Cassayah Chapter 4: Itonami, an inuyasha fanfic

-Disclaimer:InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi

This is not Incest Yaoi, if that sick shit is what your looking for, you should be in therapy, not on a computer.

-note-Ha, knew it was only a matter of time before someone got on my case about my hatred of incest yaoi, and my answer is, no sorry, I won't shut up about it. Were talking about two brothers having sex here, and that is sick, wrong and illegal. I am an incest survivor, I know the hell it does to a persons mind and heart and to see people writing stories about it like it is some big hot sexy thing makes me want to puke all over my keyboard. This is my way of hopefully waking people up to the truth. I cherish my readers, everyone of them. But if someone doesn't like my values, well, im sorry, dont mean to sound rude but, too bad. This is my soapbox, im gonna use it! Hugglies!

-Sesshomaru's fluff is called a Mokomoko-sama. It is a detachable fur piece that becomes his scruff when he is in his true form.

-Cassayah

-Chapter IV

-Itonami

By midday the next day InuYasha and Sesshomaru had reached the palace. InuYasha nervously bit his cheek at the prospect of meeting his fathers previous mate. He had no clue as to the circumstances around their parting ways, but Kagome had assured him it would be okay. As much as he didn't trust Sesshomaru, and hated being in unfamiliar territory, he did trust Kagome's judgment in all things.

His worry as it turned out, at least for the time being, was for naught. Sesshomaru left word with a servant to inform Lady Shan that they had arrived but had an errand to run before making their presence properly known. Then he turned to InuYasha and actually asked him if he would not mind accompanying him on a errand that he preferred not do alone, though it was rather personal in nature.

InuYasha nodded and followed Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru had been quiet all morning, but suddenly he became quite talkative as they walked up a short hillside.

"Cassayah's maidservant found her the next morning, comatose in her bed, her breathing shallow and getting more so by the moment. By the time father and I arrived she was moments from death. Father had brought his new blade, Tenseiga, he had been anxious to try it out but he was greatly upset that his first would be Cassayah. Unfortunately, before she could be revived, she had to die."

InuYasha looked at Sesshomaru with a mixture of pain and sympathy. This was his story, his and Kagome's, that Sesshomaru was telling. The only difference was that Sesshomaru had saved Kagome, and as a consequence, Sesshomaru had saved him as well. Obviously, for one reason or another, Tenseiga hadn't saved Cassayah.
Sesshomaru stopped and nodded at a large Sakura tree "This is the place."
They continued walking to the tree and beneath it were three small grave markers.
"Cassayah and Siam are buried here. One day, I will be buried here as well. It is only right that we stay together ." InuYasha recognized it as the directive it really was and he was both honored that Sesshomaru would trust him with such a request, but he was surprised to realize, sad at the thought of something taking his brothers life. Sesshomaru knelt down between them, placing his hand on the grave on the end. InuYasha squatted down next to him.
"Is this your grandfathers grave?" InuYasha's questioned softly "No. It is..." Sesshomaru choked on his words and InuYasha fell to a knee in shock as a single tear traced Sesshomaru's cheek.

"It is... my daughter. My Liliyah."

-Flashback-

Sesshomaru fought tears as he stroked Cassayah's hand. The hands that had, along with two others, helped him so many years ago terrorize the western lands. They were the hands of the kindest being he had ever known, would ever know, the hands that had touched him so lovingly only hours before, the only hands he had ever allowed to touch him in such a way. The hands that were dying.

"Sesshomaru." Sesshomaru looked up at his father, sitting at the other side of the futon. "I believe her heart has stopped. It's time."

"Father, please. Please bring her back to me. Please."

"I shall do everything within my power my son, you have my most honorable promise as the Inu no Tashio, Lord of the Western Lands, and most importantly as your father."

Sesshomaru nodded and backed away to the terrace doors. The Inu no Tashio swept Tenseiga from it's sheath and concentrated over Cassayah's body.

"I see them Sesshomaru" He smiled slightly "Just as Totosai said I would, I see them, the pallbearers of the otherworld." He took a mighty swing and Cassayah's body jolted off the bed slightly and she gasped, yet did not regain consciousness.

"Father...why did she not wake?"

"I know not Sesshomaru." He stepped to the door and beckoned a servant to bring Totosai who was staying at Castle Inu no Tashio for several days. He turned back into the room and regained his place next to the futon just as a scent began overflowing the room.

