Author's Note:

Heyo wonderful readers. Neways, well I always put the date started/created at the beginning of my fics (in their original documents anyway) and I discovered I actual began this fic (as in wrote the first 6 chapters) on Wednesday 14th December 2005 0_0 a While ago ne? XD Then when I posted it here I started writing the rest, which is why its now a WIP. Any-who, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the next installment, thank you so much for all reviewe, they were sincerely appreciated ^_^ This is an extra long chappie ^.^

WARNING! Some gross and icky bits in here, I apologise if they offend anyone.

Enjoy, love, review please?

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The Body, The Truth, The Inevitable

Seventeen

Chaos bombarded the half-demon as he weaved in and out of the panicked people, dashing through the halls. He had to find Kagome, if Eisuke and Satoru were traitors, that meant that all this time they'd been dropping by, keeping close watch on her…that's what the dreams meant…Sesshomaru knew… Sesshomaru was in on it…it all made sense so suddenly. They all knew there were revolutionary spies within the castle walls, but his brother, he cared for him, he knew that…perhaps it was that affection, the very love that couldn't stop him from betraying him, but it prodded that conscience into offering his little brother some slight chance of escaping alive…

Sesshomaru had never agreed with their father's rule or decisions, he'd always argued with him about the New Laws, why had they not seen it coming before? Were they too trusting? Too stupid? Or did they just place a little more faith in the demon than he deserved? Whatever reason, Sesshomaru was lost to them now, Inuyasha knew that, and if they faced him on the battle field, he'd have to kill him… His heart clenched in his chest at that – kill his own brother? The one he'd adored, admired and trusted all these years? He shook his head, if Sesshomaru were to be killed, he was sure he wouldn't be able to do it, however, that stern glint to his father's eyes as they both came to the same conclusion about his older brother, it told him that The Great Lord Inu-no-Taishou would be the one to kill his oldest son, if it had to be done…

All of these horrifying thoughts assaulted his mind as he darted towards his and Kagome's room, the floods of people fleeing to the safe house almost knocking him back – their desperation evident in the distinct stench of fear on the suffocating air. Because they knew…the Great Dog-Demon was helpless right now, the oldest son had betrayed them, and the youngest son…he would get his family to safety before even considering anyone else – selfish? Perhaps…but Inuyasha didn't care…

His heart thumped madly against his chest as he rounded the corner, bare feet thundering on the wooden floor as he flung the door open, flinching as it fell off its hinges – damage he was sure must've been done before he even touched it. Golden eyes widened in disbelieving horror as they swept across the room. Furniture shattered, tattered bed-clothing, blood, the distinct, overbearing scent of blood, fear…

It swarmed his senses, he was drowning in them… He could sense that repulsive odour of the attackers – Katsura and a few others, along with the scents of the people he was looking for. Kagome, Takaya…Mother, he thought, picking up their scents, eyes widened again. "Mother?!" Inuyasha shot towards the fallen body by the fireside, dropping to his knees. Tears pricked the backs of his eyes then, as a shaky hand quivered skittishly down to brush the blood-stained tendrils of ebony hair from the fallen woman's face, so as to look upon her deathly paleness. He felt a lump rise in his throat, choking, drowning, dying. She was gone? No, he refused to accept that. He pulled his hand away, moving to pick her up, but he couldn't…he couldn't move her, couldn't…disturb her…

"Mum?!" he asked again, begging silently for an answer, but no answer came. He heard and felt his father's slow approach. He couldn't let him see her like this… She needed some…some dignity…lying there, sprawled across the ground, her kimono and hair dishevelled… Inuyasha sniffed, inhaling shakily, often forgetting to breathe, the weight on his chest constricting his agonised heart. This wasn't how he wanted to remember her… With that ever-growing sickness within him still, Inuyasha turned her over slowly, delicately, gazing at her closed eyes, willing them to open, to stare at him with the doting faith and motherly adoration she always showed him, as he brushed his clawed fingers through her hair gently, smoothing it away from her face that was usually so rosy and full of life…

"I…I never really showed you how much you meant to me…I guess…" he mumbled incoherently, not that it mattered, he supposed. "Through it all…you were the light guiding the way… Sesshomaru was my big brother, my only friend, I trusted him but…but you were the only one that understood me… We were the same, we didn't fit…" he smiled, as if recalling fond memories, holding his mother's prone form to his chest, absently mimicking the times when she'd held him in such a way. "I was your world…I appreciate that now, you loved me more than anything in the world… You believed in me, you had faith in me when no one else did…" His eyes were overwhelmed with tears, his vision lost beyond them. He was so miserable he'd like to die, why did this happen? What did he ever do?! "You were my Mother…my home…" He broke off, losing his voice momentarily as his grip on the body tightened. "I remember, all the times you'd hold me, when I was still small…and I was so scared, lost…you'd always tell me you were proud of me, and that things would be alright in the end…" He lost himself then. His voice had evaporated in his throat, doused with tears and disappearing into thin air…he was lost….

