Chapter 3: Dancing with a Stranger
The club was loud, dark and hot. Nakia was glad the she had chosen the shortest dress she had. Clubs had the tendency to always be very hot. As they walked the D.J. was spinning the latest American hit, SOS by Rhianna.
"It's a time piece, someone come and rescue me!" The speakers were so loud that the whole place seemed to be vibrating from the bass.
"See ya!" Nakia said winking at Inumaru and making her way to the dance floor. Inumaru nodded and made his way to the bar hoping they had alcoholic drinks. He knew that his sister would head out for the dance floor. It was what she loved. She loved the feel of the crowd and the music beating in the air. She had been dancing since she had started walking. Saphira had put her in ballet classes at three years old. Nakia still took classes when they were in their summer home. It was her dream to attend Juilliard, New York's finest school for dance.
He was about halfway through his third martini when he noticed that everyone on the dance floor had stopped dancing and was cheering a couple on in the center of the crowd. He could see Nakia's red hair flashing when the lights hit her, but he hoped that whoever had decided to take her on was able to keep up. As the cheers got louder he decided to go and investigate the mysterious Asian fellow who could keep up with his sister.
Nakia had been dancing with her cousins when the young man, that reminded her of her brothers approached her.
He smiled and offered to dance with her. She returned the smile and hoped the young man could really dance.
As the music changed, Nakia discovered that the man could dance and matched her step for step, twist for twist. It delighted her to finally find a dancing partner that could keep up.
But it was all interrupted when she felt someone grab her shoulder and pull her away from her dance partner.
"Hey! What's the big id-" Nakia stopped short when she turn to see her brother's angry face. She thought he was about to chastise her for dancing with a stranger, but then she noticed that his anger was directed at the stranger and not her. "Inu? What's wrong?"
"You have no business here," Inumaru growled.
As Nakia looked from the stranger to her brother the similarities were staggering. They could have been brothers. They had those same amber eyes, silver hair, and even the snarl on their lips was the same. Inumaru's eyes though were bigger and rounder, while the stranger's eyes were narrower like Maruchi's.
"Inu, who is this?" Nakia asked nervously, it was a rare occasion when anything or anyone ruffled her oldest brother's feathers.
"Yes, why don't you tell her who I am?" The stranger asked with a voice as smooth as silk.
"We have a date for that later," Inumaru growled. "You will respect your word."
"Don't forget about your promises, boy."
"I am not slow respecting my promises as some may consider slow," Inumaru growled. "But I am patient, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
"Touché," the stranger smiled, showing off his fangs. Nakia gasped in surprise.
The stranger disappeared through the crowd as the music got louder.
"Wait!" Nakia called starting to run after the man but was stopped by Inumaru.
"No, Nakia," Inumaru said grabbing her.
"Why? He was a brilliant dancer!" Nakia pouted.
"We have to wait until Mom can explain things to us," Inumaru replied but continued at Nakia's confused expression. "Your father is indeed the Great Lord Sesshoumaru, Nakia, and an excellent dancer."
Nakia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Nakia! It's time to get up!" Saphira called opening the door to the dark, dark room. "It's like a dungeon in here!"
"Mom!" Nakia whined. "I'm still tired!"
"Well, you shouldn't have stayed out all night dancing!" Saphira replied sternly. "I'm surprised that Inumaru waited so long to drag you back here!"
Nakia only groaned in reply and after Saphira left crawled out of bed, and made her way down to the kitchen.
"So, what did you tell her?" Saphira's voice, although lowered, still bounced off the walls.
"I told her that we had to wait and discuss it with you," Inumaru replied sipping his coffee.
"That's it?" Saphira asked skeptically.
"Well, I did hint at something," Inumaru admitted slowly.
"I knew it," Saphira said narrowing her eyes at him. "Can't keep your mouth shut to save your life!"
"What are you talking about?" Nakia asked coming slowly through the doorway.
Saphira whirled around to face her daughter. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," Nakia replied yawning. "Are you going to tell me what all the fuss is about?"
"When your brother is here, we will discuss what has happened," Saphira said suddenly tired.
"I'm here now, so let's get on with it," Maruchi said sitting at the table beside his siblings.
"Is the great Lord Sesshoumaru really our dad?" Nakia pipped unable to contain her excitement.
Saphira only glared at Inumaru who shrugged innocently.
"How is that possible?" Maruchi asked. "I mean the guy was around more than seven hundred years ago."
"You know that youkai can live for many many centuries," Saphira yawned. "I traveled through the well back to the Feudal Era of Japan. That's where I met Sesshoumaru, and that's how my mother met Inuyasha."
"My real father?" Inumaru asked.
"Yes, he and Sesshoumaru were brothers," Saphira said.
"Were?" Nakia asked looking at her brother's sad expression. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know Nakia," Saphira said. "All I know is that for many years we lived together in peace until the invaders came. Sesshoumaru was hypnotized or something like that. Then he went on a killing spree and killed Inumaru and my mother."
"How is that possible? If Sesshoumaru killed Inumaru, how is he here right now?" Maruchi asked.
"With this," Saphira said picking up an old rusty sword.
"Is that Tensaiga?" Nakia asked with awe. "How did you wield it?"
"With the help of you and your brother," Saphira said smiling through her tears. "You two gave the power to save one, just one, my mother or Inumaru."
Inumaru looked up at the woman who had raised him. She was his sister, but really a mother.
"My mother had lived her life, and I knew that she would have wanted you to live, sweetie," Saphira said rubbing Inumaru's head.
"So, you don't know what happened to Inuyasha?" Maruchi asked.
"No, I assume he died since he left the Tessaiga here for Inumaru," Saphira said with a shrug. "Only Sesshoumaru would know what really happened to Inuyasha."
"I didn't kill him, if that's what you all think," the voice came from the hallway. They all turned to see the man that was their father. The man that had driven their mother away from the past and into the future.
Nakia inhaled sharply, but said nothing.
Saphira sipped her coffee quietly, she had known that he had been waiting in the hallway for the right time to come into the conversation.
"So, what happened?" Maruchi asked without feeling.
"When the invaders came your mother, Inuyasha and I all went out to challenge them," Sesshoumaru began leaning against the door frame. "The invaders brought along a sorceress from the mainland..."
Sesshoumaru knew as soon as the dust hit his eyes that he would be out of control. The scent of the dust gave it away, by the time his brain had caught up with his nose it had been too late.
Saphira had looked at him with terror, but he saw her through blood red, jaded eyes.
"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha had asked approaching him cautiously.
Sesshoumaru had only growled, baring his canine teeth.
"What have you done to him?" Saphira demanded pulling her katana out of its sheath with the sing of metal.
"We've only bent him to our will," Shuhan, the general of the invading army, smiled innocently.
"Now, go and kill!" Screeched the voice from the shadows.
Sesshoumaru had quickly changed into his orb and flew off in the direction of the western lands.
He remembered seeing his servants approach him frantic for news of the invaders. He had cut them all down before they could realize that he was not himself. He made his way through the castle, cutting down anyone who stood in his path. Eventually he made it into the nursery.
Catching sight of his brother's mate and pup he let out a feral snarl. His nephew had leapt up from his mother's lap to greet him, only to be cut down by Toukijin.
Kagome let out a scream of horror running to the body of her child. The blood quickly soaked through the kimono she had been wearing.
That's when Saphira had burst into the room. He could see the color drain away from her face as she watched her mother mourning over the child's dead body. Sesshoumaru's mind screamed out for her to run, that he was not in control.
"No!" Saphira cried running to her mother's side.
"Oh, God, why?" Kagome cried clinging to the body of her child.
But Sesshoumaru's body was in control and was looming over them, raising Toukijin into the air.
"No! Stop this Sesshoumaru! Snap out of it!" Saphira had screamed tackling him, but not before he managed to kill Kagome with his poison whip.
"Oh, God!" Saphira screamed, Sesshoumaru's body was about to finish her when a bright light suspended his body.
The next thing he was conscious of was Saphira raising Tensaiga over Inumaru's body and slicing through the gate keepers from hell.
Sesshoumaru growled in fury as his prey was reawakened and brought back to life. He reached for Saphira with his poison claws but she was too quick. She snatched up Inumaru's body and jumped out the window transforming to her dragon form.
He watched as she out flew him to the well, his mind cheered for her success. As she stood on the lip of the well she threw one last look over her shoulder, one that haunted him everyday after she had gone.
He growled but that look had somehow broken the spell he had been under. Before he could shout to her to stop she had leapt into the depths of the well. He had hurried back to aid his brother in the fight against the invaders. But since he was now a full blooded youkai he could no longer wield Tessaiga without burning his hands. He had been left virtually defenseless, he did not have the same training that Sesshoumaru himself had had. The enemy made short work of his brother almost killing him. By the time Sesshoumaru arrived and destroyed the invaders, Inuyasha was on the brink of death. And gone with Saphira was Tensaiga, the only thing that could have saved his brother's life.
Saphira looked at Inumaru as Sesshoumaru's side of the story came to a close. She had taken the Tensaiga with them when she had crossed over.
"It's not your fault, Mom," Inumaru said quietly. "Shit happens."
Nakia and Maruchi suppressed identical smirks of amusement. Sesshoumaru watched them from the corner of his eye.
Maruchi, who missed nothing, said. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't come around until now."
"What have you been doing all this time?" Inumaru question holding Sesshoumaru's eyes.
"Watching from a distant," his comment made the hair on the back of Saphira's neck stand up.
"You had no right to snoop around," Saphira said haughtily. "You should have just made yourself known."
Sesshoumaru contemplated her comment for a moment before replying. "I didn't want to force myself on you. You were mourning the loss of Kagome."
"You know damn well that I will never stop grieving for her," Saphira whispered fiercely.
"Would you have wanted to see the face of your mother's killer while the wound was still fresh?" Sesshoumaru asked quietly.
The children looked at the two adults and then at each other. In unspoken agreement they got up to give them privacy.
Saphira's eyes flickered to her children as they politely and quietly left the room. Sesshoumaru could smell her pride.
"You brought them up well," he commented once they were gone.
Saphira didn't answer, sighed and sat down in a vacant chair.
"Why now, Sesshoumaru?" She asked looking at him with glistening eyes.
"I made a promise to myself when Inuyasha died," Sesshoumaru said thoughtfully looking out the window. "That when I reached you, if you were still single by the time the children reached adulthood, then I would pursue a relationship with you and with them. If you had found someone, then I would have remained in the shadows."
Saphira hissed. "You know as well as I do that the mating mark does not allow for that. Not until one of us is dead."
"I would have released you from our bond," Sesshoumaru said shrugging.
"It cannot be done," Saphira dismissing his explanation.
"It doesn't matter anyway, because you are still single despite the many attempts for your hand," Sesshoumaru smirked just as his children did.
"It makes me sick sometimes to see how much they resemble you," Saphira said with mock disgust.
"It makes me sick to see that Inumaru looks just like my father, while my own children resemble him only faintly," Sesshoumaru said easily.
"Why are you really here, Sesshoumaru?" Saphira asked, suddenly tired of verbally parring with him.
Sesshoumaru sighed sitting down across from her. "I love you, Saphira. Watching you all these years, keeping my distance and giving you your space has nearly destroyed me. I was even there when you gave birth to the twins because I couldn't with the guilt of not being there when they came into the world."
Saphira's eyes snapped to his.
He shrugged. "I'm a doctor, you know."
"That still doesn't explain why you were in the delivery room!" She hissed.
"Your doctor was a colleague at the time," Sesshoumaru said smiling. "All I had to do was start an argument on whether or not brain surgery was more stressful than delivering a child. He, of course, offered to allow me to sit in on a delivery if I allowed him into the O.R."
"So it just happened that my delivery was the one you chose?" Saphira asked in disbelief.
"Timing is everything, and I happen to be a youkai that can tell when a female is about to pop," Sesshoumaru said with a gleam in his eye.
Saphira sighed. "You were there, so what?"
"I cut their cord too," Sesshoumaru said. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Saphira said as she rubbed her forehead which was beginning to throb.
"That you were carrying twins?" He asked quietly.
Saphira looked at the sadness in his eyes and felt bad.
"I meant to," she whispered.