"Sesshomaru, have you mated Cassayah?"

"She was not mated father, you know as well as I that she wished to mate Siam ..."

"Someone has mated this girl without completing the blood bond.. If it was you speak up boy."

"It was I father."

"And why pray tell was it not completed?" The Inu no Tashio was across the room in seconds, his blow landed swift and hard, sending Sesshomaru sprawling from his chair, then he pulled his fighting sword and held it to Sesshomaru's throat.

"Think you that you can take this girls innocence, share no blood, leave no mark, and then go off on your way with no responsibilities or debts?" His voice was low, yet full full of rage.

"No! Of course not!" Sesshomaru got his legs under him and stumbled backwards, trying to get as far away from the blade as possible. He knew his fathers temper, he also knew how protective his father was when it came to the female gender. He had seen his father kill ten of his own yokai guards who had mistaken relatives for common prostitutes and made the mistake of getting overly familiar with them.

Cassayah may not have been a blood relation but that was an invisible distinction as far as the Inu no Tashio was concerned. He had loved the girl as his own from the first time she told Sesshomaru she could "Kick his scrawny ass" and then went on to nearly prove it.

"I wished to..." Sesshomaru's voice was filled with the tears he dare not shed "She did not." Sesshomaru's back was against the wall and the gravity of the past months caved in on him at once. The loss of his two dearest friends in the world, the loss of the woman he had longed to spend his immortality with. He sank to the floor, his head in his hands.

"She did not love me and wished to not see me spend my life with a mate who did not love though I loved her more than enough for both of us."

If it had been anything else the Inu no Tashio might have been able to retain his anger, but to have a mate that did not love was the one thing he understood far too well. His mating to Shankoutetsu was an arrangement, a way of guaranteeing an heir for the Western Lands.

These kind of matings didn't involve the blood bond, on some occasions the mates would grow fond of one another, then the bond would be completed. Even rarer still, occasionally, mates would actually find love. That hadn't happened with the Lord Inu no Tashio and Lady Shankoutetsu of the Western Lands.

She, like Cassayah, loved another.

Now he lived with the reminder everyday, not that she said anything.

She didn't have to.

It was in her smile, it was the pain in her eyes that only dissipated when Sesshomaru was about, her son was the love of her life. Her only love.

Not if Lord Inu no Tashio had any say about it.

He vowed to himself he would one day set her free. Every time he picked up the scent of her tears while she cried silently late at night, he thought his heart would break for her pain. She thought he was asleep but he lay awake, silently wishing he could comfort her. Instead, he had silently promised her over and over again that as soon as Sesshomaru was mature enough to understand he would set her free. Yet as their son matured he seemed to need her even more and the day had yet to come.

Looking now at his son, the Lord wondered if it would ever come. Sesshomaru was lost and broken, blood bond or not, he was looking at a yokai who had lost his mate.

Yet he had nothing to tell him that would ease his pain, only make it worse. He knelt down before him and pulled Sesshomaru's hands from his face.

"My son. Cassayah..." Sesshomaru turned away "Sesshomaru, please listen this is of grave importance and you may have to make a decision very soon."

Sesshomaru turned back, for the first time fear and resignation warred in his eyes for control.

"Sesshomaru, Cassayah is pregnant."

"She...how can that be? We stopped before..."

"The seed of the InuYokai is very powerful to assure future generations, you know this. One does not have to..." He trailed off as Sesshomaru rose off the floor and began to pace.

"You are telling me father, that I am not only going to lose..." he stopped, choking on the words. Sesshomaru's face twisted in pain as his knees went weak beneath him and he seemed to slowly sag to floor.

Sesshomaru took a deep breath and began again. "You are telling me father, that I am not only going to lose Cassayah, but a pup as well?"

"We must wait for Totosai to come, he will likely know why Tenseiga failed to completely bring her back. She is still alive Sesshomaru, do not give up hope yet."

Sesshomaru nodded and moved to the top of the futon and undid the top ties of Cassayah's sleep yukata, baring her neck.

"Sesshomaru?"

"She is alive, I wish to complete the blood bond."

"That would not be wise Sesshomaru."

"She is the mate of my heart, carrying my pup. It is proper and will be done."

"We do not know what kind of poison she drank Sesshomaru, or if she drank poison at all. Her blood could be dangerous and could end up killing you as well."

