Light of My Life
Light of My Life
Title: Light of My Life
Author: kazeko
Series: Inuyasha
Rating: R
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 19: To Have a Child
Kagome eyed the path ahead of her, cursing her swollen ankles and the baby that changed her center of gravity. With one hand on her belly, she headed for the cluster of coyote huts, knowing that the triplets were back from their visit to the West. She wanted news of the Crescent Moon Pack, news of Inuyasha and Koyama, and news of Shippo. It had been months since Inuyasha's visit, and she had no idea if Koyama had been successful in taking over her pack.
"Senritsu-san? Are you home?"
A familiar youkai peeked out of the hut in front of Kagome, yipping a welcome and escorting the woman into her home. The other two sisters were sitting near the fire sipping tea and nibbling on strips of meat from an earlier kill. Senmei grinned at the miko and poured her a cup, gesturing for her to join them. "Well, you are certainly far along in your pregnancy, Kagome-san. How long has it been now?"
"About seven months. I hope he's born soon, because I don't want to waddle around like this much longer. I think that I am close to the end of the pregnancy."
"And how have the village elders responded? Have they condemned you for mating with a youkai?"
"No. I told them that the father was a great hero in the struggle against Naraku and that my child will be a great defender of the village. After mentioning how people treated Inuyasha when he was a pup, I received assurances that my child will not be similarly rejected. I think that he will live a happy life here."
"Yet you want him to become a member of his father's pack one day."
Kagome shrugged. "I don't know if Sesshoumaru will accept a hanyou child, as much as he values his pure line, but maybe Kaori will take her half-brother in when she becomes Alpha. I just want my child to be happy some day." She paused a moment, staring into her cup, before looking back up at Senmei. "So, how was your trip to the West? Were all of your trades successful?"
The youkai grinned, flashing one tooth. "We visited with many of the Lesser Lords of the West, including Inuyasha of Fire Stripe and his Lady Koyama. They have a beautiful daughter with silver hair who has declared herself Alpha, and their other nine pups are strong, as well. It's a good thing he has a pack to help raise them, because they seem like a minor handful. They asked about you, and of course I said you are well and soon to give birth to your own pup."
"Did you . . . did you visit the Western Castle?"
Senmei nodded. "Indeed. I was nearly accosted by a pack of very small pups and one kit, practicing their stalking skills. Your Shippo has become so much a part of their family that I would not be amazed if he started barking soon." Kagome chuckled at that, glad that the kit was fitting in so well. "He asked about you, of course; he misses you greatly. I told him that I was sure he would be able to see you when he was older. Kaori seemed a little withdrawn, as if she is thinking about something a pup should not know. I asked her about the darkness in her eyes, but she would not tell me anything.
"Your lord is powerful, commanding with the grace and authority he has always shown, but there is a shadow about him that I could not understand. I think he misses you more than he realizes. I wish there was a way to break this miko curse so you could be with him and not endanger the pack."
"Me, too. The funny thing is, the old Sesshoumaru would have been perfectly happy with a prohibition against mating humans and producing hanyou. This Sesshoumaru, the one I fell in love with, does not feel the same. But a miko curse, especially on a youkai or a family line of youkai, can only be broken by a stronger miko power, and usually there must be a youkai power, as well. I have done some research and talked to the miko who have been passing through here lately, but they all say the same thing. Even I am not strong enough to break this curse."
"If you all combined your powers, could you?"
"It is hard for a miko to let her defenses down long enough to perform a combined spell. Perhaps two or three sisters could, but it is rare to find two miko born into the same family. The last such birth was Kaede, and her sister is dead. Most miko are loners, and this village having two is very strange. They see that Kaede is old and know that I am her apprentice, but if I ever reached the peak of my powers, I would have to leave. Our auras would clash too much. The only person my reiki has embraced is Sesshoumaru, but that is of no help now."
"We will find a way to help you, Kagome. My band got you into this situation, and my band will get you out."
Kagome reached over and took Senmei's hand, smiling kindly. "Thank you. I just don't understand why the traveling miko your father met gave you two conflicting prophecies: one saying that I had to help Sesshoumaru and one saying that I had to stay away."
"Father's theory is that there is some large, overarching prophecy behind this that no one knows in full. Kaori has at times said some rather prophetic things, and some of them seem to match what the traveling miko told us. But it is hard to track down a miko prophecy when the miko is no longer alive."
"I know."
"Your lord did ask about Rin. I told him that she was well and growing quickly. He asked that he be consulted when the day came for her to mate, and I thought that there was no harm in agreeing to that."
"No, I suppose not. She's pretty young; it'll be years before she's ready for a husband." Kagome put her cup of tea down and moved to stand, accepting Senmei's help and heading for the door. It was time for her to return to her daily tasks and stop thinking about Sesshoumaru so much. She froze as an unfamiliar pain shot through her body, starting in the vicinity of her belly, followed a few moments later by a second. The three coyotes surrounded her, carefully leading her back into the hut and helping her lie down on a futon in the bedroom. She stared at them, unable to grasp their motivation, wincing as a third spike of pain shot through her.
"What's happening?"
"You are feeling pain? A clenching sensation in your lower belly?" Kagome nodded and Shishi smiled. "You are going into labor, my friend. Your child has finally decided to join this world."
Kagome smiled, wincing at her fourth contraction. "I remember a little about labor from my biology classes in school, and I thought the contractions are supposed to be more spread out than this."
Shishi tilted her head as her sisters went to gather some supplies to help their friend through childbirth. "Perhaps for a human this is true. However, your pup is half youkai, and an inu one at that. Inu youkai have large litters and typically do not take a long time to deliver each pup. It is something about chemicals the baby gives to the mother when he is ready to be born. I think that you will give birth very fast." She reached over to Kagome's neck, concentrating a minute before delicately pricking the pale skin of the human's neck with her deadly claws. Kagome's eyes widened as she lost most of the feeling in her lower body.
"Forgive me, but I do not think I want to see you in pain. Our poison is far weaker than an inu's, but definitely effective in saving a female from the pain of childbirth. You should still feel the urge to push, but hopefully no pain."
"No, I don't feel any pain," she whispered, glad to have friends like the coyote sisters. An instant later, another contraction rippled across her belly and the other sisters returned with supplies for her and the baby.
Her memory of the next two hours was hazy at best. Something in Shishi's poison kept her barely lucid but thankfully free of pain, and she concentrated on pushing every time the coyote told her to. Shishi checked her dilation every few minutes, her sense of smell telling her when the baby was finally ready to emerge. With one last push, Kagome's tiny child fell into the youkai's hands.
Shishi and Senmei cleaned the infant as Kagome struggled to deliver the afterbirth and Senritsu began to clean the mother. Shishi looked up at Kagome with a toothy grin as she sliced through the umbilical cord. "Your child is a female."
The baby's shrill wail cut through the air at the pronouncement, and the coyotes' ears twitched at the sound. Wincing, Shishi leaned forward and handed the baby, now clean and wrapped in fine linens, to Kagome. The miko took the baby, sapphire eyes wide as she examined her tiny hands and the pair of silver-furred ears on top of her head. The baby seemed to sense that her mother was holding her, and her shrill wail tapered off. The girl, who boasted a dusting of fine silvery blue hair, opened her sapphire eyes and stared up at Kagome, tiny nose twitching. Her eyes flashed gold for a moment as she raised her little hands and grinned, happy to have found her mother. From the bottom of the cloth wrapped around her, a silver tail poked out and began to wag.
"She has a tail," Kagome whispered. "I didn't know hanyou could have tails."
"They are not all like your friend Inuyasha. Some are born with a tail and feet like an inu's, some are born with ears like Inuyasha, and some are born covered in fur. Your daughter is beautiful, Kagome, as often as you stated that you thought it would be male."
The miko grinned as Senritsu helped her sit up. "It just seemed that Sesshoumaru's child would be a boy and look like its uncle. I guessed wrong. She looks just like her father." The baby seemed to think about something for a moment before she glared at Kagome with an imperious expression, ears flattened against her head. Taking a tiny breath, she let out a terrific wail, her hunger beating against Kagome's mind.
"Your pup is hungry, my friend. Inu pups nurse within moments of birth. You should feed her." Kagome untied her sash awkwardly, unable to use both hands, and freed her milk-heavy breasts. The baby's wail was silenced at once as she was offered food. Kagome stared at her baby, mind returning to another inu pup she had nursed, another baby girl with silver hair, and her mind flew to thoughts of the girl's father.
"Seizukiko," she whispered.
"What was that?"
"Her name, Shishi. Her name is Seizukiko. I'll call her Sei."
The coyote smiled sympathetically at the human's sad tone. "The kanji . . . they are the ones I am thinking of? The name means what I think it does?"
"Hai, but I will not tell the villagers the kanji. I will tell them different ones so they do not become suspicious about her father. She will know the truth once she is old enough. Inuyasha and Koyama will know, as well, because there is no reason for them not to know. Perhaps she will play with her cousins some day, when the Fire Stripe Pack comes for a visit. Thank you, all three of you, for everything you've done today. The only thing that would make this better would be if her father could be here to see her."
"I know," Shishi whispered.
Sesshoumaru stood on the balcony outside his room and stared east, as if he could see through the mountains to his lover's village. He had been standing there since dawn, knowing that something was happening, knowing that he should be in Edo, knowing that Kagome needed him, but unable to move. His golden eyes widened as he sensed a spike of power, a taste of destiny, and he growled, unable to determine the source. Something new had come, something had changed, something important had happened, and it had something to do with the east. With Kagome.
He spun around, flexing his claws, and found himself facing his mother. Satori's eyes were dark, as if she had also sensed the new power, and the pair stared at each other for a minute. Since they had returned from destroying Naraku, Satori had spent her time in her own palace, and had only just returned to visit her son and grandchildren. "You felt it."
"Yes."
"You know the source."
"It felt like it was coming from the East, yes."
"I must go and investigate."
"You must not go. If you do . . . your beast will want her again. You will not be able to control it a second time, and you will Mark her. Taking that human as a mate would destroy the pack and kill your pups. Your lands will be overrun once your daughter's claim is forfeit, and you will no longer be Lord of the West. Is that what you want? To lose your lands because of a stray power spike?"
"It was more than that. I felt a touch of . . . destiny."
"A destiny of destruction, my son. You heard the prophecy, you know the curse. Your lover admitted that there are no youkai in her time. If you wish to change that future, you must restrain yourself. If Kagome was dead, you would know. A spike of power could have been anything, such as the birth of a powerful miko or an Alpha Pup somewhere in the East. It could have been anything."
"This Sesshoumaru must know."
"Then ask your half-brother to look into it. It would be an excuse for him to visit his human friends."
Sesshoumaru gave a sharp nod, knowing that his mother had offered a good alternative. "One of my pups will travel with them, to train along the way," he decided. "Akihiko is strong and will be a fine warrior one day. He will go. His report as well as my brother's will be enough." Unlike his mother, he was now willing to ignore Inuyasha's human ancestry when he talked about him in casual conversation. He wasn't sure why he had become so lenient toward what he had once considered a stain on their family honor, but Kagome had changed him a lot.
"That is a fine way to train the pup." She inclined her head regally as she considered something, her golden eyes thoughtful. "I had not heard your brother since I arrived this morning. Were his pups born?"
Sesshoumaru grinned, his fangs showing, as he realized that his mother had no idea. "Ah, Mother, you have been away far too long. My brother's mate did indeed give birth, to a fine litter of ten pups born in true form." Satori's eyes widened at that, surprised that a hanyou, even one as admittedly powerful as Inuyasha, could father full youkai. Her son's next words shocked her beyond all reason. "Upon changing, Koyama's first child, a female colored in silver, declared herself Alpha of the Fire Stripe Pack. Koyama and Inuyasha went to Fire Stripe, defeated Tentei and Kosame, and became the Alphas."
"Alpha . . . an Alpha pup with a hanyou father. How can it be that his pup is so powerful when he is a mere hanyou?"
"Inuyasha is more than a result of a pairing between an inuyoukai and human. He is of the Crescent Moon blood, and he is a pup of Inu no Taishou. My half-brother is very powerful, and now he is the Alpha of one of the three most powerful packs in the West. I think he has risen quite a lot from the position of his birth."
Satori stared at her son, unable to think of anything to say. With a curt nod, she excused herself from the room, leaving the Lord of the West to return to his silent vigil. A few minutes later, he called for Jaken and ordered him to summon the Fire Stripe Pack to the Western Castle. Then he waited.
TBC
