His childish, impish spirit had shifted as hormones and adult thoughts, once only shadows in his mind, flooded to the surface. It was usually during this shift that his kind would seek out their mates, but he refused with everything that was left of the child Shippo within him. He fought it because he knew whom he wanted and the desired one was not only too young and nowhere near ready to be claimed, but she meant certain death for him if he even considered claiming her.

Rin…

She had been his only thought before each overwhelming wave of pain. The thought both ripped through him and reminded him why he was fighting his base instincts. He felt deeply for the girl, perhaps even was falling in love with her, but he saw how she looked at Kohaku. She was barely eleven, but her eyes shone in the same way Kagome's did when she once had looked at Inuyasha and, now, as they always did when she met the gaze of Sesshomaru. He knew Rin loved Kohaku, and why should she not? They'd traveled together with Sesshomaru for a while and had time to learn each other as she and Shippo never had. They were friends. If he gave in to his instincts, he would harm her. He could not harm her. He refused to harm her. He muffled his cries into his pillow as the final shift overtook him. His single tail split into nine and he shifted into his final kitsune form. He was small, but power radiated off of him in waves. He was more powerful than even his father had been. In a quick, graceful movement, he darted out of his window and into the night. He did not intend to take a mate, but running certainly would help him not succumb to his instincts concerning the beautiful, innocent girl asleep only a room away from him. It was wrong to want her, wrong to even consider her, and he knew it. His desire would fade by morning, when his powers ceased their churning and his instincts returned to their latent din at the back of his mind. He would not stop, fearing that those new and overwhelming desires would lead him to harm another innocent human or mate another kitsune he did not even know.

It would have been different if his father had not been killed. His father would have chosen another kitsune for him to mate. One as near to his shift as he was. They would have been placed together near their changing and there would be no fear or need for restraint. Love would have come later. It wouldn't have been his choice, but he wouldn't have been so afraid. He wouldn't have to run. He wouldn't have to have done a lot of things he was forced to do since his shift had begun. The cool of the night knocked away his troubled thoughts and he ran. He ran into the cool along the sky as if it were earth, kissing the heavens with the soft golden glow of his paws. He ran higher as if he thought he could reach the moon. He ran because there was little else to do that would quell the flame in his belly and divert his mind from that single, solitary name that had held him in such rigid, unmoving control.

Rin…

He could still hear his thoughts occasionally, reaching out to him like black, vile tentacles from the depths of his mind. Sesshomaru had taught him how to steel his will against Naraku's invasions. The thoughts, now, were vague, disorienting instances that brought him momentary pain. They reminded him of his betrayal. Not once. Not twice. But over and over and over again. He'd tried to kill his sister so many times it sickened him. He had forced away the memory of her. Only recently had he been able to face what he had done. With the help of Sesshomaru and Rin… Sweet, beautiful Rin, he had been able to find his strength and endure. And then Sango had forgiven him. He couldn't fathom why she would forgive him. Why would she, how could she find that kind of mercy? He remembered her as a great and awe-inspiring warrior. Yet, when he'd asked her forgiveness, she'd broken into tears and embraced him, saying that he had been forgiven even before he'd become overtaken by Naraku's will.

Still, he could not understand. He couldn't understand why she found it so easy to forgive him. He could barely forgive himself even now. He could still see their shocked, confused faces. His family. His fellow warriors. His sister. His beautiful sister with her eyes so wide with disbelief.

He shook off the memory before it could take hold. Then he shook off the presence he felt and blocked his thoughts. For nearly a week, Naraku had slipped into his dreams and thoughts asking him to discover the condition of the miko who had mated with Sesshomaru. Kagome. Naraku wanted to know if she was carrying the Taiyoukai's child. Kohaku had not yet told Sesshomaru. He wasn't sure how he would react to the revelation. Why did Naraku want to know anyway? Aside from the child being a weakness if there was even a child, what could the dark hanyou want with the knowledge? What did it mean? He would have to think on it for a while before he acted on the new knowledge.

He let his thoughts fall back to the object that so often consumed him. Rin. She was his friend and she had such a pure and beautiful soul.

But she is fragile. She's been brought back twice from death and… If she were to die again, there would be nothing that could resurrect her. I must protect her. I know Sesshomaru is occupied with Kagome now, as well he should be. Even Rin does not mind her surrogate father's absence considering she knows how happy the Taiyoukai is with his new mate. But she must be protected at all costs. I will make sure she is safe. I must ensure nothing happens to her. Next to my sister, she is the only reason I fight Naraku at all. His abyss is so near to bliss, so absorbing and comforting that its pull is always seductive. But I will fight for them. For Rin. For Sango. Because they are worth the fight. They are worth living for. They are worth dying for.

He smoothed her hair as she slept. She was so beautiful while she slumbered, though she was beautiful no matter when he looked on her, however he found himself entranced with her while she dreamed. He'd woken her only once since she'd drifted off after fighting so hard to allow Miroku access to their child. He'd helped her sit up and then fed her the clear broth and rice he'd ordered from the kitchen upon returning to the palace. Some color had returned to her features and he felt his worry ebb.