"Perhaps then that is our destiny."

"Be not a fool Sesshomaru! Think you that I will allow this before the nature of her death has been ascertained?" He pulled the yukata closed

"Lord Inu no Tashio?" a servant announced Totosai's presence and a request to speak in private .

"Of course. I warn you Sesshomaru. Do not act in haste ." He left Sesshomaru alone with Cassayah.

"Cassayah..." He picked up her hand and knelt low so his face was close to hers. "Why did you do this? Did you think that I did not love you?"

Her face was so still, lips silent. Sesshomaru bent over her and kissed her softly.

"Were going to have a pup Cassayah...did you know? Is that why you did this? Did you pick up the scent and get scared because we didn't complete the blood bonding? Were you that silly?"

Sesshomaru began to feel guilt and self loathing creep up his spine. Was this his fault because she was trying to protect him?

"Damn it Cassayah! You little fool! Don't you know that you were...that you are and will always be the mate of my heart? I don't want anyone but you...it will be you for life, I shall touch no other and no other shall touch me. I am yours! " Sesshomaru buried his head in her hair, allowing his tears to fall freely and pulled her into his arms.

When he looked up he saw her neck, once again bared. Without thinking he sank his fangs in, drinking deeply, he licked her wounds until they sealed, then pulled back and cut into his own neck and bared it to her lips.

For a moment he could have sworn he felt her tongue on his skin, lapping on his own wound, and when he pulled back it had already sealed.

He hadn't a chance to wipe the blood from her lips before the Lord and Totosai entered.

"Damn you Sesshomaru!You do not follow orders do you boy."

"This Sesshomaru was not given an order father."

Lord Inu no Tashio gave Sesshomaru a final look then moved out of the way so Totosai could enter. How could he be angry at the boy when he would have done the same thing?

Totosai examined Cassayah and held Tenseiga over her, then he sighed sadly.

"This girl has no desire for life, without that desire, Tenseiga will not revive her."

"Shit...bullshit! she started breathing again...she..." Sesshomaru began

"It was the pup's will to live that brought her back."

"The pup?"

"Yes, this one has a strong will and perhaps can survive."

"How can the pup survive? Cassayah is gone, you said so." The lord was getting agitated.

Totosai reached inside a pocket of his carryall and pulled out an odd necklace with a clear glowing heart shape of crystal with a pulsing dot of red in the middle.

"This is an Itonami stone. Put around the girls neck it should sustain her life until the pup matures enough to live on it's own. However, you will need to feed the pup by giving the girl a ration of your blood every day. When the pup is born, you must immediately remove the stone.

"Her soul now lingers in deep sleep, waiting to be set free. It can not be awoken in this body so do not hold onto that hope by keeping her alive longer than you must."

"If she's alive, isn't there some chance..."

"This girl is already dead fool!" Totosai raged "It is the pup holding her body to life. If you think to leave her in this state forever you will damn her soul to eternal unrest and she will never find peace. If that is your plan I will take the stone with me now and be done with you!"

Sesshomaru lunged forward, claws bared to attack to old man but found himself restrained by his father instead.

"Place the stone Totosai, I give my word it will be removed."

Totosai nodded and placed the stone around Cassayah's neck.

-End Flashback-

InuYasha and Sesshomaru had begun the walk back to the castle, Sesshomaru's words still lingering in InuYasha's ears.

"Why have I never heard of the..." InuYasha began

"Itonami stone." Sesshomaru supplied "They were rare to begin with, then greedy harpies discovered the sacred cave where the few remaining Itonami stalagmites remained and attempted to steal them, not knowing that there were procedures that had to be carefully followed when harvesting the stalagmites. The harpies were found dead and the Itonami was tainted. It is for the best, however, that it is gone."

"For the best?A stone that could sustain life?"

"Were you not listening little brother?" Sesshomaru looked at InuYasha non-combatively "It was life true, but it was not real life. The Itonami Stone was meant for situations like Cassayah, to give a pup a chance to live when the mother has died. It's far too easy to forget that distinction when you are in the middle of it."

"I do not understand." InuYasha shook his head, feeling stupid, like he was missing something obvious.

"You know this Sesshomaru and yet you do not understand? Though father made the promise to Totosai to remove the Itonami Stone, I had not, I made perfectly clear that no one else would either. I guess you could say that was the beginning of the rebirth of Lord Sesshomaru.

