Disclaimer: InuYasha, its characters and components are property of their creator (Rumiko Takahashi) and do not belong to me. My depiction of said characters however does.

This story, from the very beginning, has some pretty intense Sprite (lemon-lime) in it as well as strong language and violence. Reader discretion is advised.


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Windcry

Prologue

“Oh damn. I don’t believe this.”
Kagura fumbled through her garments and then passed her hands over the earth above her head and to each side of her body. Sesshoumaru, whom braced himself over her with his remaining arm, paused from kissing her breasts.

“What is it?” He asked, impatient.

“Ergh, dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Kagura started pounding the ground on either side of her with her fists.

“What’s the matter? No more protective charms?” Sesshoumaru moved to the side and sat on his half-naked rear. His kimono lay nearby in a crumpled heap, piled on top of which was his juban and armor as well. Kagura had pulled at his sashinuki hakama so that they were loose from his hips and began to fall below his buttocks. The ground was cool on his hot skin.

Kagura stared up at the night that enveloped them like a dark blue curtain; white light burning through pinholes in its sapphire vastness.

“I either forgot we used it or I dropped it somewhere,” she sighed heavily. Her arms folded over her breasts almost as instinct and Sesshoumaru laid down next to her. He turned his face close to her, so close their collective breath met in the cool sweet air and became one smoldering stream of vapor.

“So, you wish to stop?” He asked.

“I don’t see what other choice we have.” She squeezed her arms against her breasts as if trying to keep them from escaping to Sesshoumaru’s eyes.

“We can choose to continue.” He lifted his fingers to her forearm and touched them to her pale skin. She looked at him, alarmed. His gold eyes met her crimson ones with a calmness that still somehow spoke of longing and intent.

“But, aren’t you worried about what may result?” Kagura inquired.

“I don’t worry. This was inevitable, Kagura. You were eventually going to have to make the choice between fear and fact. You didn’t honestly think we’d keep chasing that girl around to re-supply those things when we have Naraku to find and deal with, did you?” He answered. His hand crept up over her wrist and grasped it. He pulled gently and her hand lifted a tad. She drew in a deep, raggedy breath and let her arms fall loose from her bosom.

Wordlessly, she succumbed to his appeal. He slid his bare chest over her breasts, her nipples dragging slightly against his skin. His face mere inches from hers, he peered deep into her eyes.

“Fear is a useless emotion, Kagura. It is one we can’t afford to feel.” His face closed in over hers and their lips met hungrily.

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Chapter 1

“I’m already so big,” Kagura whimpered. She stood on the riverbank staring at her reflection in the water. She pulled her kimono tight across her bulbous belly and felt the firmness in it with her fingers.

‘I’m already twice my original size,’ she thought to herself. Sesshoumaru had only been gone a couple of months but the result of their last encounter was plenty evident. Kagura thought it a testament to the demonic power their child must hold.

“It’s funny how quickly we demons develop and then how slowly we age. How often I forget I am demon no longer,” she said to no one in particular. She unconsciously continued running her hands over her middle as she turned away from the river and found Jaken standing a yard or so behind her. His countenance wore displeasure.

“What?” Kagura glared.

“Oh nothing, Lady Kagura. I think I’m going to go see what Rin is up to,” Jaken replied. He scurried off into the trees. Kagura felt uneasy even with Ah-Un standing watch nearby. She allowed her eyes to drift along the trees and up into the blue, nearly cloudless sky and then, her head turning with them, back to the clear water of the river. She didn’t stand long before that uneasiness became a visceral nausea. She heard an ominous buzzing coming from the direction of the trees.

“Kagura. So you carry the child of the Great Dog Demon and Lord of the Western Lands. I bet you feel so privileged.” The man’s voice, which uttered those words with such a sick sounding delight, was hauntingly familiar to her ears. She turned, her face in horror.

“Naraku,” she breathed.

“Hello, Kagura. What’s wrong? Did I startle you?” Naraku grinned. He and his saimyoushou were hovering just over where Jaken had been standing only moments before.

“Naraku,” she repeated. She clutched her stomach and backed toward the river’s edge. “You stupid bastard. Sesshoumaru will return soon and he’ll annihilate you if you hurt his child,” she asserted.

Naraku chuckled, “It is not my intention to be the one who causes you or your offspring harm, at least not directly. Sesshoumaru may very well be the one who does you harm in my place when he finds out you carry a half-human heir. He’ll see it as an abomination. Does he even know of your delicate condition?”

“You’re wrong. He will protect me. He promised,” Kagura insisted. Tears began to choke her up, her hormones running rampant.

“If he so desires to protect you, then where is he now when you need him?” Naraku teased.

“He’s looking for you, you sorry son of a wh*re-”

Naraku made a move. One of his tentacles blasted out toward Kagura. Ah-Un then made his move. He exploded Naraku’s tentacle before it could reach her with fiery lightning-breath shooting from both heads, blue from one mouth, green from the other. Naraku shot out another tree trunk-like appendage and slapped Ah-Un, knocking him into a large tree. The dragon fell hard to the ground in a veritable pile of itself and did not get up. He turned again to Kagura and shot out another limb. Laughing, he made contact with the right side of her chest and propelled her into the shallows of the river.

She planted her feet at the bottom and rose coughing to the surface. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or if it really happened but she thought, when the appendage pushed against her chest, she felt a tiny extension of it penetrate. Mayhap that was her expectation, for it to go through her and kill her, and fear caused her that sensation. She was so sure that was the end. But, when she looked down at her chest, there was no visible hole. Only her soaking wet kimono clinging to her breasts.

Naraku’s laughter was short-lived for, just after Kagura found her footing on the river bottom, she saw a blue flash flow like an electric tidal wave from behind him and temporarily disrupt his demonic barrier. More laughter followed.

The white figure which had produced the blue blast came into view at last. Sesshoumaru had returned.

“Kagura, you had better get out of there and get dry. You are mortal now. You don’t want to catch your death of cold, do you?” Naraku continued to laugh. There was a flash, and then he was gone. Kagura stood dumbfounded, still up to her chest in water.

Ah-Un was slowly stirring and sat, legs folded beneath him, where he had fallen. Sesshoumaru’s gilded eyes met Kagura standing in the river and he returned Toukijin to its place. He rushed to the riverbank and offered his hand.

“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” He asked. She was reluctant to move from the water, which hid the very thing for which Naraku expected Sesshoumaru to dispatch her. What would he do when he saw? Was it really Naraku’s plan to have the man she loved more than anything kill her when she was carrying his own child?

“What’s wrong? Why won’t you come out of the water?” Sesshoumaru queried. His brow furrowed and the corners of his mouth began to turn downward. Kagura shivered and stepped onto higher ground. Her kimono clung to her belly and there was no hiding what she so feared to show. Sesshoumaru’s brows lifted and his eyes widened.

“I see,” he said.

“Sesshoumaru, I-”

“You’re pregnant.”

“I know. I’m sorry-”

“This was to be expected.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“My search for Naraku ended here and now he’s gone again. It seems he still intends to go after you one way or another so I’m fairly certain I’m not to leave you again,” Sesshoumaru said. He pulled Kagura by the hand and she joined him on the riverbank. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, trying to warm her. Her face relaxed and she let out a laugh. His face showed expression, which it rarely did even to Kagura, and it was an even rarer look of confusion.

“Naraku said it was not his intention to harm me or the baby, he was sure you would do it,” Kagura looked down to her stomach.

“You had that theory all along. Did you forget?” Sesshoumaru asked. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her into the trees where the remains of the campfire burned nearby. They stood by the fire, Jaken and Rin still absent but no smell of blood in the air save for the scratches Kagura suffered from her fall. Sesshoumaru slid off his cuirass and took off his kimono. He kept his juban and his mokomoko slung over his shoulder and offered Kagura the kimono. She turned from him and peeled her soggy garments from her form. She tossed them back to Sesshoumaru and then put on his kimono. It was a little big, but she tied it tight around her swollen belly and then sat by the fire to warm her chilled body. Sesshoumaru sat next to her and they stared into the fire.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he noted.

“Oh. Did I forget? What, my theory?” Her voice shook a little.

“Not so much your theory but what I told you after you originally stated it.”

“I told that bastard that you promised to protect me and that you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Good. Just so long as you remember that.” Sesshoumaru took a stick and stoked the fire’s struggling embers.

Kagura turned her face to him.
“So, you’re not angry at me?”

“Angry at you for something you couldn’t help? No. This could have resulted from any of the times we were close without those charms… and we were a few. If I was so concerned about preventing this, wouldn’t you think I might avoid such contact with you?”

“Well, yes but-”

“There you go, discussion closed.”

“Are you sure?”

He tossed the stick he was using to poke at the fire to the side.
“Make no mistake, I did not knowingly seek this. We reached this path and so it is destined. If you are to bear me an heir, full demon or not, so be it. I have learned that there are some things you must just let be.” Sesshoumaru touched his hand to where his new heir was growing. Kagura raised her eyes to his and smiled.

“I think it is strong with demon blood. It’s growing so fast,” she said.

“I sense it, too,” he added.