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha?!" Came that desperate, panicked voice, before the owner of it appeared. "Inuyasha, the castle has been evacuated, the guards are focusing solely on their protection, all we need now is-" The demon lord lost his voice as he stood in the doorway at last, the bleeding still not stopped, limping into the room, gazing hollowly at the scene before him. "I-Izayoi?" Inu-no-Taishou asked quietly, his voice quite unlike his usual tone. "Izayoi?"

"Did you see Sesshomaru?" Inu-no-Taishou's head shot towards his son, torn between despair for his mate and being astounded at the cold, hard fury carved into his youngest son's face.

"No, he wasn't with the escapees, which means-"

"-He's still in the castle… Great," he finished, resting his mother's weight gently to his father's arms before stalking towards the door.

"Wait!" Inuyasha paused in the doorway, not turning to face his father, he couldn't – he couldn't look back and see the destroyed room, his mother's corpse lying in his bleeding father's arms. "You…you don't think Sesshomaru is…?"

"I do…" Inuyasha answered his father's incomplete question, "not intentionally, but either way…he's going to pay for selling his family to those bastards…"

"Inuyasha!" This time Inuyasha turned, grinding his teeth in aggravation, before noting his father's deadly serious expression. "Take this, it will protect you, make sure you never let go of it." The half-demon's arms outstretched, easily catching the Tetsusaiga as Inu-no-Taishou tossed it to him. Golden eyes trained on the blade for a moment…the legendary sword of his father, it had passed to him? His father, the one who had never trusted him to face a battle, he was giving him the sword that could kill one-hundred demons in one swing? Able to offer the demon lord nothing more than a determined, silent nod, Inuyasha disappeared from the doorway, anger rushing through his veins, as he followed his brother's scent with revulsion.

The hilt of the sword just felt right in his hand, little did he know of its ability to subdue his demon blood, leaving him in control, and that, one way or another, it was destined to pass to him. He didn't know any of this precious pre-destined fate, he didn't care – all he cared about was his family, and all he knew was that Sesshomaru was going to pay dearly for helping that family wither and die like a weak flowerbed scorched by the unforgiving sun.

Suddenly the scent he knew all too well grew stronger – he was close by. His footsteps became heavier, laden with anger, as clawed fingers clenched around the sword, the half-demon marching into the gardens his mother had loved so much, gaze hardening, as it met the silvery figure standing there, quite alone – quite condemned…

"It appears you have found me at last, Little brother…" Inuyasha growled lowly.

"I'm gonna kill you for what you've brought upon us…"

"Kill your own brother? How shameful of you-"

"-You're making me do this…Mum is dead, Kagome, Takaya, they're gone, Eisuke and Satoru nearly killed Dad, and where were you?" Sesshomaru neither answered nor turned to face him. It sent fiery sparks of pure fury up Inuyasha's spine. "Turn and face me Sesshomaru!!!" Inu-no-Taishou's heir complied, slowly facing his younger brother, that cold impassive expression on his face, gold eyes, silver hair and demonic crests lustrous in the beaming light from the sky above. "WHERE WERE YOU?!"

"I was searching."

"SEARCHING FOR WHAT?" Sesshomaru, again, didn't answer. "DAMN YOU! GET ANGRY, GET UPSET!" He lunged forwards, Tetsusaiga barely missing his brother's flesh. "I'M SICK OF YOU'RE STUPID COLD HEART! MY MOTHER IS DEAD! KAGOME AND THAT TAKAYA GIRL ARE GONE! WE'VE LOST!!!"

"Do not condemn the battle to failure before it has even begun…"

"STOP TALKING IN RIDDLES AND ANDSWER ME!!!" He screamed, throat burning with the force on his voice. "WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?!"

