Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.


Moonlight Promise

Even for hanyo eyes, green and red were difficult to distinguish in the half-moonlit night. Inuyasha wrapped his arms around his mate, and the green shawl he'd found and bought several years ago because it matched the green of her old school uniform. "You warm enough, wench?" he asked, for the horrific storm of the night before had brought with it unseasonable cold.

"Ka-go-me," she corrected, with a ripple of amusement in her voice.

"Kagome-wench." He buried his nose in her neck and snuffled her neck.

"Oh, you," she said, exasperated. "Yes, I'm warm enough."

"Good." He let his hands move, searching for the lump that was the baby sling under the shawl. "And Aimiko?"

A yip cut off any answer Kagome might have made, and the lump began to move, vigorously. Kagome sighed and pulled the baby out of the sling and into the open. "At least she slept during the ride," she commented, trying to tuck the wriggling baby into one arm.

"Keh. Smart pup." Inuyasha peered over Kagome's shoulder. Aimiko was still wriggling against the blanket she was wrapped in. He noticed that the tiny ears were flat against her skull. "Why'd you wrap her up so tight?"

"To keep her warm, of course," snapped Kagome, as she struggled to keep Aimiko still. The baby growled.

"Here, let me." Inuyasha released Kagome and stepped forward, scooping Aimiko out of Kagome's arms before she could say yay or nay. He found the ends of the blanket and pulled them free, loosening the swaddling. With a chortle, Aimiko pulled her arms out, reaching out to Inuyasha's face, with a beaming grin, and pricked-forward ears.

Inuyasha held her close, snuffling her hair. Aimiko squealed, grabbing his hair with both hands. "Haven't you had enough of her today?" asked Kagome, amusement back in her voice. "You only let go of her, when she had to nurse, or needed to be changed."

"Feh!" Inuyasha scratched gently behind one tiny ear, totally without embarrassment. He had pretended to feel ill most of the day, despite the youki his brother had given him, just to have the excuse to stay inside and keep his precious baby to himself. The excuse had worn thin, at least in Kagome's eyes, by evening. It had been her suggestion that he take her and the baby to their favorite overlook. "You got her all to yourself for eight days: and she missed me. Didn't you—"

He stiffened as he felt the youki surge nearby, and then relaxed slightly as he recognized the source. Freeing his right hand, he turned, feeling Kagome move closer, putting her body in contact with his. Sesshomaru alighted, hair and fur swirling gently in a self-created breeze. The taiyoukai's eyes didn't even glance at his face, focusing instead on the part-youkai child.

Inuyasha kept a growl from his throat with an effort, though he could not stop his ears from lowering. He hadn't liked the fact that Kagome had put Aimiko in Sesshomaru's hands that morning, and he didn't like the attention Sesshomaru was giving her one little bit. And what was Sesshomaru doing back in the area already?

His discomfort and wariness went unnoticed by the baby. Sniffing, she turned her head, caught sight of Sesshomaru, and squealed, dropping her double handful of hair and almost lunging out of his arm in a clear effort to go to Sesshomaru. Inuyasha hastily brought his other hand up to steady her position, trying to swallow his sense of shock and hurt. His baby girl wanted to be with Sesshomaru? The person who had hurt him, scorned him, hated him, even denied their blood relationship for so long: and his baby, his little girl, wanted to go to him?

Sesshomaru finally flicked his attention to Inuyasha's face, giving him a long, searching stare, as Aimiko squealed and wriggled. Finally, without a hint of change in his expression, held both hands out. "May I?"

Inuyasha froze, his mind unable to process that simple query. Sesshomaru had been acting more like a brother since the destruction of the Shikon no Tama. And, yes, Inuyasha knew he trusted Sesshomaru in most things, and knew that his half-brother had come to accept his existence and no longer regarded him as something worthless. But, Sesshomaru, wanting to hold Inuyasha's baby girl? Sesshomaru, willing to hold a mixed-blooded baby? Willing to show interest? Sesshomaru who had never once displayed interest or kindness to his half-brother, when Inuyasha was a boy?

In the end, it was Kagome who plucked Aimiko from his arm and placed the baby into the waiting hands. Inuyasha shivered once from head to foot, and might have lunged forward to reclaim Aimiko, had Kagome not quickly put an arm around him. Inuyasha found a hand and squeezed it, trying to concentrate on Kagome's closeness and to not squeeze too hard, as opposed to thinking about the horrified thought: Sesshomaru had his hands on his little girl!

"Her youkai blood is strong." Inuyasha twitched, his full attention snatched back to the taiyoukai. Sesshomaru's look in his direction was bland, and he seemed totally oblivious to the fact that the baby had somehow gotten both hands on the tip of his moko-moko and was half-buried in fur. "Much stronger than I would have expected from a hanyo's get—except maybe yours."

Something shifted in the taiyoukai's expression, and in his aura, and Inuyasha caught the slightest hint of a smile. The realization that his half-brother was actually amused at the situation was somehow a key. Inuyasha found his paralyzed dread draining away, as the more recently grown feelings for his brother surfaced. Inuyasha relaxed, knowing that Sesshomaru meant no harm to his daughter.

But, his words triggered an underlying worry, which had been plaguing him since before Aimiko's birth. "Will it be too strong?" He whispered. "Will—will Aimiko have problems like me?"

Sesshomaru gave him a thoughtful look, then glanced down at the baby who was burbling happily in the midst of his fur. "I do not know," he said finally.

Inuyasha bit back a pang of fear and dismay. If even Sesshomaru couldn't tell: what was he to do? He couldn't let Aimiko be vulnerable to that horrible possibility. But, how was he to stop it? Was he even strong enough to seal her blood, when his own had to be sealed by his father's fang?

Sesshomaru was suddenly in his face, slipping Aimiko back into his arms, his eyes a lambent green-gold in the moonlight. "Aimiko will be protected, otouto," he said, his gaze steel and adamant. "She will not transform."

And, with a flurry of wind, Sesshomaru was gone. Inuyasha went to his knees, his legs suddenly weak. He shook, clutching the wailing Aimiko. Kagome knelt before him, and touched his face. "Are you all right, Inuyasha?"

He looked up at her through rising tears, the green and red of her shawl and hakama the same shade of black in silhouette. "He accepts her," he whispered. "Sesshomaru will protect Aimiko."

She gave him a somewhat puzzled look. "Well, of course. She's his niece, after all. Why wouldn't he?"

He only shook his head, unable to explain, not having known himself the depth of his fear that Sesshomaru would reject his niece as he had once rejected his brother. "He accepts her," he could only repeat.

Kagome understood then, or chose not to question. She pulled him into a hug, and held him why he cried, knowing now, for sure, that his daughter would have a safer childhood, than his had ever been.


Author's Note: This was written for the prompt "Red and Green", on the LiveJournal community At First Tweak. It was originally posted on 12/18/2011. It won the contest. (2/15/2012)