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Very nice work, Ryoko...Your stories have made me change my mind about Kagura. There are some phenominal moments in this chapter. The two's breath becoming one smoldering stream of vapor. Oooh my goodnes gracoius that is just peachy. Like I said in Unbound, Seshoumaru is...falling in love. this so rich I think I gained ten pounds after reading.


must take a sauna to drop the xtra lbs. now...hehe


Cant wait for the next chapter... :victory: :fan:

Sqweeee <333
....
Moree!

you're too kind *blushes* thank you!

Chapter 2

Jaken and Rin returned with firewood and fish for dinner just as the sun set and dropped their gatherings near the fire. Rin ran to Sesshoumaru on sight.

“You’re back, Lord Sesshoumaru!” She hugged him around his neck, “Did Lady Kagura tell you? You‘re going to be a father!”

“Yes, I did notice that,” Sesshoumaru replied. He patted Rin on the head and she released him in order to run to Kagura. She wrapped her arms around Kagura, to which she responded with a kiss to the top of Rin’s head.

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” Jaken came running. Sesshoumaru stood as he approached and when he got close, SPLAT! “What was that for?” Jaken whined, prostrate.

“For leaving the Lady unattended,” Sesshoumaru responded.

“But she was never left unattended, m’lord. Ah-Un was always with her.”

“Ah-Un was unable to protect her.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Naraku came.”

Jaken picked himself up and brushed the dirt from his robes.
“I apologize m’lord, I was only making sure Rin wasn’t getting into any trouble.”

“I wasn’t in any trouble, Master Jaken. You said you were sick of staring at Lady Kagura growing that… what did you call it? That ‘disgrace in her womb.’ It‘s just a baby, I don‘t see what it could have done wro-”

“Rin, don’t you ever know when to be qu-” SPLAT! “What did I do this time?”

“Quiet, Jaken. Don’t let it happen again.” Sesshoumaru shifted his weight to the foot on Jaken.

“Yes, my lord!”

“And, Jaken?”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Don’t ever refer to my progeny as a disgrace.” He pressed his foot hard into the middle of Jaken’s back.

“Never, my lord!” Jaken grunted. Sesshoumaru took his foot from Jaken and sat back down next to Kagura.

Kagura stared at her love, a mystified look falling over her visage. Sesshoumaru had literally stood up for her. He hadn’t simply kicked Jaken, there was nothing the least bit spirited or even merciless the way it had seemed when he abused him before. This was an all out assault. His face was calm, stoic as was usual and yet he had displayed such vehemence in defense of his expectant beloved. Was this not his way of telling her ‘I love you?’

Rin prepared the fish, spearing them with stakes and setting them to cook by the fire. An awkward silence loomed over the group and eye contact was avoided by all parties, however more subtly so by Sesshoumaru - who didn’t seem uneasy so much as aloof. Not particularly unusual for him as it stood.

The meal was eaten in almost perfect silence and the fire built up in the same manner. Rin looked to Kagura, whom had finished her dinner before the others and sat staring into space. Sesshoumaru was still picking at his fish, seeming rather uninterested in eating it.

“We brought back extra fish because Lady Kagura is eating for two now but we didn’t know you’d be returning today, Lord Sesshoumaru. If you don’t like yours, maybe you could give the rest to her,” Rin suggested. Sesshoumaru looked up and shifted his eyes to Kagura.

“No thanks, I’m fine. Rin, come here sweetheart,” Kagura said softly. Rin went to Kagura who smiled and took her on her lap. “Can I have a hug?” She asked the child once she was seated. Rin obliged and Kagura squeezed her tight in her arms.
“You’re such a sweet little girl,” she said. She began to shake. She took air into her lungs with audible quickness and Rin sat up from their embrace, concern on her face.

“Lady Kagura, are you all right?” Rin asked. Kagura’s face was crumpled, red and wet.

“Excuse me,” she whimpered in response. She pushed Rin from her lap and ran to the glade beyond the trees that sheltered their camp. Sesshoumaru lifted his head to watch this event and allowed his eyes to follow her until she slipped from sight. He turned his head back to the fire and picked up a stick to stoke the flames.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, maybe you should follow her. Make sure she’s all right. I think she’d want that,” Rin mused. He looked up again and dropped the stick. His eyes moved to Jaken, as if checking to make sure he wasn’t going to make a defiantly stupid crack, but the diminutive green imp wasn’t paying attention. He was lost in his own little world of sulking and shame.

Sesshoumaru stood, let his eyes pass over Rin and then Jaken once again before he started toward the edge of camp.
“Stay here, do not move from this place,” he commanded, glowering at Jaken. He passed through the trees and sniffed the air for Kagura’s location. He followed her scent to a clearing not too far from the place he stood earlier that day, sending an energy blast at Naraku.

Kagura stood up a small hill in the night breeze, her shoulders rising and falling with each pull of the sweet air into her lungs. Sesshoumaru stood at the foot of the slope and observed her for several minutes. Feeling his gaze, she turned slowly. Her eyes fell on his slender frame.

“Sesshoumaru. How long have you been standing there?” She started.

“Not long,” he returned. He padded softly up the small incline and stood in front of her under the full of the moon. Her cheeks were still wet and glistened pale blue in the moonshine.

She let out a nervous laugh and turned from him.
“Looking at me, you probably think all humans do is cry,” she said.

“You are quite prone to tears and expel them in abundance,” he added. He stayed behind her, allowed her space for the time being.

“Not all tears are the same. Some are cried for sorrow, others for joy. And I tend to think that humans who were born as such have a little more control, reserve, and aren’t as prone to them. I am just not used to all these feelings and they overcome me so easily. Once I get a grip, once I understand my emotions a little better, I will have as much control as they. I hope anyway,” she explained.

Sesshoumaru took a hesitant step forward.
“Is it because of the child that you cry?” He asked.

“I was overcome with this feeling of love and contentment when I held Rin in my arms and I just couldn’t contain myself. She probably doesn’t understand and I should apologize.”

“Not Rin. Our child,” he corrected. Kagura turned to him again, agog.

“I- I don’t know,” she stammered.

“You seem more easily overcome now that you carry this child. Are you unhappy?” He asked. Her mouth opened but no reply came. Her eyes darted around and she dropped her head, tears welling up yet again.

“Kagura,” he prodded.

“I don’t know,” she repeated.

“I don’t understand.” His face stiffened.

“Forgive me. I have only been human a few months and now I’m to be a mother. It’s a lot to swallow in a short amount of time. Accompany that with all these new reactions flowing in my blood and you can see why I’m so easily given to tears,” she expounded.

“I see,” he replied simply. She turned again and breathed deep the gusts that bathed them in short chilly bursts.

“Still miss the wind,” he stated more so than asked.

“Yes,” she sighed. Neither spoke for a measure, and then-
“Naraku was right there and there was nothing I could do. All I could do was stare and hope he spared me. That smug bastard, mocking my mortality like that. Mocking our relationship. Funny thing though, he referred to me as mortal, not human. Perhaps he has lost his care for specifics, or he just wanted me to wonder. Regardless, he served his purpose. I was helpless and afraid. That’s clearly what he wanted. Though, who knows? Maybe he wanted to strike fear into me, incredible fear, before he destroyed me utterly. Had you not arrived when you did, I might not be walking and talking now,” she reflected.

Sesshoumaru closed the space between them and stood beside Kagura. He kept his face forward.
“That won’t happen again,” he asserted. She turned to him and moved in front of him, sliding her arms around him as she did so. He closed his arm in turn around her body. She met eyes with him, beaming.

“I missed you,” she breathed. They stood that way for a moment more and she lifted her face so their lips touched. He allowed her to slide her tongue past his lips and into his mouth. His hand passed down her back to the contour of her rear. A giggly breath passed from her mouth to his.

“Do you want me?” She asked, her face flushed with embarrassment, “Even now?” She looked down at how her stomach pressed against him.

“I don’t see any harm in it,” he answered.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she smiled. She brushed her lips over his again, tasting the heat from them and warming against him despite the continuing cooling of the night air. They settled on the grass and passed between them fervent kisses. The lunar glow lit their forms in silhouette and their shadows converged, melting into one murky shape. The moon drew high.

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Very, very nice my friend... I will continue to thuroughly enjoy reading your writing.

I cant wait to find out about... damn it i ll just have to wait.

:victory: :cheer: :victory: :fan: :victory: :cheer: :victory:

Thanks, you're too nice :moji:
but you still have to wait like the rest of us *nyah* :kicking:

Chapter 3

“Sixty-seven days,” Kagura sighed. She closed the anterior part of Sesshoumaru’s kimono back over her front and laid back on the grass again.

“Hmm?” Sesshoumaru breathed. He enclosed them in his mokomoko and propped himself up on his elbow next to Kagura. He had dressed in his sashinuki hakama and tabi but his juban still lay wrinkled in the small space between their bodies.

“That’s how long I waited for you to return. I counted the days,” she elaborated.

“You couldn’t have been that anxious for my return.” His tone of voice was oddly peevish, as if the words tasted bad when they left his lips.

“What? Why?” Kagura raised up on her own elbow.

“You claim to love me and yet you fear me. I saw it in your face today. You were afraid Naraku was right,” Sesshoumaru alleged. His voice took on a flat quality that he usually reserved for the likes of Jaken. To this Kagura did not take much of a liking.

“Sesshoumaru,” her voice a mere breath, she searched his eyes, “I do love you. I don’t fear you. I have respect for your awesome power and I wish to serve you as your Lady, but I do not fear you.”