The older demon remained silent for what seemed like forever, so long, that Inuyasha didn't think he was going to answer, gripping the sword tighter, ready to dart in for a second attack, when he watched his brother's composure tighten slightly. There was something wrong…

"If you wish to call it betrayal, do so…"

"Save it," Inuyasha spat, "I'm holding our father's sword, if you don't cut the crap and the riddles and give me a straight answer, I'll cut you down with it…brother or no brother." Sesshomaru smirked.

"You couldn't do it…you've never even killed before…" That taller form drew towards him, practically daring him to go through with it, watching quivering hands as they clutched the sword, desperate to use it, but unable to. "However, I will answer you, nonetheless…" The half-demon felt his insides knot in apprehension, wetting his lips nervously.

"I didn't betray you," Sesshomaru began quietly, the words barely registering in Inuyasha's overly hopeful ears. "That night, when you smelled the blood on me…I hadn't killed…I took something I shouldn't have…" Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow in questioning. "Miss Rin Takaya's virginity…" The half-demon almost choked on his own tongue at that – Sesshomaru, with a human?!

"Don't tell me you damn well raped her-"

"-Do not be absurd," Sesshomaru sneered, "I…it is an affair that has been coming on for some time now…After three years of mere secret courting, we…we mated in secret…" Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"Y-You had a mate? And you never told me? Me?" The demon looked away awkwardly.

"I could not tell anyone, do you not see? You of all people should know what it is like for the female – for all of us. She would be targeted, just as Kagome was targeted, and not just because she was mixed-breeding, but because she fell in love with a son of Inu-no-Taishou. She would suffer, because of us, I would not allow that…" The half-demon felt his heart clench, all this time he'd been hating him so badly…when in reality, he was in so much pain…in such desperation to have someone to talk to about it, but unable to do so.

"So…" Inuyasha prompted, "So you both kept it secret?" Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly in a small nod.

"Was my decision not justified? Someone must have found out, however, since she has been taken prisoner along with Kagome… Thus when you confronted me, I could not say anything, particularly with that insufferable Lord Eisuke lurking nearby… I had to leave, and leave her behind as well." Inuyasha frowned.

"Wow…any kids?" Sesshomaru offered him an almost scolding look, reminding him this wasn't the time. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so…" he paused, that dull, throbbing ache in his chest reminding him painfully of the loss he felt – the one he couldn't get used to, that he kept almost forgetting…

"But what were you doing all this time?" Inuyasha asked, pushing back the memory of his mother's dead face – he wouldn't cry in front of Sesshomaru, no way.

"I was taking out revolutionary posts, frightening them all into one single station, discovering their secrets…"

"And?"

"I have discovered the location of their current residence, and…" he paused a moment, unsure as to what he was about to divulge, "I have discovered what they want."

"Which is?"

"Perhaps we had better not discuss this here-"

"-Which is?" Again, Sesshomaru paused, watching him closely.

"We must go to father, round up our men – if you have any hope of reaching Kagome, and I Rin, we must waste no more time."

"Don't change the subject Sesshomaru-"

"-We cannot afford anymore time to be wasted, I will relay to you everything I know, once father and the others are here also – Do you honestly want Kagome in their grasp any longer?" Inuyasha shook his head, shuddering in anger at what they might be doing to her. He rid himself of those thoughts, he would get her back, and when he did, Katsura was going down, he would never lay a hand on the people he loved again, he'd make sure of that, even if it cost him his life…

***

Kagome slowly found herself being dragged grudgingly back into consciousness. Her eyelids still feeling too heavy to open, remained closed, as she became aware of her aching muscles, and the coldness of the air around her, not to mention the furious pounding migraine within her head. She winced, the pain rising slowly up in her body, and opening her eyes at last, she pulled her arms round her apparently naked body. Where are my clothes? She panicked. She had been stripped of them and they were nowhere to be seen. She looked around nervously. Finding herself resting on a bed in the middle of an almost empty room, furnished with just the bed and a long table with strange looking implements, towels and a water basin upon it.

Suddenly she cried out, gritting her teeth together, doubling over slightly with the full force of the agony, and then she looked down at the sheets below her; the sheets were damp. The girl's eyes widened, pulling her arms round her swollen stomach as tears began to build within her eyes. No not now, please not now!

The shot of pain hit her again, harder, and she bit hard into her lip, trying to stifle the scream. Tears fell down her face at the torment. It hurts…I didn't think it started this quickly…or maybe it started when I was… Then the agony came again, faster and even harder than before, and she couldn't silence the scream.