The healers had looked over her and, while they could not attest to the state of the child, they could say that the pregnancy would be accelerated because of the child's youkai blood. What should take nine months for a human or three for a demon, they told him, would take five because the child would be a hanyou. And he didn't care. The child was theirs and it would be perfect. The only difficulty he was having stemmed from the fact that he could not smell her pregnancy or sense the child as it grew. With his keen senses and their bond, he should have been able to do both, but he had neither. All he had was his sick, weak mate curled against him, as their child grew unknown and unseen until her belly began to grow.

He found himself trying to envision what the child would look like. If Inuyasha were any indication, the inuyoukai blood would be strong in the child. In all likelihood, it would possess a tail or ears. Its eyes would be golden. Its hair would be silver or white. However, if he were lucky, the child would inherit at least the pleasant, beautiful shape of its mother's eyes and her warm smile. He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed softly. He would have rather that their children inherit her ebony tresses. In fact, at least on one occasion, he had caught himself considering that the children would be better served resembling their mother entirely. It was not because he disliked his own looks. He knew himself to be rather vain, in fact. It was simply that he so enjoyed looking at her and admiring the way her spirit shown through the darkness of her features, like starlight through the night sky. As much as he enjoyed his own looks, part of him couldn't have cared less if his children had any of his features, so long as when he looked on them he could see the part that was her.

He curled around her and breathed her in deeply, hoping some trace of the child would show its self. He was not so lucky. It was her scent alone. The beautiful scent that was Kagome coupled with her exotic chamomile and lavender. He rested his hand over her abdomen as he pulled her flush with his chest. He kissed the nape of her neck with a delicate weight.

As happy as he was, he was also worried. Wheels were in motion now that he had minimal control over, if any at all. He did not like being out of control. He had asserted himself as alpha over the other two males who longed for his mate as palpably as if they were present in his own chambers, watching them curled together. And still there was fear. Fear of losing her. Fear of losing the child she had made all but invisible deep in her womb. Fear of being alone again.

Is this what you meant, Father? Is this why you wanted me to have someone to fight for? So that I might learn to use my fear to protect what I love? It is a strength I've never been able to understand until now and yet… It is a fragile strength. Entirely dependant on her continuing presence… Sometimes I wonder what you must have done, Father, to have driven my mother away. I hate her for leaving. For taking Miyoko. Even more that she refused to tell me anything of my sister's well being. But it was not always so. She left us for a reason. Part of me wishes I knew so I could avoid your same mistake, but I am not you. Kagome is not Satori. I promised her myself and she promised me herself forever. Not only for when it was convenient or when we agreed. If we survive, she will understand that. She has to understand that. I do not want to fight. I do not want to draw her into battle, but if we do not fight Naraku will never stop. He will be at our backs until the day we either defeat him or he finds an opening or weakness. The momentary danger is worth the risk for a life of never having to glance over our shoulders. She will understand that. She must understand that. I only pray she can forgive me. The final decision has been mine.

"So you've returned."

He felt the bile rise in his throat as he approached the dark hanyou. "I have news."

"Oh? Worth me enduring your stench, I hope."

He scowled and wondered who he thought he was kidding. Naraku smelled of decay and death. He knew himself to be impeccably clean. "Worth more than that simple tolerance, I'm sure."

He turned his crimson stare to meet the crystal blue of his visitor. "Do tell."

"First, I want to know. Why would you want to have their child, if she conceives?"

Naraku chuckled deeply. "That is my secret."

"You expect me to tell you what I know when you don't reveal anything?" Kouga scoffed angrily. "Should I leave without revealing what I know?"

Naraku snarled and looked away, suddenly enraged. It was the nature of hanyou that their youkai and human blood created volatile, unstable personalities. Very few ever could control the heat as well as the chill of their blood as it commingled with their veins. "I will tell you because the reason is easily deduced if one had half a brain to think with. I want the child because it will be his heir. Sesshomaru is uncontrollable. His heir would be… Malleable. I would raise their child as my general so that I would have a foot hold in the West and with their allies on the continent."

Kouga raised a brow. He wondered, now, if it was wise to reveal his knowledge so soon. But he could not turn back now. His only hope was, once this was through, she could learn to forgive him. "She's carrying his heir. She could be no more than a month along, but hanyou are not carried as long as human babies, so I am told. She could deliver as soon as four months from now."

Naraku smiled darkly. His anger faded back until the chill of his demeanor returned. "You will return to them. The month before she is due to give birth, you will return to me, here, and I will reveal my plans to you."

"And you will uphold your end of our bargain? She will not be harmed?"

"I will not harm her, you have my word. And Sesshomaru will indeed die. I am nothing if not a creature of my word. Now go, you tire me with your presence."

Naraku turned his gaze from the wolf just as Kouga raced away to return to the confines of the castle. The youkai felt a heavy weight in his heart and, for the first time, wondered if he had made the correct choice. His hand touched the acid marks on his throat where he'd been marked as Sesshomaru's Omega. His eyes hardened. It was all in motion now. He could not turn back. He had to have faith now that she would be all right. Kagome would be safe; he would make sure of it… And if he was truly lucky, she could learn to forgive him in time. Even if she did not, at least he would know he had done what was right. He would know that he had done everything for the right reasons.