“Don’t lie. If there is one thing I will not tolerate from you, it is lying.” His eyes turned to stone and she froze in the coldness of his gaze. She dropped her face, still feeling his piercing glare.

“All right. I admit it. He almost convinced me. Did I ever tell you I had a nightmare, before we were even intimate, that I gave birth to a baby which resembled far too much your brother and that you slew us both? It was very vivid.” Kagura’s eyes swam in their sockets but she suppressed the urge to weep. Sesshoumaru’s own calmed.

“You know better,” he said. The coldness from his previous stare remained in his voice. Their eyes clung to each other’s regard and a stifling silence hung between them. Finally, Kagura exhaled roughly and took her eyes from his.

“Is it your belief that every action has a consequence?” She laid on her back.

“You mean a price? Yes, that is usually the way of things,” he replied.

“I have done a lot of bad things, some of which may be forgiven even though they were in the name of Naraku. But those transgressions committed against him, I will have to pay for.” She lifted her arms and stretched them above her head. Air reached inside the kimono in the places that didn’t quite close to its access and she caught a chill. As she shivered, the mokomoko closed around her, warm against her goosepimply flesh.

“You think you have not been punished enough?” Sesshoumaru laid flat with his head resting in the crook of his arm. Kagura let out a distressed laugh.

“As it turns out, having this human heart is no punishment at all.” She moved her right arm back to her side and rubbed her hand absentmindedly on her belly, “I have a feeling something bad is going to happen to me. I feel I may not live to bear this child.”

“Have you no faith in my ability to protect you?” Sesshoumaru queried. Her hand left her stomach, she turned over toward him and touched her fingertips lightly to his cheek.

“I think some things are beyond even your immense power, my love.”

“Nothing is beyond my power,” he contended. Kagura dropped her hand from his face and he sat up, taking the juban from the ground as he did. He pulled it around his shoulders, a seemingly awkward task for a man with only one arm but executed with the smoothness of one who had done it a thousand times. He lifted his long silvery hair from beneath the portion that touched his delicate neck and let it fall down his back and over his shoulders. A sort of sullen look passed over his face and then he collected her gaze in his own golden sight.

“We should return to camp. You are shivering. The fire would do you good,” he said finally. They stood and brushed from their clothes what dirt and grass clung to them. The air weighed heavy around them as they started back to camp. They made it about halfway before Kagura broke their cumbersome silence.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. Sesshoumaru was walking ahead of her and he stopped suddenly a few feet in front. She also stopped and waited for him to turn. He did so and wore his standard detached expression.

“Don’t apologize,” he paused, “You will see the birth of our child, I assure you that.” He turned again and began walking. She remained where she stood.

“Sesshoumaru,” she called. He stopped. “You,” she paused to collect her thoughts, “You have feelings about this child you’re not telling me, don’t you?”

He turned and faced her again.
“Naraku was right about one thing,” he said.

Kagura took a step back.
“And that is?”

“You are mortal, Kagura, but you are not fully human-”

“What?”

“Your heart may be human but there is demon in your blood still. Your powers may have been purified but demon still lies within, even if dormant.”

“H- How do you know?” Kagura asked. Her breath was caught in her throat and she stood agape.

“I smelled it on your blood,” replied Sesshoumaru.

“So, what does this mean for our child?” She asked faintly.

“It is hardly human if at all and, regardless, you will have it,” he answered. He turned and began walking again. Kagura remained where she stood, seemingly unable to move. She clutched her chest and took deep astonished breaths.

“Are you coming?” Sesshoumaru asked without stopping.

“Y-Yes,” her voice started as a breath, “I will be right there.”

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I may be posting this somewhat prematurely but it's one of those drafts that just feels right. You know what I mean? Anyway, I'll begin Chapter 4 asap as it continues this scene at the campsite. Thanks for reading!

well...all you need to do is go back to everyone of my squishy replies and apply to this chapter.

The part where Kagura tells about her vivid dream... You do an awesome job keeping him as uncaring as he is, while he still shares his clothing to warm her and his unborn child. Niether of these characters are easy to write for, and you are doing a fabulous job.

Feeling spoiled that you manage to put out so much work... Thanks for your efforts.

oh and when he put his juban back on...his hair in his collar, falling against his back. Great visual...Are you ok after writing that one...?hehe

:victory: :dancow: :fan: :victory: :fan: :dancow: :victory:

*Squish* Thanks for all of your wonderful replies. I suppose they can be pretty tricky to write but, keep in mind, I'm cheating a little... cos Kagura has all those human emotions and stuff... makes her like a real person... as opposed to a fake one I suppose lol. As opposed to a detached, indifferent demon. You know what I mean.

Yeah, Sesshoumaru in various states of undress and fiddling with his hair is pretty heavy material *THUD* but I'm getting through it all right. :fan:

I want to thank the individual(s) who have helped me improve the quality of this story. You know who you are. :glomp:

For some reason, while writing this scene, I wasn't picturing the juban but had an image more like a tunic in my head soooo... will have to correct this with something like, 'he wrapped himself' or some semblance of. I forgot about his little boots, too. You'd think he was a member of the shoeless gang the way I write this lol. Sorry, shoeless gang is definitely an obscure reference. Don't ask. Anyway, I'm working on fixing this... as well as Chapter 4 in progress, hehe.

EDIT: I fixed it :-)

Chapter 4

Kagura stood on the riverbank, sick rising from her stomach. The rearmost of her mouth burned at the taste of bile, which permeated her pallet. A dark presence approached from behind and she turned.

Naraku’s grin was equally sickening as he held the blood-spattered pelt clutched in his hand up for Kagura to see. It was Sesshoumaru’s mokomoko. Without a word, he whipped the mokomoko and secured its prehensile end around her neck. He pulled her to him, laughing, and then grabbed her by the throat with his other hand. He raised her up above his head and lunged one of his foul grey tentacles at her chest, much like he did before when he attacked her at that very riverbank. Only, this time, he definitely penetrated.

“Unh,” she groaned. It passed through her, crushing ribs and tearing at organs. It burst from her back in an explosion of blood and tissue. She coughed and retched, blood spewing from between her lips and suddenly everything felt cold… so cold…

Sesshoumaru sat perched on a boulder which resided equidistant between the fire and the camp exit. Distress - strained moaning and whimpers - resonated in his sharp ears from the direction of his sleeping companions. He looked over his shoulder. Kagura had drifted from fireside and was shivering. He quietly stood from his lookout and padded his way to where she lay. She was on her side, her figure somewhat crumpled. Her dark hair flowed from her ponytailed head like a shining river of blackness. It fanned as it reached further behind her on the grass, loose from its usually tightly wound configuration.

“Sessh- Sesshoumaru,” she cried in her sleep. Some horrid night terror had apparently crept its ugly way into her slumber and was causing her to jerk and whine. Her back to him, he sat down beside her. He draped the mokomoko over her trembling form and she gasped, suddenly awake. She turned over fast, eyes wide as they focused on him.

“Sesshoumaru,” she repeated, wakeful and less frantic, “What are you doing?”

“You were cold.” His face was unusually soft as he spoke the words. She half-smiled and rubbed her weary eyes with her fingers.

“Sesshoumaru, forgive me for what I’m about to tell you,” Kagura squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them wide as if still trying to shake off the delusions of sleep. Sesshoumaru’s brow furrowed.

“I had a feeling before you left that I might be pregnant. It wasn’t until after you were gone that I was sure but, it‘s still not right. I should have told you. Though I‘m not exactly without a doubt, I have a feeling you would have stayed. Perhaps that confrontation by the river earlier could have been avoided altogether,” she lamented. Sesshomaru’s face relaxed.

“Kagura, regret is the most useless emotion of them all.” He reclined beside her and curled his arm beneath his head. She looked abruptly down to her chest and began scratching at it.

“Hmm, must have a bug bite.” She scratched more furiously.

“Don’t scratch too much, you’ll make it worse,” Sesshoumaru scolded. She smirked at his concern and dropped her hand to her side.

“Will you stay by me?” Kagura asked. Her hand glided over the smooth cloth that covered his chest. His eyes met hers.

“If you wish,” he answered. A closed-lip smile spread gently on her face and her gaze fell to her hand on his chest.

“Will you do me a favor?” She asked, her voice hesitant. She lifted her eyes to his again. He didn’t answer, just stared, waiting.
“Would you hold me? J-Just until I fall asleep?” She faltered. Sesshoumaru did not verbally respond. Instead, he ceased using his arm as a pillow and slid it around Kagura, the mokomoko pulling from her and bundling them both in its downy warmth. She scooted close, snuggled to this chest and sighed, at ease in the coziness she long desired. Sesshoumaru rested his head close to hers, his lips pressed by default to her crown.

Kagura drifted in and out, sleep pulling at her. She wouldn’t allow it to take her completely as she relished their embrace. His warm breath caressed gently the top of her head.

“I have to ask. When did you first come to think there may still be demon in me?” She asked, muffled against his neck. Sesshoumaru changed the position of his head to speak.

“That first day, on the hill,” he replied. His lips brushed the fringe that fell over her forehead in dark wispy strands.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She questioned.

“I wasn’t certain until I had occasion to smell your blood.” Her hair was silky against his moving lips.

“I suppose I should have come to it on my own, I certainly had time to think about it. I’ve also had a lot to think about, I guess. With my powers gone and these human feelings, it’s all very confusing,” she mused.

