Title: Light of My Life
Author: kazeko
Series: Inuyasha
Rating: M-15 or so
Archive: Sesshoumaru/Kagome
Characters: Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha/Koyama, Sango/Miroku
Summary: A powerful prophecy brings mortal enemies together, but prejudice may well tear them apart and spell the end of all inuyoukai.
Disclaimer: No ownership.


Chapter 2: To Heal a Youkai
Sesshoumaru seemed to be asleep when Inuyasha and the women returned with the pups. Kagome smiled at the nest Shippo had made for them, placing the blind babies in the soft furs and covering them to keep them warm. Miroku poked the fire and added more logs, warming the small room as he began to boil some water, adding a packet of herbs that Kaede had given them to help dangerous wounds heal faster. The taiyoukai stirred, pushing himself into a sitting position as his golden eyes counted the pups. Kagome could see that he wanted to pull them closer, but he had no free arm to do so. The miko moved the nest, helping the injured inuyoukai lean against the wall so he could hold the baby. Inuyasha had gone back into the night to hunt for food, and Sango and Miroku were busy tearing cloth into bandages. Shippo stood back, watching as Sesshoumaru lifted the tiny female pup, holding her close to his chest, now devoid of armor, watching as she slept.

"You were afraid that she was dead," Kagome whispered.

"She is the only female." Sesshoumaru paused for a moment, weighing his words as he looked at the kitsune kit. "Sons will protect the lands and carry the family name, but the females are the true pack leaders, beloved and protected by their male relatives as they bring new life into the family and rule over everything related to family, mates, and pups. I have . . . none of my pups have survived thus far. Low level females may leave their birth pack to mate a higher-level male, but daughters of pack leaders, daughters of the Alpha who attain a high status in their pack, never leave their family."

"How many times have you . . . mated?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his golden eyes, sensing that the human was becoming too curious, but, as much as he hated to admit it, he needed the miko's help to feed and protect his pups. His voice was without emotion as he recounted his family history. "I have sired five litters with five separate females. The first two females were taken by rival inuyoukai packs, forced to abort their pregnancies by the alpha males who later took them as Mates. By the third female, I had built more power and prestige and entered into a marriage contract with the largest northern pack. The female promised in the contract was Mated before she came to my palace, so one of her litter-sisters was sent in her place. The bitch was too small and weak, and she birthed two pups, her milk not nutritious enough to feed them. I sent her back and cancelled the contract after the pups died. The fourth female was from another contract with the southern forest pack, and she was strong. She returned to her family for the pregnancy, but she was killed in a dispute between the southern pack and the wolf tribe from the South. I did not attempt a mating again for a very long time.

"This latest female, Matsurika, was from the smaller northern pack, a low female but strong enough for my pups. Her family received land and jewels for her, and I was considering taking her as my Mate after the pups were weaned. As soon as her time neared, I hid her far from me so that none of my enemies would fine her or her brood. Three days ago she whelped and sent news of six males and one female, but her milk ran dry yesterday. She asked for a certain potion that can make even old, childless bitches lactate, and I was bringing it when the coyotes attacked. They must have followed me from the borders of my land and scented Matsurika when I drew near. She fought valiantly to protect my pups."

Kagome felt tears fill her eyes at the story. "How sad! We have to find a way to take care of your pups, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

The inuyoukai raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, eyes boring into Kagome's. "Why do you want to help me, miko? Inuyasha has a blood bond to my pack, but you do not and you are a human."

"Kagome's the best mother," Shippo squeaked, grabbing Kagome's arm and smiling up at her. "She wants everybody to be happy and have a family."

"Kagome, the water's ready," Sango called, wondering what the three were discussing. She had only heard the kit's excited declaration as she and Miroku finished preparing the bandages. "For now, we can use this water to clean his wounds and then wrap them again. Do you have any potions from your time that might help?"

Kagome walked over to her yellow bag and rifled through it, pulling out four bottles, one small, one medium, and the other two large. "I have this antibiotic and some vitamins that might help, though I don't know if you are prone to infection, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Mildly intrigued by the miko's strange potions, the youkai glanced down at his wounds. For some reason, he was relaxed in the human woman's presence and his normal hatred for the fast-breeding weak race was diminished in her presence. "These wounds may take a while to heal. Disease sometimes happens with long healing."