The doors to the room flung open and people (or demons) to be more exact, flooded in, seeing the writhing girl, rigid with pain, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Quick, summon Takaya!" barked one of the demons, and two of the others left the room. Kagome rolled over onto her side as the contraction passed, holding her hands over her intimacy, as blood oozed out of her.

"Inuyasha…" she whimpered, closing her eyes as the tears blurred her vision. I'm so sorry…I was angry with you, and now this is all my fault…

"About time, Takaya!" she heard the demon bark once more, and Kagome struggled as she felt someone turning over her limp body. Opening her eyes, she saw Rin, long dark hair that usually hung around her face now swept back, revealing and a vicious looking, iridescent scar across her cheek, the woman pressing her body back into the blankets. At the sight of the scar on her face, Kagome's mind suddenly recalled the brief flash of the scar at the top of her leg when they were taken… A demon mating mark, her mind suggested, though remaining silent. That means that Takaya is mated…to a demon?

"What's wrong with the wench?" Rin looked the girl over, and pulled softly at Kagome's wrists, trying to get her to move her hands, but she failed.

"Don't be stubborn," she said softly, merely sighing deeply when Kagome still refused to move her hands. "Lady Kagome, please, you know me, let me help you." Kagome looked at her carefully with tear stained eyes, the pain having subsided slightly as the contractions paused shortly. The only people who were ever expected to call her that, and the only ones that did, were members of Inuyasha's family, and the people who served Inuyasha and herself, under Inu-no-Taishou's reign. Is this why they brought her here? They knew I was going to have the baby soon, so they took both of us…

Suddenly another contraction hit her, and she arced with the agony, screaming so loud that her voice tore at her throat. There must be something wrong, her fearful mind panicked, it shouldn't be hurting this much surely.

Rin leant down, wiping Kagome's sweat covered forehead. "Please, let me help you." The once-priestess realized that this woman could have easily forced her to move her hands, but instead she was asking. Recalling how desperately both this woman and Izayoi had struggled to save her before, she knew…she could trust her; she didn't have much choice anyway…

Hesitantly, she removed her hands, her blood trickling down her fingers. Her breathing was heavy and uneasy as the contractions passed once more, and was trying very hard not to be aware of the demons gathered at a distance from the bed, not really paying her any attention.

"Why am I bleeding this much?" croaked Kagome, and the woman looked another with a kind smile.

"It's nothing to worry about," she replied, patting her hand, and turning to the demon in charge, Katsura, who was lurking behind her, watching what she was doing carefully. "What do you want?"

"Hold your tongue wench. What's wrong with her?" The woman sneered.

"Her water broke a while ago, the labor has started. But it will be a while yet," Kagome winced at the oncoming pain. A while? I can't take this any longer! "You don't need to be here, the baby isn't coming yet." The demon, along with a few others grinned maliciously.

"And give you the opportunity to help the whore get back to that half-demon bastard and Inu-no-Taishou? I think not. We're not leaving you alone for a moment." Rin remained expressionless. "Besides, scouts have reported sightings of Inu-no-Taishou's army on the move," he grinned with yellowing teeth at the agonized girl on the damp bed, holding her terrified gaze, "they'll be coming to get her back. And when they do, she can watch them all dying, trying to save her unworthy flesh and bone."

Kagome winced; biting back a scream, not willing to let these creatures see her pain without a fight, there was no way she'd give them the satisfaction so easily.

"Unworthy of what?" she growled bitterly, flinching in pain once more, only letting a quiet whimper escape. He grinned, leaning down towards her, making her struggle and try to fight him off her. She whimpered as his clawed hands pressured her stomach hard.

"To carry a child with such power," he replied, licking her cheek ardently, and she flinched, "not even a mortal as stunning as you is worthy of it." Kagome punched him hard, not even rousing a reaction, trying to push him off but failing miserably. The demon held her chin and caught her lips with his, massaging her breast roughly, making her wince as his hands pressured her tender flesh.

"Get off her!" shouted Rin, throwing herself forwards and wrenching him away. He glared at her, clawed hand raising, smacking across her face hard, causing her stumble, but she retained her footing. Katsura sneered, walking off and speaking to the other demons watching closely.

Kagome wiped him from her mouth, and shivered with the cold. Rin smiled, leaning down and wiping the sweat from her brow with the damp cloth once more. "I'm sorry, they won't allow me any blankets for you, even though I told them you need to be kept warm." Kagome shuddered again, not listening. Despair was filling her up completely, only interrupted by the agony, as she realized from the demon's words why she was here.

"Inuyasha…" Rin patted her hand once more.

"He's coming to get you; you can see the army advancing on the horizon." Kagome looked at her for the first time in a little while, and the woman nodded. Allowing Rin to help her sit up, and she looked far across the room and out of the window, seeing the dark masses on the horizon that must have been Inu-no-Taishou's armies, advancing rapidly towards the castle. However, not fast enough, as she well knew.

"They want my baby…" Rin nodded sorrowfully as she laid the girl back down carefully.

"The ruler of the revolutionaries wants your son. He has been foreseen to have unconquerable power. The ruler needs your son to obtain that final league of power he requires to overthrow Inu-no-Taishou." The pained girl gasped as she felt the ominous approach of the next contractions. "What a way to overthrow a demon lord, by draining his grandson's energy." Kagome flinched.

"And it has nothing to do with how I revealed the identities of all their inside spies?" she asked sarcastically.

"I think the idea actually came from wanting to punish Lord Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru for slaughtering half their followers." Kagome looked down at the small bulge of her stomach, and then realized that the demons were watching her. She shut her legs sharply, trying to get to her feet. "Lady Kagome, no, stop, you mustn't get up!"

The girl closed her eyes as the tears began to flow again. Digging her fingernails into the sheets as the contractions she felt approaching, hit her hard. Her screams carried through the air and almost deafened the demons observing her, and she panted, trying to get her breath back as she realized her contractions were coming faster than before. Nearly every minute. Her muscles tightening inside her, at a more rapid pace as time slipped slowly by her, a feeling equivalent to being in hell frozen over.

Kagome fell back exhaustedly into the bed as another piercing cry tore from her throat, and she felt more of her blood pouring out of her. "I've delivered many part demon children, I know what I'm doing okay? You have to trust me." The contractions hit again, and Kagome nodded fiercely. "Okay listen then, the next contraction I want you to bear down against the pain, alright?" Kagome shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"I can't…"

"You can."

"No, they're not having my baby, even if I have to suffer like this even longer, I won't let them get him." Rin took her hand, allowing her to squeeze hers in reflex to the agony.

"Kagome you can't. You're loosing too much blood-"

"I won't bring this baby into the world only to have him taken away. I won't, I won't, I WON'T!" She screamed again as the agony became unbearable, feeling her insides tear as he baby shifted down.

The demon approached once more as Kagome cried hard, still refusing to push.

"What're you doing, this child will be born NOW do you hear me?!" Rin sneered again.

"If the baby is ready to come we can't do anything about that." The demon snarled, leaping down and grasping Kagome's arms, shaking her violently.

"You little demon's whore! Push this child out of you or I'll RIP IT OUT!" Kagome sobbed, not listening to him. The demon growled with annoyance at her stubbornness. "What's it gonna take to get you to push?!" Kagome shook her head, and he shook her more fiercely. "HUH?!"

"I want Inuyasha…" The demon grinned evilly.

"Well you can't have him so deal with it!"

"Then you can deal with this baby not being born…I" The demon threw her back against the bed, and walked over to the other demons, explaining to them what was wrong.

Rin released the girl for a moment, and shifted to check on her baby's progress.

"Please, Kagome…your baby is right there, I can see its head. You have to push." Kagome shook her head. "You're very brave…but you could hurt your baby if you do this."

"It's nothing to do with bravery…I'm just so tired…" Another contraction hit, and as the baby moved again, Kagome felt the crown of the baby's head pushing against her widened entrance, and she screamed again.

Suddenly Rin was thrown aside, and the other demons held her back, while two seized Kagome's arms, dragging her up and throwing her back, on her stomach on the bed, holding her arms down to stop her struggling. The superior demon grinned maliciously at Kagome as he advanced, and the girl's eyes widened in fear when she saw what he was holding. The demon stood over her and sneered.

"A shame…I really didn't want to spoil this luscious skin of yours, but you leave me no choice. And before I begin. I'll tell you that I won't stop until you push the damn kid out of you!" With that the iron pressed hard down on the flesh of her back, and Kagome screeched in the torture, as her skin sizzled and burnt under the hot iron as it maimed her flesh, branding her with the revolutionaries' mark. Screams went uncounted as the metal burned into her back, coming down on her flesh more than once. "INUYASHA!" The demon raised it again, advancing back down. "STOP!" He halted mid air, with an evil grin. "No more…" she cried into the sheets, "please…I'll try…" the released her with a satisfactory grin, and released Rin, who ran over to her, fighting back her own tears. The woman tried not to think of how badly the scarring would be for the girl as she gently turned her back round into the proper position, not touching the wounded skin.

"Are you ready?" asked Rin, as Kagome leant her hands back to support her sitting up, not being able to lay back. She nodded hesitantly. I'm sorry, Inuyasha… Tears falling from her eyes, she just looked helplessly at the demon who'd tortured her.

"I want to hold him after he's born," she asked raggedly, tears falling faster. He sneered. "Please…" He nodded slowly, and she closed her eyes, taking a sharp intake of breath as she felt the next contraction coming. As the pain seared, she bared down into it, and pushed her baby's head free. Gasping for breath, she felt Rin gently take her baby's shoulders, and winced in pain as she felt even more prominently, the child's shoulder's being turned, Rin concentrating in hurting Kagome as less as possible as she pulled the baby free.

The screaming, newborn child lay on the bed where it had come out, as Rin tried to cut the cord as quickly as possible, feeling the demons advancing. Kagome shifted, trying to see her child, but the demon snatched the pup up into his arms and returned to the group watching nearby, leaving Kagome screaming. "NO! STOP!" they ignored her screams. Rin struggled to pin her down as she fought to get to her feet.

"Kagome, he's okay, you need to get the afterbirth out." Kagome shook her head.

"I want my baby…" Rin shook her head in response. "Give me my baby!" she screamed, and the demon looked back at her carelessly. "Please…let me hold it…" no reply. "Please…" she sobbed, reaching out for the screaming child, concealed from her. "Please let me hold him…"

"It's too late," said Rin.

"No…"

"They have to let you have the kid sooner or later. The pup requires you to live. They need it to live at least a little while so the pup can first draw his powers from the energy stored in your lactation system. Energy from both you and Inuyasha…that helps him become a more powerful demon."

"Is…is it…" The once-priestess paused, gasping for breath, "is it a boy or a girl?" Rin smiled reassuringly.

"It's a little boy."

Kagome watched the backs of the demons hiding her child away, she cried silently at his screams. "Kagome, please push. I told you, they need you…so be patient." Kagome cried.

"I want my baby…they're hurting him…" The afterbirth came free with the final contraction, and she gasped as she bled even more.

"Damn, you're hemorrhaging…" muttered Rin, then looked at Kagome as she bit hard into her lip again. "What the matter?"

"It still feels…it hurts…"

Suddenly Kagome flinched at the deafening squeal of pain from her newborn baby, and she couldn't take it, it hurt worse than anything else she'd suffered at the demons' hands. "INUYASHA!" The demon grimaced.

"Little fool, you're mate isn't coming to save you," Katsura spat.

"Beg to differ." The demon holding her son looked round the room for the person who spoke, and growled.

"Who spoke?" Suddenly the doors burst open, and the demon holding the screaming baby was knocked to the floor, after the child being snatched away from him.

"The father, you shit-wipe," Inuyasha snarled. Holding his freezing son to his warm chest, the half-demon snatched up a blanket and wrapped it round his boy.

"Inuyasha?" asked Kagome hazily, falling back onto the bed, and gasping in agony as her burns were touched, but not having the strength to move.

"Kagome," he surged forwards, not seeing the enraged demon lieutenant advancing on him.

"INUYASHA!" yelled Sesshomaru as he emerged through the door, and the half-demon turned, snatching the enemy's wrist with one hand, and shoving him roughly back into the wall next to where Kagome lay, screaming in agony, and forced the demon's own claws into his chest. Nobody noticed Katsura slinking out of the room…

"Are you alright?" Sesshomaru asked Rin as he stopped before her, eyes bearing furious anxiety yet his face remaining impassive as always. Rin nodded, fingers clenching gently into the front of his kimono, surprised to feel those arms come to embrace her lightly.

"I'm fine." He pulled back a little, considering the fresh bruising brewing beneath the flesh of her cheek, created from Katsura's blow. He frowned, touching the wound gently. "Honestly, I'm okay," the woman assured him, certain she saw a relieved smirk twitching at the corner of his lips.

The baby cried even harder, starting to choke as Inuyasha bent down to his mate's side.

"Kagome? Kagome I'm so sorry," he said, pulling the girl against his chest, making her flinch. "What's wrong?" she shook her head, eyes still closed.

"Inuyasha!" the half-demon turned in response to his brother's call, and saw him and the others fending off the oncoming demons. "Get Kagome out, we need to return to the ranks." The half-demon nodded, and flung his kimono round the naked girl's form, scooping her up into his arms. Sesshomaru knelt down swiftly at his brother's side.

"Take the baby, Sesshomaru," the demon nodded, and then turned to Rin, pulling her up against him.

"No, Inuyasha…please…" Inuyasha knew she wanted to hold their son, but he couldn't let her, she couldn't be responsible for holding him when she was this weak. As the brother's heard the thundering footsteps of the enemies' backup approaching, shot up, and darted through the open window.

***

Kagome screamed as Inuyasha held onto her tight, trying to tell him that he was hurting her, but her words came out punctured with gasps of pain, as the pain in her birth canal continued, and the burns on her back grated against Inuyasha's embrace. "Inuyasha…please…it hurts." Inuyasha looked sorrowfully into her tear-stained eyes. Looking at his brother a little further ahead, struggling with his newborn son, he watched him descend as their father's camp lay finally within their sights. Kagome sobbed into Inuyasha's chest, and he felt her tears trickle down his chest. "Inuyasha stop…it hurts!" he tried not to listen. "INUYASHA STOP!" He looked at her, and suddenly felt blood pouring down his arm. Shifting his hold on her, he saw her blood staining his skin.

"We're almost there, hang on a little longer."

Making his way through the cave that was their current location, Inuyasha winced at his mate's screams as he set her down on the bed of furs at the back, Sesshomaru dragging the blanket that formed some kind of privacy across this partition of the cave behind them, and slid the screaming boy into Rin's arms as he disappeared to join his father. Inuyasha tried to hug Kagome softly, but she pulled away at his touch, and he looked at her writhing form with confusion. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Rin as he watched her set his new son in the make-shift cradle against the wall.

"Let me look," she said, knowing it wasn't just the burns causing her agony, something was wrong.

Inuyasha sat behind his mate, pulling her to rest back against his chest, which she protested against with all her might, though failed to break free as Rin pulled Inuyasha's kimono off her, and gently spread the pained girl's legs. "My god…" she murmured, and Kagome wrenched herself away from the woman, turning onto her side on Inuyasha's lap.

"What?" he panicked, his son still crying in his crib, not helping Kagome to relax.

"Sit her up against you." Inuyasha did as he was told, but once again Kagome whimpered as he forced her injured back against his chest.

Rin got up, and crossed the room to the wash basin.

"Where're you going?" he asked, watching her dash wildly about the room, collecting things.

"I'm preparing for your son's sibling." Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"You mean there's more in there?" Rin nodded. Kagome hadn't heard and Inuyasha flinched as she screamed even louder. Feeling moisture trickling down his chest, he leant her forwards, and saw what was wrong. "Oh, my god…what did they do to you?" he growled quietly, running his fingers lightly over the scarred, bleeding flesh. Kagome whimpered. "Who did this to you?" The once-priestess took in a ragged breath.

"The one that was holding the baby…" he sneered.

"I'll kill him…"

Then Kagome gasped again, and clasped his hand tight in reflex to her pain. Slowly, as Rin continued to gather things for the next baby, Inuyasha leant down to Kagome's wounds, and softly ran his tongue over them. At first, she winced then as he gently caressed the marred flesh with his tongue she relaxed in his arms as she felt his touch soothing the wounds, taking away any pain. Inuyasha stroked her aching thighs softly as he lapped up her blood. After a moment, he pulled her back against his chest, the wounds fully healed and closed, without a trace of scars or even a scratch.

"How did you do that?" she asked raggedly, and he smiled as she lay back on her side, head in his lap, and he stroked the strands of stray hair away from her sweat-covered forehead.

"It's a secret," he said softly, looking down at her with concern as he realized she still wasn't settling.

Kagome winced again, whimpering in pain as another contraction hit. Inuyasha squeezed her hand softly. "It's okay, it'll be over soon." She shook her head, trying to get up. Inuyasha pulled her back down as she struggled against him.

"Please, Inuyasha…" The half-demon frowned.

"I don't know what it is you want…I can't do anything for you…" Kagome turned her head slightly as she relaxed back into his arms, looking over to the cradle where her screaming son was lying. Inuyasha suddenly realized what she wanted. "You can't hold him now, there's another-"

"-Please…Inuyasha…" she whimpered as she felt another contraction approaching, "I haven't even seen him yet…they wouldn't even let me hold him before…" she trailed off, screaming again, and Inuyasha looked up to Rin as she came back to their side.

Checking the next baby's process, Rin met his eyes after. "Okay, this is gonna happen now." Inuyasha looked nervously from Kagome to the cradle, to Kagome again. "What?"

"I want to let her hold him…"

"What?"

"It might make it easier on her…" The dark-haired-woman looked down at Kagome, who was too far out of it to hear what they were saying.

"After. Let me get her through this, it won't take a moment, I promise," halfheartedly, Inuyasha nodded his ascent, and Rin reassumed her position. "Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?" she asked, as Inuyasha pulled the pained girl up against his chest. Kagome nodded slowly, her breathing ragged and punctured with whimpers of pain. "Just like before okay, bare down into the pain, and then you can hold your baby, I promise." Kagome opened her eyes slightly, and then nodded, squeezing Inuyasha's hand tight, as I he was going to disappear any moment now.

Not really knowing what was going on, or if it was actually happening, Kagome too far exhausted and agonized to realize she was pushing another baby out of her, just did as she was told, just wanting it all to be over. She screamed as she felt another contraction and pushed down and she felt something slide free of her.

Inuyasha looked down with concern as Kagome collapsed against him, looking as if she may have passed out, and then at Rin, worried that he hadn't heard the baby cry. "It's okay, the baby is a lot smaller than usual, which is why it was quicker." Inuyasha nodded slightly, looking back to the exhausted girl on his lap. Rin got up, after cleaning Kagome up, taking the new baby over to do the same. Inuyasha pulled out from under Kagome and rested her head back against the furs, pulling the bloodstained blanket off the bed, and replacing it, pulling it over Kagome who hadn't even opened her eyes, though he could tell from her raspy, rapid breathing that she wasn't asleep.

Slowly the half demon leant over the cradle, pulling his screaming son into his arms. Looking down at him he noted the tear-stained hazel orbs like his mother's, (a little startled at seeing them open so soon), but the silver hair and puppy ears like his own, and demonic crests (more like Sesshomaru's than his own) on his cheeks, before he carried him over to the nearly unconscious Kagome on the bed. The exhausted girl opened her eyes weakly, when she heard him approach, receiving a smile from her mate, and looked up at him with wide, glassy eyes as she saw the bundle in his arms.

"Wanna hold him?" Kagome nodded almost frantically, and he leant down, sliding the baby under the blankets and into her arms, then lying down behind her, pulling his arms round her as he watched her try weakly to pull the baby close to her. Inuyasha smiled awkwardly, and helped her hold the baby against her slowly calming chest.

The girl traced her fingers over the blanket her son was wrapped in, pulling it back so she could see his face. Inuyasha eased as he saw the indescribable look on her pale face, all he could think of was that he knew she was happy. His eyes felt heavy as he leant back slightly, not realizing he was starting to drift into a doze. He didn't get very far into sleep before he heard her whispering something, and he opened his eyes once more to watch tears falling down her cheeks.

"Inuyasha…he's so perfect…" Inuyasha smiled, and then looked up as Rin approached.

"Kagome?" Kagome looked up as well as Rin spoke, and the woman smiled down at her. "Do you want to hold your daughter?"

Kagome looked up at her with wide, confused eyes, and then at Inuyasha, and he nodded slowly, as if assuring her it wasn't her imagination. His mate turned back to Rin, and nodded slowly, watching the woman to which he now owed so much to, set the baby in the bed beside her brother, letting her family see her for the first time.

The little girl yawned as her father pulled the blanket round her as well, and Kagome and Inuyasha looked over their daughter. The little girl was very like her brother, having puppy ears as well, and silver hair, though not having the marks on her cheeks as her brother did, making her resemble her father almost exactly, (not knowing her specific eye-colour just yet, since unlike her brother's they had yet to open), whereas the boy looked a little like a cross between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but with Kagome's eyes.

"There're two…?" Inuyasha smiled at her, and stroked her hair softly back behind her ear as it began to stray.

"Yeah, no wonder you were so damn big." She offered him a mock scolding gaze.

"They're so beautiful, Inuyasha…" he nodded, not able to manage words. He didn't know how deep the damage from the traumatic events of that evening ran in Kagome, but right now she seems perfectly placid, and happy, as he hadn't seen her for a long time, though he supposed that could be down to exhaustion. "Thank you," he said to Rin, and the woman nodded at him with a smile.

TBC

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A/N: WOOT! Twins! I hope you're all pleased with the outcome, and will give me some nice reviews so I update XD I will update as soon as possible, 'Kay? Love ya all!

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