“And the baby,” he added.

“Yes, which should be here in the next month at the rate it is developing.” At this, he squeezed her a little and she touched her hand to his cheek. She shifted her head so their eyes could meet. Hers the color of blood and his like amber honey.

They stared forever and then Kagura took a ragged breath.
“Thank you,” she breathed. She contained her welling tears - tears of joy - as best as she could. He held her eyes in his, expressionless.
“For everything,” she appended. She blinked and a tear slid down her face, leaving a thin glistening trail down her cheek. Sesshoumaru lifted his hand, a hand that had cut many an adversary down with poison claws, and brushed the tear from her pale skin with his thumb.
_________________________
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more to come...

Man that dream sequence had me for a second...whew...This is just awesome stuff here Ryoko. A wonderful story that has me eagerly awaiting your every post.

Keep up the great work...and could Jakken take a little more abuse soon...id rather Sesshy kick him than me kick my dog...j/k...i luffs me doggie

update!!!

I'm starting Chapter 5 tonight... now it really gets interesting... :devil:

O.O

Alyssa: Holy-

L: SWEET!! *does an OOC dance*

Ree: COOKIES FOR ALL!!!! *bakes Fanfic cookies*

Me: That's their way of saying that they really, REALLY like it!

Thanks a gazillion! I super appreciate the time you spent reading me! :glomp:

Chapter 5

Kagura awoke only able to breathe through one nostril. She sniffed hard, trying to clear the one that seemed blocked, but to no avail. It had been five days since Sesshoumaru returned and he expected they would move camp this day. She sat up and grimaced at the unpleasantness settling throughout her nerves. A sharp pain went through her head, starting at the temples and burrowing to her teeth. There would be no moving today.

“Sesshoumaru?” Kagura’s voice cracked. Rin sat not far away, warming at the fire, but she did not seem to hear the Lady summon their master. Jaken was standing by Ah-Un, checking his front left leg. It had been badly injured in his encounter with Naraku but seemed to be getting better with rest. Sesshoumaru was apparently out on survey as he was absent.

“Where’s Sesshoumaru?” She attempted again. Rin looked up with tentative eyes.

“Lady Kagura, are you feeling all right?” She asked.

“No,” she cleared her throat, “Is our Lord out canvassing the perimeter?”

“Yes. He’s checking the area beyond the camp, making sure we don’t run into any surprises,” Rin assumed. Kagura shifted nearer the fire, pulling her kimono tighter around her body. She loosed her hair and it unwound from where it was bound at the back of her head. It fell down her back in wavy tendrils and she sighed at the added warmth against her neck.

“I’m afraid we won’t be leaving today, Rin. I feel too bad to travel,” said she.

“Lord Sesshoumaru won’t take kindly to this,” Jaken was heard saying. He approached the campfire and stood on the other side of it, opposite Kagura.

“Lord Sesshoumaru is more concerned of my well-being than moving camp, I assure you that,” she responded. Jaken opened his froggy eyes wide and turned in a huff. He started to walk away.

“Why you insist on distracting my master with your pathetic womanly needs, is beyond - ugh!” Jaken was squashed beneath Sesshoumaru’s boot.

“Quiet, Jaken. I will not tolerate your disrespect,” the man attached to the foot insisted.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, Lady Kagura’s not feeling well,” Rin informed.

“Not feeling well?” Sesshoumaru asked. He moved swiftly to Kagura’s side and stood over her; his countenance wore an uneasy expression.

Kagura expelled a dry cough.
“I guess I have my first mortal illness. Falling into the river and the chilly weather couldn’t have been good for me. I just need some rest and I’ll feel better,” she presumed. Her long fingernails clawed at the persistently itchy spot on her chest.

Sesshoumaru turned to the others.
“Rin, have you fixed the morning meal yet?”

“No, Lord Sesshoumaru. I have not yet gone fishing today. We still have the roots I collected the other day.”

“Those we shall save for later. After you have fished and been fed, you are to go to the herb garden where you obtained the remedy that saved Jaken when he fell ill. Ah-Un will escort you. Explain Kagura’s symptoms to the garden keepers and they should know what to give you. Return immediately as you acquire the necessary medicines,” Sesshoumaru instructed.

“Yes,” Rin agreed. Her smile was a sunbeam in the overcast day as she got to her feet and ran in the direction of the river.

“Shall I go with her, Lord Sesshoumaru? To the herb garden?” Jaken asked, still recovering.

“No. You will stay. You will look after Kagura during the times I am gone from camp,” Sesshoumaru glowered.

“Yes, my lord,” Jaken indulged.

Sesshoumaru turned back to Kagura.
“Anything you require, you only need ask.”

Kagura nodded and let out another dry cough.
“If that is effective immediately, I could really use some water,” she suggested.

Sesshoumaru turned his head to Jaken.
“Well?”

“Right away, m’lord!” Jaken cried. He ran the same way Rin had left.

Kagura watched the wind toss strands of Sesshoumaru’s hair from behind him. What little sun shown through the clouds reflected in little flashes from his pauldron. His skin so fair in the grey light, his eyes so beautiful though troubled - she was stricken, as if by lightning, by his magnificence. It was a shame she wasn’t feeling well now that they were alone. He turned his head in her direction once again and viewed her ogling mien.

“What?” He questioned her stare.

“Nothing, just looking.” She tried not to smile.

“At what exactly?” He didn’t seem amused.

“You. Just you.”

“Why?”

“You’re beautiful, is it so hard to understand?” Kagura reached out her hand and Sesshoumaru sat down next to her. She placed her hand on his thigh. “You have to know that, right?”

“I’ve been told,” he replied.

She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“I’m so fortunate,” she whispered in his ear, “To have you.” She smiled despite her aches and sat back again. Sesshoumaru placed his own hand over hers and then looked into the fire. They sat and waited for Rin and Jaken to return, watching the flames dance in the moist coolness of the ashen morning.

Rin departed astride Ah-Un as commanded after breakfast. Jaken sat napping against a tree at the edge of camp while Kagura and Sesshoumaru remained near the fire, Kagura recumbent and Sesshoumaru sitting cross-legged.

“Rest now. We should leave this place as soon as possible. I do not care for the atmosphere,” Sesshoumaru noted.

“Still taste Naraku on the air, do you?” Kagura bemoaned.

“His odor, now much more bitter and foul, lingers on the pallet,” he supplemented.

“I think, as a whole, that describes him exactly,” she concurred. He reclined in her direction on his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

“I will vanquish him. If for nothing else, for his abuse of you,” he seemed to pledge. Her face took on a mixture of shock and delight. He rolled on his back and rested his hand on the front of his cuirass, gazing indifferently at the dismal oblivion above them. She stretched, pulled her arms over her head and then let them fall on the ground flat behind her. The pressure in her head began to ease as the sun peeked through the clouds and she was able to slip off to sleep under the careful watch of her beloved Lord.

Rin was gone from camp the whole of the afternoon. The remaining group lazed the day away, breaking from their diurnal slumber to take in food and drink and the warmth of the fire. The same pattern continued passed sunset.

Late that night, Kagura woke coughing, her coughs becoming more productive as her affliction spread to her lungs. She hardly had time to realize their was an arm around her until its owner stirred in reaction to her coughing and squeezed her. Clad in a flowing white sleeve, it could only belong to one person.

“Sesshoumaru,” her voice sounded strained, “This isn’t like you.” She lifted his arm, turned over toward him and then replaced it around her waist. She noticed when she looked him over that he had removed his cuirass and, when she turned over, that she had rolled herself up in his mokomoko, with which he had blanketed her whilst she slept. She peered into his glinting gold eyes and tried to be stone-faced despite her glee.

“This night is cold,” he answered. He looked down to her stomach. “It was moving earlier, did you feel it?”

She looked down and then brought her eyes back up to his face.
“I was asleep but I’ve felt it before.”

“It must be strange to feel something moving inside you.” He returned his eyes to hers.

“It was surreal at first but now it’s almost second nature,” she shrugged. She drew in a quick breath, wheezing, her eyes turning to the side as if something caught her attention and then touched her middle.
“It’s shifting position now. Do you want to feel it?” She asked. Sesshoumaru looked unsure. She took his hand and moved it over her belly.
“Do you feel it?” She watched his face for reaction. Though he didn’t twitch a muscle, somehow she knew what he felt.
“Funny, how it starts out as barely more than an idea - until you feel this. Then, somehow it transforms to reality. It has a presence, you know it is real.” She couldn’t help but smile. The corner of his mouth bent upward slightly. No matter how reserved and indifferent he desired to appear, he couldn’t completely obscure the pride he felt over the conception of his noble heir.

He slid his hand over to her side.
“You should get some sleep. You’re getting worse,” he advised.

She coughed again and scratched the bothersome spot on her chest.
“Do you think Rin is all right? She’s been gone all day and half the night.”

“She’s probably on her way back now with the medicine you need,” he assured her. She turned and coughed into her sleeve, a bitter taste entering her mouth. She wiped the spittle from her lips and turned to Sesshoumaru again.

“Will you lay with me? The way we were, just for a little while longer?” She asked.

“Under one condition. Stop that incessant scratching. I smell blood,” he said.