"I immediately moved Cassayah to my suite of rooms at Castle Inu no Tashio, over her mothers protests. I reasoned that as her mate, it was my right. I suppose that was my first truly heartless act, taking the child from her mother. The second was that allowed no one else near her. I washed her hair and bathed her. It was my blood the pup needed to survive. I spend hours, days, laying beside her, watching our pup grow and later feeling her move under my hand.

"After seven months I finally relaxed a little and allowed mother and father in, and Cassayah's mother came to see her daughter one last time before she moved to the mainland. She was cold as winter to me, but I could not have cared less."

"Two days later, I had just finished feeding Cassayah.. the pup when I felt a rush of wetness under my legs. I sent for mother and she rushed in several moments later. Cassayah was in labor and it was far too soon. Our daughter was born six hours later. I held her tiny body to my bare chest, sharing my body heat, then I put a blanket over her and sat in a motion chair by a window, watching the rites of spring. The first thing I noticed was the small field of Lilies that sat by the tree where Cassayah, Siam and I use to play when we were small. I decided then that her name was Liliyah. I laid my hand on her back feeling it move softly up and down. Three hours later, it stopped moving and my tiny sweet Liliyah was gone."

"Kami, Sesshomaru...why didn't you tell me..."

"We hate each other remember?"

"Hated. In the past...at least for me."

"I have not talked to anyone about Cassayah in four hundred years, recently after my travels with Kagome it was brought to my attention that I was trying to change history by saving Kagome from you, though she did not want, nor need saving. I realized it to be true thus decided the time had come to deal with ghosts so Kagome says. I had no intended to go to the graves, nor to speak of Liliyah, I have never spoken of her to anyone. I thought Kagome should be the one to hear my story, but I realize now, that is all Kagome could have done."

"What do you mean?" InuYasha wasn't sure if that was an insult or not, he kept walking, his face forward staring ahead. Sesshomaru reached out his hand and stopped him, turning him to face him.

"I mean that Kagome would have listened and cared, but you understand. You have lost someone you loved as well."

"Yeah" He looked away, wondering sadly if Kikyo had moved on yet. "I guess Kagome knew what she was doing sending me along eh?"

Sesshomaru sat under a tree, followed by InuYasha.

"It still pains you."

"Sure, there will always be a part of Kikyo with me."

"Kagome..."

"Kagome understands. It's how it is when you love someone. It's just...it's like..., it's been four hundred years...has Cassayah left you?"

Sesshomaru shook his head.

"Keh, Fuck, I've been losing Kikyo over and over since Kagome woke me from the tree. It helps some, knowing this time is for real and on her own terms. That it isn't Naraku making the choice but Kikyo herself."

"I do not understand how you can be so calm. I nearly lost my mind when Liliyah died, when I turned back to Cassayah I discovered that mother had removed the Itonami Stone...

-Flashback-

"Mother!"

Sesshomaru tore through the halls of Castle Inu no Tashio in search of Lady Shankoutetsu.

"Damn it Mother! Where in FUCK sakes are you?!"

Lord Inu no Tashio stepped from his drawing room.

"Sesshomaru...what..."

Sesshomaru whirled on him, a dervish on a full scale attack.

"Where is that accursed mother of mine?"

"I do not know, what has gotten into you?"

"That...that..."Sesshomaru's rage was at full tilt

"That BITCH killed Cassayah!"

"Sesshomaru, you will not speak that way of your mother."

"Be damned to hell, she stole the Itonami stone from my mates neck and allowed her to die and you chastise my manners?"

"I did not steal the stone." Lady Shan appeared behind Lord Inu no Tashio

"Totosai's orders were to remove the stone immediately."

"YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!"

"Sesshomaru, please calm down..." She reached for him and he pulled away.

"What gives you the right to fuck with my family mother? Because yours is so perfect? You and father can barely stand one another and why? Because you would rather be fucking someone else."

Lady Shankoutetsu's slap rang out loud in the hallway, spinning Sesshomaru partially around.

"Now Sesshomaru, let's speak of this calmly..."

"Go to hell mother. I'm going back to my mate and daughter."

"They have already been removed and placed in their pyre." Lord Inu no Tashio stepped in.

"You what?!" Sesshomaru ran from the castle to the area used for cremations.

He found the door barred and he banged on it.