"Is there any way you could come closer to the fire, Sesshoumaru-sama? I think Kagome can watch your daughter." Sango held out her hand, smiling at the demon she would normally have wanted to kill, inwardly surprised that the small fact of his fatherhood could change her opinion of him so. The taiyoukai let Kagome take the pup and return her to her brothers, even allowing the miko to help him walk to the fire. She carefully removed the hasty bandages that had been tied on at the cave, wincing at the severity of his wounds. Sango handed Kagome a wet cloth, and she carefully began to clean the blood and dirt away from the largest, a slice that cut deep into his side and across his heavily muscle chest. It cut through layers of tissue and muscle, and Kagome realized that it might not heal right on its own.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, this may need stitching."

The youkai looked down at the wound, inwardly surprised that the coyotes had managed to damage him so badly. It hurt more than he thought it should, and he reached his hand up to press on his skin above the slice. "Two of my ribs are also broken, miko," he announced, his voice measured and calm as always. "You must be careful with your needle. I can control my beast to an extent, but I would not wish to harm you."

The slice was on his left side, under the stump of his arm, so Kagome had him lean against the wall and bury the claws of his right hand in the floor. She boiled her thread and ran her needle through the candle nearby, watching as Sango picked up the female pup and sat in front of Sesshoumaru. Realizing that the human was trying to distract her from the surgery, the inuyoukai focused on his pup, thinking about the great youkai she could become. Though his expression never changed, in his mind he was smiling as he felt Kagome's needle pierce his skin. He never moved, never made a sound, but the youkai was tense as he tried not to lash out. Pain never bothered him, but the metal passing through his skin again and again was an agony he had never experienced and hoped to never again. As Kagome moved around to his chest, his skin started twitching, making her job harder, and she placed a hand on the stump of his arm.

"Relax," she whispered, sending some of her strength to him without realizing it. As the miko's pure energy filled him, Sesshoumaru felt the pain diminish to a manageable level, and he was able to hold his body still once more. Kagome tied her final knot and clipped the thread, using a soaked cloth to clean the blood away from the newly stitched wound. Miroku handed her a pad of clean cloth that she laid over the wound, securing it with some medical tape she had brought from the future. She then wrapped long bandages across Sesshoumaru's chest to help his ribs heal. Sighing in relief, Kagome leaned back against the wall and returned her clean needle to her first-aid kit.

"That was more than I was expecting to do today," she whispered. "Miroku, could you hand me a cup of the cool water from the bucket in the corner?" The monk complied, and Kagome spilled small oblong objects into her palm from the strange potion bottles. The two from the smallest bottle were small, oval, and white; one was very large and orange; one was small, round, and blue; and the other four were long and thin, colored in a light brown color. She held them out to Sesshoumaru and placed them in his palm, placing the cup on the floor. Miroku handed her another cup and she took out another of the large orange objects. "These are called pills, Sesshoumaru-sama, and they will help you. The white ones are antibiotics, the orange and blue are vitamins, and the other four are a pain killer that should also keep your wound from reacting to the thread. You don't chew them, just swallow." She placed the orange pill on her tongue and took her cup of water, swallowing it and the pill with an audible gulping sound. Nodding, Sesshoumaru placed the pills on his tongue and swallowed them with the water, noting that two of them had a strong, bitter taste while the others had a strange, smooth coating that seemed to stick to his tongue. He took another drink of the cool water to remove the bitter taste from his mouth.

Kagome nodded and took his cup as she glanced over his other wounds. She pulled out a brown bottle and small balls of cotton, wetting the cotton with a strong-smelling unguent. Leaning up to him, the miko warned that it would sting as she lightly rubbed the clear liquid over each of his minor scratches. It did sting, and Sesshoumaru could hear a tiny fizzing sound from the liquid when it touched his wounds. He watched as she cleaned every wound on his chest, back, arms, and face, wondering that the small human miko cared so much to tend his wounds. She came to the bloody shreds of his hakama leg and blushed. "I . . . is your leg injured, Sesshoumaru-sama?" He nodded, inwardly amused as a fierce blush spread across her face. "We need . . . I can't look at your wound . . ."