“Fair enough,” she agreed. She turned back over and let him hold her from behind. She noticed a dark substance on her sleeve, the one she coughed against, as she tucked her hands beneath the side of her face. Unable to make it out in the absence of sufficient moonlight, clouds blocking the majority of it, she pushed it out of her mind and drifted back to sleep.
_________________________
__________

keep your pants on, more comin soon...

Yay...another chapter. I love Jakken under Sesshoumaru boot, He needs many more moments like that. I know...But I love that stuff.

It seems like Lady Kagura may be having some difficulties with the pregnancy? Hmm... I can only imagine what you have laid out for this unlikely pair, and their unborn child. Amazing update my friend.

Thank you again for your comments. Chapter 6 is on its way *mwahahahahaha* :spooky:
dunno why I'm being so evil about it... but, enh. evil is good.

:dancow: :dancow: :dancow: :dancow: :dancow:

Alyssa: *squee* *randomly glomps Elyssia*

Elyssia: Sister, let go! I want to go glomp Al!

Al: O.o That's wierd, I wanted to glomp Alyssa...

Alyssa: *stops hugging Elyssia* What was that?

Al: Nothing! Nothing!!

Volital: Ryoko, you're EVIL!! You make my OCs do odd things!!

Edward: *glomps Al*

Volital: AHHH!!!!!



FLAWLESS!!!!

Wow, shucks! I'm not worthy!

p.s.: what are OCs? please splain.

Ocs are characters made for something by you: Say, you create Kagura's baby. That's your OC, since no such character exists in the anime. I'm not sure what OC stands for, but I think it's Own Charater, or something like that.

That is so groovy. Cool, thanks for the info - I'm a total newbie.

QUOTE : “Funny, how it starts out as barely more than an idea - until you feel this. Then, somehow it transforms to reality. It has a presence, you know it is real.”

Wow! That's deep! LOL


I am curious about the sore on Kagura's chest she keeps scratching at. Very scary stuff.


Your story keeps taking on different directions. Just when I think I know where it's leading, there is another twist and another turn. I love it! I can't wait for the time when you gather up enough confidence and courage to start your very own story. I want to meet the characters you create. I know how creative you are cuz! Keep up the fantastic work!

:kittylove:



~~*Edit~~

I forgot to mention how much I loved the vivid detail and descriptions in the dream Kagura had in Chapter 4.

Naraku whipping the mokomoko and securing its prehensile end around Kagura's neck, pulling her to him, grabbing her by the throat, raising her above his head,. . . . and it doesn't stop there. I loved the descriptions you give when Naraku's tentacle passed through Kagura. (QUOTE : '...crushing ribs and tearing at organs. It burst from her back in an explosion of blood and tissue. She coughed and retched, blood spewing from between her lips and suddenly everything felt cold… so cold…')

~Beautiful.~

:)

Thanks so very much for your kind words. I appreciate the detail in your thus-far review. Hope you like it from here on as well as you did the bits that are up so far. *Hugs* :excited:

Chapter 6

It was blood. Sesshoumaru realized it at first light. Kagura woke to him pulling on her arm as he examined the rich brown matter that stained the sleeve of her kimono. Before Rin had even returned with the medicine from the garden of Jinenji and his mother, Kagura had developed a new symptom.

Rin delivered the medicine the afternoon following the onset of Kagura’s illness and it was dosed as instructed. For a day or two, the nasal and respiratory problems were alleviated. But they soon returned, worse than before. The week following, the persistently itchy spot on Kagura’s chest was discovered to originate from a small puncture. Hardly a pin-prick yet seemingly quite deep, it was evidence enough that it likely wasn’t a simple bug bite. As it later began to ooze a clear pinkish fluid and bleed bright scarlet, her suspicion of Naraku’s penetration was slowly revealing its veracity.

Despite her poor health and eventual loss of appetite by the third week, her baby seemed to grow exponentially and she was fit to burst. She spent her miserable days shivering by the fire under the watch and care of her dearest Lord as well as Rin and, by now having formed an attachment of sorts, Jaken.

Kagura’s skin was pallid, her now mauve-colored eyes encircled in dark puffy rings. Even her hair, which was now regularly worn up but loose instead of wound into a bun, had lost its luster. She wore a sort of confused closed-lipped smile on her face, lids heavy over staring eyes as the fire at which she was ever-present transfixed her. Sesshoumaru approached from behind, having just returned from perimeter inspection, and tapped her on the shoulder with edible roots Rin had found enclosed in his hand. She turned her head slowly back, which visibly took considerable effort, and peered with desolate eyes up at her master.

“Here. Eat,” he demanded. She coughed into her hand, leaving a light spray of vermilion on her palm.

“I can’t, I’m not hungry,” she croaked.

He forced the roots in front of her face.
“Eat,” he repeated. Her face soured and she attempted to push his hand away but realized, even with normal strength, it would be an almost impossible feat. She dropped her hand and let out a rasping sigh. His golden eyes practically burned with vexation. His ability to honor his promise was growing dimmer as the days went by and his only love’s health rapidly declined.

He could protect her from any foe, anyone who would chance pugnaciously taking her life. And if it had been an actual act of violence Naraku had used in an attempt to destroy his Lady, he could have easily thwarted it. But he had used different tactics. Completely unanticipated tactics. He had opened a hole in her chest just small enough to initially go unnoticed but big enough to collect infection and weaken her immune system. The push into the cold water of the river and the subsequent chilly weather ensured she would be vulnerable to contagion and illness.

“The child inside you may be strong in demonic power, but it still needs nourishment from its mother. You must eat and take in more water,” he insisted. The fire behind his eyes eased momentarily and they pleaded for her to do as he asked. She took the roots weakly into her hand and pondered eating of them. She lifted a small piece of root to her mouth and took a hesitant bite. She chewed slowly, Sesshoumaru watching every movement of her jaw in the action of arduous mastication. She swallowed with difficulty and drank from the pouch of water Rin had left by her side.

“Thank you,” she set the water back down, “I don’t mean to be difficult. My sickness seems to be taking its toll on my mind as well as my body.”

He sat down and touched her shoulder.
“I can’t protect you if you won’t heed me.”

Her eyes swelled, spilling with tears.
“I’m sorry.” She fell into his embrace and wept dimly against his armor. He patted her gently on the back and allowed his head to rest at her shoulder. Less than a minute passed and then she stopped crying, her body loose and flopping against him in a lifeless heap. He lifted her just enough to be able to lean down and listen at her chest for her heart, nodding in approval when it thudded against his ear, then let her lay in his lap. He had no need to check her further for respiration as he could here amongst the faint thuds a rattling wheeze. He clasped her clammy hand in his and gazed at her with trepidation exuding from his eyes, a sick feeling rising from his stomach and grabbing at his heart. Was she dying? Was she going to lay there and die right in front of him? Was there nothing he could do to stop it?

Jaken and Rin were resting at the edge of camp against a tree. Seeing the trouble on Sesshoumaru’s face from where he sat, Jaken stood from his place and softly moved closer. He stopped a few feet from the couple.

“Lord Sesshoumaru.”

“Jaken.”

“Is she alive?”

“Barely.”

“What are you going to do, m’lord?”

Sesshoumaru lifted his head.
“Rin,” he called. Rin got up and ran to where Jaken stood. Worry filled her face when she saw Kagura’s limp form draped across Sesshoumaru’s lap. She shifted her troubled eyes to his bleak expression and awaited his command.

“I must leave here. I require the aid of the young woman who travels with InuYasha. Kagome. You and Jaken must stay and look after Kagura,” he instructed.

“Yes, whatever you need, Lord Sesshoumaru,” Rin accepted.

“You’re going for the girl - InuYasha’s girl. What can she do, m’lord?”

“She regularly cares for my brother and his other human companions when they are sick or injured.”

“How would she differ from the keepers of the herb garden?”

“She also has in her possession something we may find useful.”

Jaken sighed and looked up into the clouds.
“If the Lady should pass, you could just use Tenseiga to revive her,” Jaken noted.

Sesshoumaru also looked up and then back down to Kagura’s wilting shape.
“If I collect the girl, I won’t have to.”

Kagura regained consciousness briefly and tore at her chest in a scratching fit. A spot of blood soaked through her clothing and Sesshoumaru knocked her hand away. She fought him for a second, moaning faintly, her eyes still closed, and then slipped unconscious once again. He pulled back her garments from her breast and saw that what had started as a barely visible puncture was now a gaping abscess.

“We’re running out of time,” he said. He turned his head to Rin and Jaken. “Make sure she stays warm and,” he looked back down to the weeping wound, “Comfortable.”

“Here,” Rin ran and gathered bedding from her own sleeping area and placed it where Kagura usually slept by the fire, “She should be comfortable if you lay her right here, Lord Sesshoumaru.”

He looked up at her virtuous little face and nodded.
“If she gets much worse. If she -” he stopped mid-sentence.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, I will ride Ah-Un and find you at once. But that’s not going to happen, is it Master Jaken?” She turned her head back to the diminutive green imp. Jaken startled, wide-eyed.

“Of course not! We’ll watch over her, Lord Sesshoumaru. Do what you must,” Jaken vowed.

Sesshoumaru looked between his fellow travelers and then tenderly laid his Lady on the bed by the fire. He smoothed his hand down her body from shoulder to hip and rested it last on the place in which the product of their union grew. He moved his lips close to where his hand was at rest.
“I will keep my promise,” he seemed to tell the child in little more than a whisper. With that, he was gone in a flash of blue light. Clouds crossed the sun and the world was suddenly dim.
________________________

more to follow...

Al: *dances on the table*

Ed: *drinking sake*

Volital: OMFG STOP DRINKING!!! YOU'RE UNDERAGED!!!!!!

L & Alyssa: *making out under the desk*

Volital: *wtfing* *screaming randomly* STOP MAKING SUCH AWESOME STORIES!!! YOU MAKE THEM CRAZY!!

Sesshoumaru: *steals Ed's Sake*

Volital: SESSHOUMA- Oh forget it... *sulks in corner*


Flaweless

Sorry... and thanks again!

I could'nt agree more with the above flawless^^

So excited to see what that will be like when Sesshoumaru has to ask for Kagome's help...Im sure InuYasha wont mind at all...

Awesome!!! More!!!

Chapter 7

InuYasha and his companions were traveling through an open field, an endless expanse of grass and wildflowers. As Sesshoumaru approached, InuYasha stopped and turned in his direction, sniffing the air. Kagome also stopped and turned, looking to the sky.

“What is it, InuYasha?” She asked.

“Sesshoumaru,” he replied in a breath.

“Ack! Sesshoumaru?!” Shippou cried.

It wasn’t like Sesshoumaru to try the diplomatic method, he was a man of action, but the circumstances called for him to take an altogether different approach. He couldn’t just run up and snatch Kagome; a fight would ensue. A useless fight that would take up precious time. He had followed their trail for miles, a ball of electric blue energy, and landed at last before them. The cyan light dissipated and Sesshoumaru stood a yard or so away, stone-faced even in his urgency.

“What do you want?” InuYasha grumbled.

“The girl,” Sesshoumaru replied.

“What? You mean Kagome?”

“Kagura requires her assistance.”

“What happened? Is she ok?” Kagome took a step toward Sesshoumaru.

“It must be serious if Sesshoumaru came all this way himself,” Sango noted.

“Kagura is still in his camp I see,” Miroku added.

“Whatever it is, Kagome ain’t goin nowhere with you!” InuYasha readied his claws.

“I’m not asking your permission,” said Sesshoumaru.

“If it’s all the same to you, I ain’t giving it!” InuYasha growled. He reached for Tessaiga and began drawing it from its sheath. Sesshoumaru in turn reached for Toukijin.

“InuYasha, SIT! Let’s all calm down now,” Kagome yelped.

“I haven’t time for this nonsense.” Sesshoumaru’s eyes sharpened.

Kagome turned to InuYasha’s prostrate figure.
“Look, I want to help if Kagura needs me. She’s not a bad person anymore,” she kneeled down and moved her lips close to his doggy ear, “And Sesshoumaru is clearly in distress. This whole thing is nothing like him. Why did he come this way instead of grabbing me in the middle of the night like he did Sango and I before? It‘s just not calculated enough,” she finished in a whisper.

InuYasha got to his feet, still a little wobbly.
“What do you care what happens to Kagura anyway?” InuYasha directed at his elder half-brother. He folded his arms over his chest.

Sesshoumaru thought a moment, having not anticipated the question, and intensified his glare.
“She has something that belongs to me.”

“Heh, not calculated, huh? Sounds like the Sesshoumaru I‘ve always known. Always after something,” InuYasha scoffed.

“InuYasha,” Kagome scolded.

“What?”

“SIT BOY!”

InuYasha crashed once again to the ground in a heap.

“Gather what medicines and bandages you carry and anything else you deem pertinent,” Sesshoumaru commanded.

“Give me just a few seconds here and I’ll be ready.” Kagome checked her belongings, including her quiver and bow, and the backpack she carried.

“You can’t be serious about going with him!” InuYasha beat at the ground with his fists in a childish fit.

“InuYasha, Kagome has her own judgment. She’ll do what she sees fit. Besides, nothing happened to she and Sango when Sesshoumaru took them before. I’m sure she’ll be fine. He needs her; he won’t likely allow anything to harm her, least of all himself,” Miroku reasoned.

“I need no one. Only Kagura and she is the one who requires Kagome. Do not be mistaken,” Sesshoumaru explained.

“Ok, I’m ready.” Kagome’s voice was a little shaky but her face appeared calm.

“Very well, come to me.” Sesshoumaru opened his arm.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Kagome,” InuYasha objected. He rose clumsily to his feet once more.

“I will return her when she has done what is needed of her,” Sesshoumaru vowed.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Kagome peered into InuYasha’s honey-colored eyes and smiled. She then ran to Sesshoumaru’s side and they, surrounded in another flash of blue light, orbed and shot into the distance.

They arrived at camp mere minutes later and Kagome was jolted by their sudden arrival in a new place. By a well-burning campfire sat Rin and Jaken, laying between them a heavily pregnant and apparently unconscious Kagura. There was a smear of blood that stretched just passed her lips to the side of her face. More blood on the front of her kimono, just above her right breast. Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru with wide, welling eyes.

"Naraku did this," Sesshoumaru noted.

“Sesshoumaru, didn’t Kagura tell you about the, uh, charms I gave her?” She asked.

“Yes, we used them all,’ he answered.

“Did she tell you what they were for?”

“Yes.”

Kagome stared blankly, her jaw open but no sound emanating. Sesshoumaru shifted his eyes to the side.

“There is no time to discuss this now,” he uttered.

“Right, later then.” Kagome sighed and moved to Kagura’s side, kneeling carefully in her short schoolgirl skirt. Sesshoumaru followed and stood a few feet behind her. Rin got up and gathered Jaken, dragging him to the other side of the fire, where they both then sat, allowing Kagome room to work her magic.

She pulled off her pack and rummaged through the items inside. She drew out a white box with a red cross on the front and a handle at the top. She took out two amber-colored cylindrical containers with white caps and set them aside with the white box.

“Sesshoumaru, tell me about her symptoms,” Kagome said. She sifted through her bag some more and pulled out a small beige object with a green rectangular box at one fat end and a silver nub at the opposite skinny end. She placed the silver bit in Kagura’s mouth and received a crackly moan in response. She held it in place and pushed on a tiny depressed area next to the green box. There was a small chirping sound and then she turned her head back to Sesshoumaru. He took a breath and another step forward.

“She has difficulty breathing,” he noted.

“Through her nose or in general?”

“Both. She expels blood when she coughs.”

Kagome turned back to Kagura.
“How far along is she?” When she didn’t receive an answer right away, she turned to view Sesshoumaru again. His eyes were directed at his Lady, his ordinarily stoic expression allowing something resembling both frustration and sorrow to slip through momentarily.

“Sesshoumaru?” Kagome plied. He straightened his face and met eyes with her.

“The child should come any time now,” he responded finally. A barely audible series of beeps stole Kagome’s attention forward again. She took the object she’d been holding in place between Kagura’s lips and lifted it in front of her face.

“She has a terrible fever.” Kagome pressed her thumb on the object, it chirped a final time and she put it away. She opened Kagura’s garments in the front to examine the wound that bled through her kimono. Surrounding the abscess were remnants of bleeding and seepage, yellow pus pocketed in the center.
“This is badly infected. Why didn’t you come for me sooner?” She looked back to Sesshoumaru again. He didn’t answer, only continued staring. She turned forward and let out a discouraged sigh.
“Never mind, I know. Well, I always keep antibiotics on hand as a just-in-case measure. Topical and pill form so, I’ll start her on those immediately,” Kagome detailed.

“Antibiotics?” Sesshoumaru inquired. He walked around and stood to the side of the fire, in the middle of the semicircle which began with Jaken and Rin and ended with Kagome and Kagura.

“Yes, they fight infection.” She looked up at him with unsure eyes.

“Good. Begin.” He sat down and observed her countenance, eventually letting his eyes fall to Kagura’s bloodstained hand. He placed his own over it and looked to her wretchedly wan face. Kagome watched him with an expression akin to shock. He lifted his eyes to hers and they pressed her to action.

Kagome opened the white box and brought out a long triangular and apparently malleable object and began fumbling through bandages and such in order to tend to Kagura’s wound. She unscrewed the top to the triangular tube and squeezed a clear gooey substance out onto a clean bandage. She applied it as far inside the sore as she could and around it as well. Kagura winced, her eyelids fluttering and then opening wide.

“She’s awake!” Rin spouted.

“Unh, What’s -” Kagura groaned. Her eyes darted around and stopped at Kagome leaning over her.
“Kagome?” She rasped.

“Kagura, how are you feeling?” Kagome sat back, still clutching the once clean bandage - now soiled with yellowish goo and blood.

“I’ve been better,” her lids drooped and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, “How did you get here? Did Sesshoumaru bring you?”

“Yes, he asked me to help you.”

Kagura turned her head to her Lord.
“Sesshoumaru,” she struggled to breathe, “My love.”

Sesshoumaru leaned forward and looked into his Lady’s fading fuchsia eyes.
“Kagura.” He squeezed her hand.

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” She wheezed. He didn’t reply at first, lost in her eyes. She turned her head and faced it back up to the sky. The sun was coming through the clearing clouds and the dull grey was changing to a soft Saxe blue.
“I wanted to have you this heir,” she moved her free hand to her stomach, “I’d have you a hundred if it only meant I could see your face every day - forever.” Tears welled in her eyes, but she contained them. Kagome, on the other hand, could not contain hers and they spilled over her cheeks, glimmering droplets falling to the ground below.