Miroku snickered from his position next to the hot water, instantly silencing as the gold eyes of the taiyoukai locked with his. "Um, Sesshoumaru-sama, if you could cut your hakama leg above the injury, I will procure you another to wear until you can retrieve some appropriate clothing from your palace," the houshi offered, determined not to be on the receiving end of the wrath that decimated a coyote pack. Sesshoumaru nodded and carefully cut away the left leg of his hakama, watching as Kagome's eyes clouded with guilt as she stared at his arm. He wondered briefly what the human was thinking as he looked at the long, shallow slice across his thigh. It was neither deep nor serious, but Kagome cleaned and bandaged it carefully as Miroku supplied another hakama for the youkai lord to wear. They left the hut while the monk helped him change, Kagome continuing to stare into the darkness after Sango returned.

"Oi, Kagome! What are you doing out here? It's not safe!"

"I'm fine, Inuyasha. Where have you been? We were getting worried."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Feh! I wasn't in any danger. I was hunting for something that he can eat. He'll need blood and meat to heal." Slung over Inuyasha's shoulder was a small deer, and he placed it carefully on the ground beside the door. "You don't want blood in your hut so you better get him out here."

Kagome nodded and returned to the hut, smiling at Sesshoumaru. "Inuyasha brought something for you to eat and speed your healing." She wasn't sure what she should say, knowing that if she asked him if he could walk outside that he would be offended. She also couldn't ask him to go outside in case he couldn't stand. Her dilemma was solved when Inuyasha returned to the hut, growling at the miko.

"I told you to bring him out here! Damn, do I have to do everything myself?! Come on, Sesshoumaru, and eat." Inuyasha reached down and pulled his brother to his feet, noting the bound wounds as the taller youkai tried to brush his hands away.

"I do not require your assistance, hanyou."

"Feh! I can't wait forever for you to amble your regal way outside! I'm here to make you hurry up." He continued to growl under his breath as he helped his brother limp outside, closing the door to the hut behind him. As soon as the two were alone in the moonlight, Inuyasha helped Sesshoumaru sit on the ground underneath the nearest tree and brought him some of the deer.

"Thank you," Sesshoumaru growled. Inuyasha nodded, knowing that he was not just talking about the food. Injured as he was, the taiyoukai could not afford to show any weakness to the humans or his position might be challenged. They ate in silence for a while, listening to the humans in the hut chattering about their day, Sesshoumaru looking up as the yipping of coyotes filled the air. "They have found the cave."

"They won't find us. Coyotes can't fly or track Kirara through the air." He paused, ears flicking as the sound moved into the distance. "See? Gone."

"Inuyasha . . . I find myself in a position where I must rely on you and your human companions for a time in order to protect my pack. You know that I do not find this situation comfortable."

"Keh, humans aren't that bad. You have to get to know them."

"Can I trust them with my pups?"

Inuyasha looked up from his meal, ears pointed forward. "You can trust me with your pups. I will not let anything happen to them." Though his human friends would never understand, Inuyasha knew that his words, his willingness to protect his brother's pups, placed him in a position of Beta male to his brother's Alpha. Lacking pups of his own, his inuyoukai instincts insisted that he submit himself to his brother in order to protect the pups that shared his blood. He knew that Sesshoumaru sensed the change, knew that, at least for a time, he was Alpha male in Inuyasha's pack, but the hanyou could not abandon the pups. Some small part of him, the part that missed his mother and wished his father could have raised him as a proper inuyoukai, reveled in his new Beta position. He would no longer have to make decisions or try to protect the entire pack, he only had to obey his brother's orders and protect the pups. After so many years fighting Naraku and his own youkai instincts that he did not fully understand, Inuyasha relaxed as a great weight was lifted from his shoulder.

"Then I must ask a favor of you. We both know that I am not at my top strength, but I must find a surrogate bitch to nurse my pups. I know of a pack that has low level females producing milk for the Alpha's pups, but I cannot journey there myself. I need someone from my pack to bring the female here."

Inuyasha straightened, nose twitching as he thought about the tiny pups inside the hut that might starve to death before morning. "Where do I need to go?"