Sesshoumaru kept her one hand clasped in his and, in the least defeated way he could manage, laid his crescent moon against the other. She turned her palm up and cradled his face where it met her hand.

“The child is strong in my blood. It may be the very thing keeping you alive,” he said. She took her hand from beneath his forehead and he turned his cheek to her belly. The baby moved and he let go of her hand, took his own from beside her and rested it by his face on her lower abdomen. She brushed her fingers through his snow-colored locks and smiled faintly.

“You are keeping me alive as well.” Kagura began to let go of her tears.

Sesshoumaru shifted his eyes to where Kagome sat.
“Kagome, would you use your jewel shard to save her?” He asked.

Kagome stammered and shook her head.
“But, Sesshoumaru, I have no more jewel shards.”

Sesshoumaru lifted his head and sat up.
“What?” He glared.

“In the last battle with Naraku, my last shard was destroyed when we used it to fortify InuYasha’s Tessaiga,” she explained. He turned to Kagura and looked again into her rose-colored eyes.

“Well, there’s always Tenseiga,” Kagura noted in a vermilion-laced cough.

“Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru. You could always revive her the way you did me,” Rin added.

“Why don’t you just use Tenseiga should she pass, m’lord?” Jaken asked.

“Because, I shouldn’t have to,” Sesshoumaru paused, “Not yet.” He resumed his reclined position, face resting where his unborn child was yet growing.
“Although, if Naraku has all the remaining jewel shards, I may have to resort to its use,” Sesshoumaru lamented.

Kagome perked up.
“Naraku doesn’t have all the remaining shards.”

Everyone turned their eyes to her.

“No?” Sesshoumaru started, “Then who possesses them besides Naraku?”

“Kouga. He has two, one in each leg,” Kagome enlightened.

Sesshoumaru rose and stood from his place.
“Kouga, you say?”

“He won’t give them up easily.” Kagome absentmindedly wrung her hands around one of the amber-colored containers.

“It makes no matter. I only need borrow one and then I have no care what happens to it,” Sesshoumaru declared.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, what is it you plan to do with the jewel shard once you obtain it?” Jaken asked.

“I will embed it in the Lady and her demon blood should rise and heal her, curing her of all ailments and allowing her to live as well as be strong enough to bear my child. At which point, I will have no use for the shard and shall return it,” he paused briefly, “Or discard it, depending on whether its owner still lives once I acquire it,” Sesshoumaru replied. Kagome swallowed hard at that.

“Sesshoumaru, don’t leave me,” Kagura pleaded, grabbing at his leg, “I want you with me should I die. You can revive me, and with no harm to the baby, I’m sure. As you said, it is strong in your blood.”

He bent down, his face close to hers.
“I won’t allow it. You don’t know what will happen. It’s not worth the risk - to either of you.”

She took a ragged breath and searched his gilded eyes.
“Come back soon, my Lord. My love,” she whispered and kissed his cheek. Her lips stuck to his skin for an instant, still tacky with bloody spittle. He didn’t bother wiping his face.

“I will,” he turned to the others, “Kagome, give her the medicine you have. If her condition deteriorates beyond repair, send Jaken or Rin to ride Ah-Un and find me at once,” he ordered.

“Ok,” Kagome agreed. Sesshoumaru turned once more to his Lady and the two original members of his little group. He looked them over, their fearful faces etching themselves into his mind. He stood upright and started to walk from them. A bright blue light enveloped him and his energy shot into the heavens. An electrified azure streak across the cerulean skies.

Chapter 8 should follow around the beginning of next week. A lot going on right now - work, stress and such. Been trying to teach myself to draw anime/manga by using these tutorials I got online. I've completed one in what I hope will be a series of InuYasha characters essentially performing Eddie Izzard stand-up bits. It is quite cute. I should start solid work on Windcry again Sunday night as I can't stay up late (like usual anyway) Saturday night. Meanwhile I have some other projects in the works, including an attempt at a Windcry illustration as well as an overall read-through and (possible) edit of it thus far, so... yeah, stuff and things. I shall note the edits should/as they occur for those of you who have already read all seven chapters. Thanks again, folks!

My OCs are too speechless to be crazy... That's a new one...


HSTA!!!!!

(before you ask, that means Holy **** Thats Awesome!)

yeah... volitial is right...Totally awesome. Loved how the gang is coming back into the picture. And now Kouga too...hmm...Thats gonna be awesome, if seshoumaru is going after him just for one thing. Im sure Kouga's neck hair is standing on end right now. If I were him I would find a big rock to hide under.

Anyway my friend, We are all waiting for the next chapter...update when you may.

Thanks again, guys. Life is a bit of a clusterfuck right now so it may be a bit. Thanks for stickin with me all this time ^^ *group hug*. Hope to have Chapter 8 up soon though I'm under great stress at the moment. The good news is that I finally completed my first good fan art, a color pencil drawing of the Sesh man. Hope to post that soon as well.
Bon soir, my dears!

I fixed some minor things in Chapter 1 and skimmed through Chapters 2 and 3. I don't think I have too much editing to do in order to satisfy my perfectionism... as much as a lazy turd such as I can be a perfectionist. Just thought I'd note what little changes I made since Chapter 8 is taking a year and a half. Thanks for reading.
Have a good day, folks x

Chapter 8

A series of images passed through Sesshoumaru’s mind. Thoughts. Feelings. Memories.
The day he saw Kagura standing on the hill, how she clung to him around his waist, pleading for him not to leave her alone… with her apparent humanity and affection for him. How curious that had made him about such emotions - such weakness. Of course, his curiosity had already been piqued the day she fell from the sky, a giant hole through her chest, extremely lucky she hadn‘t had her heart or she would have been dead long before this dire situation could have chanced to occur. What Rin had said that day echoed in his thoughts - “I‘ll bet she‘s secretly in love with Lord Sesshoumaru.” It was even more apparent when she came to him in exile. In his inquisitive and thus methodical nature, he had experimented with those most intriguing feelings by later touching her face in a caring fashion when she seemed in need of comfort. How soft her skin felt under his fingers and how that pressure in his groin he hadn’t understood at the time began to build in his attraction for her.

The first time their lips met under the first stars of evening, that twilight in particular the one which led to the first glorious night of their love-making. The pleasant little gasps and utterances of ecstasy when their bodies joined as one - how he wanted to feel that again and again and again. He later discovered the excitement in time spent delighting his Lady before taking her for his own pleasure. Planting kisses in unexpected places, caressing her body in gentle little sweeps of his hand and pulls of his fingers over her skin. How she’d smile and bite her bottom lip, her eyes would squeeze tightly shut, her grin occasionally breaking into a breathless ‘o’ of bliss. How he desired her and wanted to be with her like that always.

He pictured each time she smiled because of him - how his heart seemed to lift, become lighter, when it happened. Their shared euphoria brought about the child whom still grew within her. The thought of which brought him back to the first time he saw the result of their having united sans charms - how her kimono clung over her belly as she rose from the cold water (in which Naraku had pushed her, such nerve having done that to the woman carrying the heir of the Great Dog Demon) and he knew in that instant that he was going to be a father. Strange sensations in his once cold heart that he couldn’t explain. He had felt similarly when Rin began tagging along but it paled in comparison to learning of his own progeny. The last memory to pass through his mind, as he finally caught Kouga’s scent on the wind, was that of feeling his baby move - something he couldn’t find words for at the start but was then expounded so eloquently by its mother, his dearest, Lady Kagura.

It was true he loved her. All a demon such as he knows is battle and carnage. To have a feeling of belonging, of family - of being loved - after all these centuries was a foreign yet indescribably compelling and beautiful concept. And that’s what he had with Jaken and Rin - and now Kagura. Soon his own child as well. If he could save its mother, that was. He was certain of the child’s immense demonic power but he couldn’t predict what might happen should the Lady die with it still unborn. He had an idea the battle for the shard might be costly if he wasted time trying not to kill Kouga for Kagome’s (and, essentially his own) benefit.

He first caught sight of Kouga’s two companions fumbling about in a stream, appearing to be attempting to catch food. Kouga was a little further upstream sitting by and stoking their campfire. He wouldn’t suspect foul play which would work greatly to Sesshoumaru’s advantage. Less time would be wasted if he were ready for a fight. Hakkaku and Ginta came running up by Kouga as Sesshoumaru landed beside him at the campfire.

Kouga stood to greet him.
“Sesshoumaru, is it? What are you doing here?”

Sesshoumaru only stared and did not respond.

“Kouga, do you smell that?” Ginta asked. The fish in his hand slipped loose and took his attention to the ground below where it rolled and collected dirt.

“Yeah, it smells like Kagome. Sesshoumaru, is that human blood on your face?” Kouga asked, his brow furrowing.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes shifted up to the sky.
“Forgive me, Kagome.” He returned his eyes to Kouga, shooting the end of the mokomoko toward him and wrapping it around his lower right leg. Before the sinewy wolf demon had a chance to react, Sesshoumaru drew his energy whip from the ends of his fingers and lashed it at the thigh belonging to Kouga’s mokomoko enclosed leg. The limb severed at that point and he pulled it into his custody using the furry adornment. A noise came out of Kouga, a mixture of a scream and a roar. He fell backwards, his friends barely catching him before he hit the ground. Where blood should have been gushing from what was left of his thigh, the whip seemed to have almost completely cauterized it.

“Why did you do that for?” Hakkaku cried. Kouga continued to howl and bellow, spouting occasional swearwords.

“I will return the shard and the leg when I’m finished. Get him to a safe place in the meantime,” Sesshoumaru advised. The two lesser wolf demons looked at him a moment more, perhaps shocked more by his concern than his vicious action, and then dragged Kouga toward a rocky alcove visible in proximity to their camp. Sesshoumaru rolled the leg up in his mokomoko, completely concealing it. He flashed across the sky in the direction from which he came.

A sense of relief swept over him when he realized, though it still needed to be located and thus extracted from Kouga’s leg, that he had the shard in his possession. He sped back to camp, suddenly enthusiastic that the chance he might have to use Tenseiga was lessening with every mile he came closer to his love. To his family.

He was almost there when an ominous sight met his eyes. Rin was hurtling toward him astride Ah-Un, tears streaming down her innocent face. Sesshoumaru stopped and Ah-Un slowed, Rin lurching forward as he too came to a halt.

She caught her breath.
“Lord Sesshoumaru!”

“Rin, what happened?”

“The girl you brought to help Lady Kagura, Kagome - she gave her the medicine she had and said that it should help the Lady’s fever but she also said she’s lost too much blood,” she sobbed, “She says she has no pulse.”

Sesshoumaru’s heart dropped to fathoms he didn’t know existed inside him. His mouth opened but he was silent. He zipped passed her in a brilliant white flash and continued his path back to camp. When he arrived, he found Jaken in a panic, trying to wake the Lady and Kagome sitting behind where she lay, slumping in a manner of defeat. Tears were spilling down both their faces. Kagura’s skin was devoid of all color and she didn’t appear to be breathing.

‘Am I too late?’ He thought.
He rushed over and took a knee to her right. Jaken ran from the opposite side blubbering incoherently and began dashing aimlessly around the camp. Sesshoumaru slid his hand across the space between Kagura’s breasts and her belly, feeling for any sign of life. She was still breathing, the expansion and contraction of her diaphragm working in a sluggish and unsteady rhythm. He could feel the baby move from this position too; it seemed to be in panic, moving more frequently and aggressively than usual.

“Sesshoumaru, I’ve done everything I could. She’s just… slipping,” Kagome bawled. Sesshoumaru unfurled the mokomoko and let the leg fall free. Kagome gasped.

“You’ve only just begun. Find the shard,” Sesshoumaru commanded.

“You ripped off Kouga’s leg? Is he dead?” Kagome backed up, aghast. She looked as though she might vomit.

“He is with his comrades, he will be fine. He can reattach his leg using the shard later.” Sesshoumaru pushed the leg toward Kagome. She turned, twisted to her side, and retched. She wiped her mouth, breathing hard and turned back to Sesshoumaru. He was staring impatiently, his gold eyes afire.

“You don’t honestly expect me to cut the shard from his leg, the detached leg of my friend,” she pleaded.

“There is no time for this stupidity. My Lady is dying, and with her likely my child. I’m mere inches away from saving them both. Find the shard and I will do the rest,” he ordered.

Kagome swallowed hard, looking at the fur-greave wrapped lower part of Kouga’s disembodied leg. She pointed near the center of it.
“It’s there,” her voice broke. Sesshoumaru took the leg in his lap and pondered how he should dig out the shard. His poison claws would damage too much tissue. Toukijin would definitely be overkill.

He would draw out the shard by means of the same ability he had used when he took the black pearl from InuYasha’s eye, the object which held within it the gateway to their father’s tomb and the once coveted Tessaiga. A yellow electricity extended between his fingertips and the spot Kagome pointed to on Kouga's leg. The shard broke the surface and flew up to his hand. He held the shard of the Shikon jewel up to the sunshine; it gleamed pink in the light. He allowed the leg to fall from his lap and pushed it aside. He moved in close to Kagura, pulled her garments back from her breast and carefully inserted the shard into her wound - just far enough so that he could still see a sharp edge. He sat back, unblinking.

“Is it working?” Kagome scooted close on the other side of the Lady.

“I don’t know,” Sesshoumaru replied. Ah-Un landed a few yards away and Rin came running up, almost falling over as she stopped suddenly at Kagome’s side. Jaken scurried up beside her, panting.

“Is she going to be all right, m’lord?” Jaken asked. Sesshoumaru did not reply, his full attention focused on his Lady’s ashen face. There was a pulse, a seism that seemed to pass through them all, originating from Kagura’s body. Her eyes flew open and she began to gasp and cough.

“Kagura.” Kagome's voice was small.

They all leaned in over the woman on the edge of death. No one breathed. Her torso lifted, the rest of her seeming to fold beneath it and she screamed. A bright white light and a gale burst from all around her, blasting all but Sesshoumaru from her bedside. A terrible piercing cry escaped her throat followed by a few more hacking coughs and sharp breaths. Several seconds passed and her body dropped.

She lay flailing on the fireside bed, the energy of the light and wind still flowing. Sesshoumaru watched as the wound in her chest began to close, slowly pushing the shard out from it. As it fell from her breast, it dropped to a fold in her clothing and the light dissipated. The wind did likewise. She stilled, mouth agape while catching her breath, which was no longer producing any sounds of rattling or wheezing. She slipped her hand inside the front of her kimono and touched her chest. She closed her eyes, letting her hand slide down to her belly. A look of relief falling over her face indicated reassuring movement from the baby greeted her palm. She turned her head and opened her eyes on Sesshoumaru. A soft smile spread across his lips. She returned the same gentle expression.

“You made it,” she sighed. Kagome, Rin and Jaken slowly crawled back to her bedside.

Rin flung one arm around her and hugged her tightly.
“Lady Kagura!” She said, muffled against her neck. Kagura embraced Rin in return and kissed her temple. The young girl released her after a short time and sat back on her bottom.

“Thank you all for not letting me go,” Kagura said. Her formerly faded eyes were once again a brilliant crimson.

“Lady Kagura,” Jaken began. She turned her eyes to him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. You know, that day. I should have been there to protect you,” Jaken said.

She smiled.
“Thank you, Jaken. I don’t know that it would have made much difference against Naraku but - it’s the thought that counts.”

“I should have been there,” Sesshoumaru said lowly. She turned her head to him again.

“You’re here now, that’s all that matters,” she breathed. She slid her hand up his side and over his shoulder, pulling at it until he lowered his face over hers. She wiped the dried blood from his face and her own lips before passionately kissing him. Kagome let tears of joy drop from her face, the sides of her mouth pulled tight in a weepy grin.

Kagura stiffened.
"Oh!" She yelped. Her exclamation was followed by a sharp hiss as she sucked in air through clenched teeth.

Sesshoumaru pulled away and looked into her encouragingly rubicund face. She withdrew her hand from Sesshoumaru’s shoulder and moved it to her stomach.

“Kagura?” His eyes grew wide, “What is it?”

“Sesh- Sesshoumaru, I don’t feel so well,” she replied. Her breath quickened.

“Oh no,” Kagome started, “No no no no.” She pushed Rin and Jaken out of the way and sat in their place, nearer to Kagura's lower half.

“What is it?” Sesshoumaru felt an icicle of exigency thrust through his core. Kagura began to writhe and whimper, holding her stomach all the while.

“Crap! I think she’s going into labor!” Kagome squealed. Sesshoumaru looked at her somewhat blankly.
Kagome lifted her face, her brown eyes meeting his amber ones and staring with panic.
“Sesshoumaru, I think the baby’s coming!”

Stoic in expression, he let his eyes fall from hers to where Kagura clutched at her middle. He shifted and put his own hand over hers, closing it in his grip. His eyes darted back up to Kagome’s.

“Your new role is to act as midwife,” he demanded.

She shook her head and sputtered.
“N-N-No way! I- I don’t know how to deliver a baby!” She shrieked.

Sesshomaru’s gaze coarsened.
“Improvise.”
______________________
Chapter 9 in progress :D
EDIT #3: I think I may have it just the way I want it now... maybe.

MUCH better, hon'. Seriously. I love that you really put more effort into the detail. Very nice. ^^ The only thing you're still really having a problem with is telling and not showing. Paint me a picture. Don't just tell me what's in it. Does that make sense? I don't know. Anyway, good job.

IMPROVISE


LULZ!!


HSTSFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My OCs are still to speechless to drown kittens...

Thanks so much for the praise! I saw your and Volital's comments as I arrived home from work. I rushed to the 'puter with the intention of doing some editing as it were and your comments helped me a bunch... I hope. I may have posted a little prematurely as I'm not entirely sure what's there is the FINAL edit but... I dunno that anything I post ever is LOL. Thanks again for reading... and commenting as well!

Chapter 8, possible final edit completed this morning. I know I'm being obsessive about this specific segment but, since it is such a key pivotal chapter, I want it to be the best it can be. I want everything I write to be the best it can possibly be, but this chapter in particular feels important above all for some reason... at least it does for the meantime - after all, I have barely begun the one to follow, hehe. :fan:
P.S.: I'm trying to remove the overuse of [the word] 'orbing' from previous chapters... not entirely sure I understand the process of Sesshoumaru transforming to a bolt of energy and traveling as such so... trying not to pretend so much that I do. Just describing it as I see it, I guess... like everything else I don't have full knowledge of, hee. :dancow: