Welcome to my SesshoumaruxKagura Trilogy... Yes, I said Trilogy; I've combined my two previous stories and their successor into one thread. Indeed, there will be a third and final installment to this storyline. Hope you all enjoy!

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... Barring references to the anime or manga, of course.
Warning: adult situations as well as strong language and violence.
Reader discretion is advised.
:fan:
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Part I

Unbound

Chapter 1

She reached the top of the hill, the breeze tossing tendrils of her dark hair behind her from her high ponytail. The sensation of the wind on her skin made her shudder with grief. She once rode it, controlled it. She hugged herself against the cold and defeat she now faced after having lost her grip on it. All that remained of her demonhood were her elfin ears and her crimson eyes. In all other discernible respects, she was human.

"There he is," she whispered. At the bottom of the hill, not quite obscured by the early morning mists, was Sesshoumaru and his little group. “Ah, and now he knows he has company.”

She watched as he looked around above him, sniffing the air. Quiet shock passed over his face as his eyes located her form. She read his lips while he spoke to Rin and Jaken, ‘Stay here,’ and then watched as he surrounded himself in blue light, his energy bolting to where she stood.

"Kagura, what are you doing here?" Sesshoumaru asked. His glare tore through her, its edge slicing sharper as his hand touched Toukijin.

"I came to see you." Kagura attempted a confident smile but fell short somewhere nearer to sheepish.

"And why do you desire to see me? I thought you didn’t require my help. I know that Naraku has not yet fallen and so you are not free -"

"I am in exile, Sesshoumaru. Naraku took my powers and I no longer ride the wind." She studied his face. "What's wrong, don't you trust me?"

"You have betrayed Naraku on more than one occasion. Why did he not kill you instead of letting you get what you wanted - to be free of him?"

"Because, as I said, he took my powers. He gave me a human heart. I guess he thought that might be a more fitting punishment for my misdeeds against him."

"How human is your blood, Kagura? Shall I draw it and find out?”

Her face saddened.
“Go right ahead. Put me out of my misery.”

Sesshoumaru stood for a moment more, still glowering at Kagura, and then he took his hand from Toukijin. He turned, light enveloping him.

“Sesshoumaru, wait!” Kagura cried. The glow encircling him dissipated and he turned back, his brow furrowing. The former wind sorceress had her fists clenched and tears were streaming down her reddened face.

“I had no care for you as demon. Why should I concern myself with you as a human?” He turned away again.

“Damn these human emotions, I have no control over them!” Kagura threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Sesshoumaru. She planted her face in the small of his back and wet his cuirass with her tears.

“Unhand me at once.” He stopped and stood with Kagura holding him at the edge of the hillcrest.

“I can’t seem to let go,” she whimpered.

“Kagura, I’m not going to ask you again.”

“I can’t - I can’t help myself. The urge is so great -”

“Kagura.” A voice filled Sesshoumaru’s head. It belonged to Rin.

‘I’ll bet she‘s secretly in love with Lord Sesshoumaru.’ That was what she had said of Kagura the day he rescued she and his companions from drowning in the river. Kagura had just left atop her feather, still half-naked from the blast which had given her the injuries that caused her to fall in the first place. Jaken was appalled by her flattery of his master, questioning why she would even say such things… and Rin’s answer had been love. In some kind of foreign human wisdom, was it possible Rin was right?

He dropped his head almost submissively.
“Why are you doing this?” His gilded eyes met her white-knuckled hands and he found himself weirdly transfixed by the desperate tightness in which they were clasped over his stomach. His hand involuntarily drew close to hers. He regained his senses momentarily and halted it before his skin could touch hers, leaving it hovering just above her tireless grip. She grabbed at the fur and garments that clothed his chest and stood herself upright once again; her arms remained around him, though not as dreadfully tight. He flicked his eyes back in a sort of side-glance, curious about the being behind him but more determined to face forward uninterestedly.

“Sesshoumaru, do you remember when you took me from the river? When I had those terrible injuries?”

“Vaguely.”

“My only wish, as I believed I was dying, was to see you. If only for one last time…” She trailed off.

“These human emotions do not become you, Kagura. You should go. I do not wish to slay you. If you really are no longer connected with Naraku, I bear you no grudge and therefore have no further business with you.” His eyes shifted forward again. He could hear Jaken calling to him. Adverse to being seen allowing Naraku’s incarnation to cling to him, he unclasped her hands and dropped them from his body. “Go.”

Kagura sniffled and wiped her cheeks and her nose. She kept her eyes on the grass between her and Sesshoumaru when he turned in her direction. Jaken continued to call his master between morning bird calls and the sound of the wind.

“I apologize,” she sniveled, “Your majesty bewitched me once as a demon and, as human or human-like as I seem to be now, I cannot remove you from my thoughts. It seems this human heart wanted to feel your presence, even if for only an instant. Perhaps just to know what it must feel like to be human - the way Kagome and Kikyou fell for Inu- well, your half-human brother. I never understood some of their actions until now. I am weak, Sesshoumaru. And I am embarrassed to show you this weakness, the weakness that allowed me this display. Humans must be stronger than we credit them if they can keep it together with all these complicated-” She wasn't making sense, or at least that was the way it felt. She was losing her point somewhere in the ramble within her head, thoughts racing along with the animal beat of her heart. She turned away from Sesshoumaru, covering her face with her hands.

Jaken had given up calling to his Lord and was now bickering to Rin about their master’s always taking off with barely a word and his ungratefulness for the loyal imp’s service to him. He would be dealt with later. He took a step forward and placed his hand on Kagura’s shoulder.

“It must be frightening, having no understanding of what’s happening to you. No frame of reference other than memories of a fondness you may have had for me. I don’t know these feelings as I’m sure demons can’t really love or feel sentiment for anyone. I do pity you, though. You are clearly in a terrible state.”

“What about your father?”

“What of him?” Sesshoumaru withdrew his hand from Kagura’s shoulder. She turned to face him again, narrowing her eyes.

“Your father knew love. With a human, no less. Your brother is evidence of that. And your swords - did your father not feel sentiment enough to bequeath you the legendary swords you each hold? Why do half-demons exist at all if not for love? Are they not protected by their demon parents for reason of sentiment, if not love?”

“I have no such capabilities.” Sesshoumaru’s expression was flat and yet somehow sour. Nauseating to look at, even with his fairytale beauty underneath.

“You may pity me, Sesshoumaru, but I tend to pity those who limit themselves due to fear.”

“I fear nothing, Kagura. Fear is a useless emotion and one a demon, as you once were, cannot afford to feel.”

“You could afford to feel a few things.” Kagura turned and began to walk away. Sesshoumaru’s once stoic countenance was overtaken by confusion as he watched her descend the hill. He, oddly lacking a cruel quip in reply, was left with a strange desire to follow her - to stop her from leaving. She was slowly slipping from his view as she proceeded down the slope. He began walking behind her, his boots sweeping gently through the grass for a measure before she stopped. He too came to a halt. Her head swiveled back to him, her body still facing the foot of the hill.

“What?” She said through clenched teeth.

“Rin would not be pleased if she knew I’d turned you away like this. Come back to camp with me and I’ll make sure she and Jaken look after your needs. You’ll be safe with us until you figure out what to do with yourself.”

“You’d do that? I mean, for Rin?” Kagura completed her turn toward Sesshoumaru. “You’ll protect me?”

“I didn’t say I would protect you. Just that you can stay with us for a while. No one bothers looking for a fight with me much these days. You will be… Safe.”

“Huh,” Kagura considered. She allowed a halfhearted smile. Sesshoumaru, much to her as well as his own disbelief, invited Kagura with his arm open to her. She accepted his summons, approaching him with hesitant, cautious steps. He held her to his side and orbed them to where Jaken and Rin were staying with Ah-Un.

They arrived just behind where Jaken was standing. The demon Lord took his arm from his guest and gave the imp a swift kick to the rear. He sent him flying, a little scream escaping him as he shot several feet from where he originally stood. Rin giggled a little, covering her amused grin with her hand out of respect for Jaken while Ah-Un gave a horse-like snort.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, you have a visitor.” Rin smiled at Kagura. “I knew you’d come back. See, Master Jaken, I told you that lady was -”

“Kagura is going to stay with us for a little while,” Sesshoumaru interrupted.

“Lord Sesshoumaru! You’re going to let that deceitful wench join our group? Do you really think you can trust -” Jaken came running back to Sesshoumaru only to be kicked again. “Whatever you think is best, milord,” Jaken groaned as he landed.

“Kagura will be no threat; she is powerless. Naraku gave her a human heart and it has neutralized her powers somehow - perhaps even purified her. She is basically human.” Sesshoumaru explained.

Jaken got to his feet and stood well away from his master.
“Not to question too much, Lord Sesshoumaru, but don’t you think maybe it could be a trick? No disrespect, my Lord, but if she is bold enough to betray Naraku in the first place -”

“Jaken, do you wish to be kicked again?”

“No, my Lord.”

“Then I suggest you be quiet.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The dog demon turned to the child.
“Perhaps you and Jaken should gather some more firewood, some food as well.”

“Yes,” the young girl beamed. She scampered away, dragging Jaken along with her. Kagura made herself comfortable on the log she assumed to be camp seating. She tied her hair up in a bun, the way she usually wore it, as the sun drew high and hot in the cerulean sky above. Sesshoumaru took a seat against a mossy tree adjacent to the log.

Kagura half-turned her head in his direction, peering guardedly at him.
“Sesshoumaru.”

He laid his head back against the tree and closed his eyes.
“Yes, Kagura?”

“Thank you.”

“Just don’t give me any reason to slay you.”

At this, she smiled.
“I won’t.”

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Chapter 2

Rin passed skewered fish to each member of the group, Sesshoumaru waving his away and it thus being offered to Kagura. She happily took the extra helping and tore at it ravenously with her teeth. As the morning meal was on its way to digesting, Rin settled in close to Sesshoumaru and all eyes turned to Kagura.

“So, what brings you to our camp, Miss Kagura?” Rin asked.

“Naraku set me free,” Kagura sighed.

“He set you free?” Jaken scratched his head.

“How did this happen, Kagura?” Sesshoumaru inquired. Kagura slid down and planted her bottom on the ground in front of the log she’d been sitting on and leaned against it. She hung her head in an ashamed fashion, avoiding the dog demon’s intense gold stare.

“I’m sure you have no idea what it is to be consumed by fear - with your power, I’m sure you’ve never had occasion to feel the need to look over your shoulder… ever. I decided, finally, if it was my destiny to fall by the hands of Naraku, then so be it. I would find him myself - face my fate. Die with dignity…”

Dark clouds undulated overhead as Kagura approached the base of the mountain. Naraku smiled at her arrival, smug as ever. She tried her best at being stone-faced despite her terror with little success.

“Kagura, what a pleasant surprise. I have something for you,” Naraku leered.

“I’m sure you do, Naraku. Well, here I am, do your worst,” said Kagura. She stood tall, chest out, face as expressionless as she could manage even in her anticipation of her own death. Naraku held up a beating heart. Perspiration moistened her skin, her eyes growing wide.

‘Is that my heart?’ She thought to herself. He tossed the organ in her direction and she closed her eyes. A thumping sensation filled her chest. She opened her eyes, a sense of relief passing as a sigh. The breath no sooner left her lips when a squeezing pressure took hold of her lungs. She couldn’t breathe; a feeling as though her veins were being gathered into a tight grotesque ball caused her to fall to her knees in agony. The gathering then changed to an outward pushing, as if her insides were going to burst from her skin.

Naraku’s cruel grin expanded.
“You know as well as I do that I could kill you, but this is so much more satisfying. Death would be too easy for you, Kagura. You should suffer more than that. I’ve given you a human heart. Each mortal joy… and inevitable pain shall be yours to know and relish. Enjoy your short and ultimately disappointing existence.”

Kagura, teeth clenched as she continued to bear her pain, lifted her face to Naraku. He held up a second heart for her to see, then crushed it into dust, thin streams of material like grains of sand slipping between his fingers and carrying wispily on the wind.

“You are free now. I have no use for you anymore. Be gone from my sight, your pathos makes me ill,” Naraku commanded. Kagura made her way to her feet and turned from her former master. She plucked a feather from her hair band and tossed it in front of her. It floated away on the breeze. Behind her, Naraku laughed, the sound of his delight echoing into nothingness as his presence dissolved.

‘Huh?’ She thought, ‘I can no longer produce plumes on which to travel?’ She tried again and again. Nothing happened.

“Dance of the Dragon!” She cried, spinning. Still, nothing.

“My powers - Gone!” Tears spilled from her eyes and she collapsed to her knees once more.
“What am I to do now? Where am I to go?”

That was when his gilded eyes flashed through her mind.
‘Sesshoumaru,’ she thought, ‘I must find him. If it is the last thing I ever do, I have to find Sesshoumaru…’

“Didn’t take you long to find us. Awfully lucky, isn’t it, that Naraku dumped you so close to our camp? It seems more than a coincidence if you ask me,” Jaken grumbled.

“Well, no one did ask you, did they? You little green eyesore.” Kagura glared.

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru scolded.

“My apologies, my Lord; my only concern is for you,” Jaken groveled.

“No one need concern for me. Kagura, how did you find me so easily?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“Let’s just say a little flea told me.”

“Myouga? But what reason would he have to help an incarnation of Naraku?”

“It was a happy accident. Apparently his grip isn’t what it used to be in his old age. He fell from the sky - from a crow, he said - and landed on me. He recognized me mid-snack. Found the taste of human blood coming from me a bit curious, naturally, so he asked me what happened. I told him and mentioned I was looking for you. He was quite helpful. Hopped off just as I arrived, said he’d forgotten business he had to attend to.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze softened briefly.
“Hmm, I’m sure he did.”

Kagura’s mien took on almost comical confusion.
“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Carry on.”

“I wouldn’t say it was an easy journey here, though it may seem that way. For days I traveled with barely a drink of water - hunger, thirst, tiredness - never did I have such terrible need to satiate those urges.” Kagura moved back up to the log and swept her hair back from her forehead with a shaking hand.

“You will have all the food, water and sleep you need now, won’t she, Lord Sesshoumaru?” Rin smiled up at him.

“She may as well reap the benefits of your care while she’s here,” he replied.

Rin moved from beneath Sesshoumaru’s arm and pulled at Jaken’s robes.
“Come on, let’s go pick some flowers to celebrate Miss Kagura’s arrival!”


“All right, all right - stop tugging at me!” Jaken stood and stumbled, Rin yanking him by the arm as she skipped away.

Kagura shifted her eyes in Sesshoumaru’s direction. He was sitting quietly against the tree, looking at the sky. She pressed her hands against the log with the intention of moving closer to him but hesitated to lift her rump from her seat. Before she could reconsider her motion yet again, Sesshoumaru stood and began to walk.

“Sesshoumaru,” she found herself calling. He turned, a breeze lifting strands of his silky white hair behind him. She was dumbstruck.

“Kagura?” He plied.

“Oh, sorry,” she let out a nervous laugh, “Where are you going?”

“I have some things to attend to. You will be all right by yourself for a while, won’t you?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll be fine. I’ll take a nap or something.”

“Do as you wish.” Sesshoumaru turned once again and walked to where Ah-Un was resting, the dragon then standing in preparation for his master to groom him. Kagura got up from the log and gathered some foliage to make up a bed for herself. She lay on her makeshift mattress, watching the clouds cross the sky. Her heavy lids eventually closed and she dozed from late morning to mid-afternoon. As evening arrived, another meal of fish was prepared and eaten in uncomfortable silence. Nightfall came and so sleep was supposed to, but it did not come easily. At least not for Kagura.

She sat up and looked around. Sesshoumaru’s companions were sleeping soundly, Jaken with a huge snot bubble growing and contracting with each whistling breath. Sesshoumaru was seated by his mossy tree, facing away from the group and staring into the starry distance. Kagura got up and sauntered over, trying despite her knowledge of the demon Lord’s extraordinary senses to be as quiet as possible. He stirred as she closed behind him and turned his face up at her. His eyes moved over her face and her figure for a breathless measure, something remarkable about the way she was framed by the cosmos above.

“You don’t sleep?” Kagura produced a nervous half-smile.

“No. Not often,” Sesshoumaru replied. He turned his face back to the nothing-in-particular he had been staring at. Kagura grinned, observing his beautiful long hair in the moonshine. It was the color of snow reflecting a blue sky in its shadows and looked so silky. How she wanted to touch it but feared the thought of losing her hand more. He wasn’t ready for that… yet. Maybe someday, if he allowed her to stay long enough, maybe she would get the chance.

“Mind if I join you?” Kagura’s voice was shakier than she would have liked, but she was happy to produce any syllables at all.

“As you will.” Sesshoumaru hardly sounded inviting and twitched not a muscle. He remained facing forward, watching the horizon. She plopped down beside him and surveyed carefully his apathetic mien. His head turned in her direction and she quickly darted her eyes away. He soon returned his stare to the skyline and thus she hers to his lovely visage. Eternity passed and then Sesshoumaru finally broke through the thick silence which buried them in its hollow quiet.

“Are you happy, Kagura?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you happy? You’re free from Naraku, you are sitting by me in the night. Do those things not make you happy?”

“I suppose they should.”

“And they don’t?”

“They do but… I’m filled with this fear.”

“What are you afraid of, Kagura?”

Kagura sat agog for a moment, her face scrunched.

“You have a lot to sort out. I can tell you this much - as long as you are with us, you have nothing to fear.” He turned and looked into her face, a palpable electricity between them. His hand went to her cheek, his fingers gently tracing her jaw. With her hand, she pushed his to the side of her face. She turned, brushing her lips over the contours of his palm before pressing them into its hot center. Sesshoumaru began to detect a tingling in his nether regions he was unfamiliar with. A pressure was building in his groin. She withdrew her kiss and turned her cheek, losing herself in his honey-amber eyes.

“Sesshoumaru,” she breathed. Her face was drawn to his, as if by a magnet. As she got closer, Sesshoumaru removed his hand from her cheek and turned away. Kagura seemed to choke and dropped her face. She slumped her shoulders and leaned opposite the Lord of the Western Lands, bracing herself by one arm.

“I think I’ll be going to bed now,” she sounded as though she might cry, “Good night.” She stood falteringly and stole one last glance at Sesshoumaru’s face. A pensive expression had somehow burrowed its way through his usually stoic countenance. She turned with a heavy sigh and walked back to her bed. She dropped herself backward and folded her arms over her chest.

“I’m such an idiot,” she moaned softly. She rolled over and closed her eyes.
“Idiot,” she repeated.
Sesshoumaru turned slowly behind him as the words floated to his sharp ears. Kagura’s back was to him but he could tell she was crying by the way her body jerked and shook. He turned forward again, his head drooping.

‘No, Kagura,’ he thought, ‘But you have much to learn. As do I.’

~

Rin cooked breakfast in the morning. More fish. She presented to Kagura the crown of pinkish lilies she had picked with Jaken the day before. It remained proudly worn on the former wind user’s head until the sun wilted the blossoms a few hours later.

Kagura was warm under the virtually cloudless sky when something, or rather someone, obscured her light. Thin strands of silky white tresses tickled her arm. Sesshoumaru’s expression was hidden in his own shadow as he stood leaning between Kagura and the sun.

“You startled me.” She gasped.

“I’m going to have a look around - make sure you weren’t followed.” The dog demon moved from view. Kagura sat up and watched him leave the camp. She viewed the movement of his form under the folds of his kimono and beneath the skirt of his armor. What did that body look like? He was tall and slim-faced but she did not imagine anything that could be described as scrawny was hidden underneath his garb. ‘I’ll bet that ass is perfect.’

She laid back , sighing as Sesshoumaru’s glorious presence disappeared from sight. Her light was obscured once more - this time by two figures. Rin had run over with Jaken in tow.

“You really care for Lord Sesshoumaru, don’t you?” Rin beamed.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Kagura returned. The corners of her mouth turned up involuntarily.

“You know, I believe he really likes you too,” said Rin.

Kagura’s face stiffened.
“What makes you say that?”

“Every time he sees you, he becomes very thoughtful and quiet - even more so than usual. He sits looking at the sky for hours, just thinking,” Rin explained.

“Really?” Kagura raised an eyebrow.

“When you left the last time I told him I thought -”

“Rin, we must get more firewood before our Lord returns,” Jaken interrupted.

“Okay! See you in a little while, Lady Kagura!” Rin smiled and ran off into the trees with Jaken.

‘Lady Kagura. My, that has a nice ring to it.’

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Chapter 3

“What are you afraid of, Kagura?”

Sesshoumaru became a little frustrated when she only scrunched her face and stared instead of answering what should have been a simple question.

“You have a lot to sort out, he had said, I can tell you this much - as long as you are with us, you have nothing to fear.” ‘Not even me,’ is what he wanted to follow with but the words were strange in his head. Not the kind of words a demon such as he should be thinking, especially toward a mortal.

He really didn’t know quite what to make of Kagura or the urges she sparked in him. Never before Rin did he feel compelled to embrace anyone. Never before Kagura could he recall desiring someone the way he had when she kissed his palm. These feelings were ones he was sure he didn’t approve of, but they came anyway. The sick feeling which used to fill his stomach at the mere thought of such affection was slowly fading with time.

‘I’m becoming weak. Like my father. I will not allow myself such an ignoble end.’ Sesshoumaru continued canvassing the area around the camp several times over, lost in thought. What were those sensations he felt the preceding night? Was he too, like his father and brother, capable of falling prey to the charms of a mortal woman?

‘She must go and soon.’

He approached the calm area of the creek in which Rin had been fishing. A mournful melody echoing from the direction of the water purloined his attention. He stealthily passed through the branches and foliage to a group of bushes by the water’s edge. From this cover, he could see Kagura standing with her back to him in the creek. She appeared to be nude, at least what he could see of her from about mid-torso up.

Her hair flowed down past her shoulders, the ends floating on the water like small black snakes. He caught a flash of the side of her left breast when she raised her arms to wash her dark tresses in the fresh water. She continued humming and swayed to her own music, whirling around and facing him with her eyes closed.

She seemed oblivious to his presence so he continued watching, expressionless though he felt that pressure again. She turned away and then faced him again, this time with her eyes open. The position of her arms lifted her breasts just above the water, her hands still in her hair. She curtailed her tune, her mouth open in a sort of stunned ‘O.’

Kagura closed her mouth and dropped her arms into the water with a thin plop. Their eyes connected with a familiar electricity. She took two steps toward him and then dunked herself underwater. She rose and combed her soggy hair back from her face with her fingers. She met eyes with Sesshoumaru again and gave him a sort of come hither look. His expression never changed and, after a few moments, he turned and walked back through the trees.

“I will never understand you,” she said just loud enough for him to hear as he departed, “But then again, I hardly understand myself right now. Maybe I need a human hand in the matter.”
He wasn’t sure that last part was meant for him but he took it anyway. He had an idea of what to do with it.

~

Kagura woke in the middle of the night feeling a hand on her, gently shaking her by her arm. She opened her eyes and focused them on the person causing the disturbance. She saw Sesshoumaru kneeling beside her, his hand still grasping her arm. Somewhere in the distant wakeful world, she could hear the shouts of two familiar female voices.

“I brought you something. Two things, actually,” Sesshoumaru said.

“Hiraikotsu!” One voice called and a thunderous sound approached. Sesshoumaru closed Kagura in his arm and they disappeared in a flash. Her bed was destroyed by Hiraikotsu, the weapon belonging to Sango of InuYasha’s group. Ah-Un picked up Rin and Jaken and flew them to safety.

“Careful Sango, remember that little girl is probably in Sesshoumaru’s camp,” Kagome said.

“I’m sorry,” Sango yelped. Sesshoumaru’s blue sphere of light landed in front of Sango and Kagome and dissipated. He stood Kagura next to him and took his arm from her, laying his hand at Toukijin’s hilt.

“Kagura. What, are you two working together now?” Sango asked. She gripped tight the strap on Hiraikotsu, otherwise looking rather unprepared to battle. Her face was puffy, her eyes sleepy and she was dressed her usual kimono.

“I seem to have neglected not only to elucidate the situation but to disarm the demon slayer, Kagura. I will remedy that mistake if you wish to do the explaining.” Sesshoumaru was a blur as he stole Hiraikotsu from Sango, only taking shape in afterimages as he carried it to the far side of camp. Ah-Un landed where he stood guard with the giant boomerang of demon bone and let Rin and Jaken down. Rin ran and hugged her master. He allowed her to snuggle to him, wrapping his arm around her.

“Damn, now what do we do?” Sango growled. Kagura tied her hair up as if trying to make herself more presentable and then looked thoughtfully at the two girls.

“Kagome, Sango, please don’t be frightened,” she offered, “I mean you no harm and, believe it or not, Sesshoumaru doesn’t wish to hurt you either.”

“Why are you doing this? Why did he take us from our camp in the middle of the night?” Kagome shrieked.

“Listen, I’m sure InuYasha and that monk are on their way here and it’s not going to be pretty when they arrive so - let me give you the short version,” Kagura began. “Naraku, before he exiled me, gave me a human heart in place of my own and it somehow disabled my powers and gave me human feelings I cannot seem to control. I since joined Sesshoumaru and his little group and, I can only imagine, he brought you here because of something I said earlier. I mentioned I might need human help in understanding my new feelings and the resulting turmoil I’ve been dealing with.”

“So, he brought us all the way out here in order to counsel you?” Kagome asked.

“More or less.” Kagura bared her teeth in an embarrassed false smile.

“Okay, well… what are these feelings you speak of? The ones you can’t control.” Sango appeared puzzled. Kagome, on the other hand, did not look the least bit baffled.

“May we sit and speak extremely softly?” Kagura whispered.

“Sure,” Kagome answered. The group of girls sat. Kagura turned around to see how close Sesshoumaru might be, but he was gone. Jaken and Rin sat with Hiraikotsu while Ah-Un stood by watching the girls hold their palaver. Kagura turned back to priestess girl and demon slayer.

“I had better just get to the point. When I’m with Sesshoumaru, I have these urges. I just want to be near him, to touch him… I can’t even believe I’m saying these things out loud. Anyway, some part of me believes he’s at least curious about such feelings because he - well, last night for instance…”

“Go on,” Kagome plied. She and Sango leaned in.

“I told him I was afraid and he touched my cheek as if he wished to comfort me. I had this… ache in my core. I wanted him so much to hold me, I needed to press my lips to his. I attempted to kiss him but he turned away. I felt so stupid. I used to have such reserve. How could I have let this happen?”

Kagome and Sango shared a knowing glance.
“You’re not the only one who has had a problem like this” Kagome sighed.

“What am I to do?” Kagura lowered her head.

“Well, he does care for that little girl.” Sango nodded in Rin’s direction. “Perhaps some part of him has changed. Maybe it’s possible for him to know love now.”

“His and InuYasha’s father fell for a human woman - that’s how InuYasha got here in the first place. It’s possible he inherited more from his father than just his immense power,” Kagome added.

“Today, he saw me bathing in the nearby stream. I turned and there he stood, watching me. I thought it quite sexy when I didn’t hide after having been discovered by him, but he simply walked away. When it comes down to it, though, I don’t know which I fear more - Sesshoumaru never wanting me or him actually taking me. If I was to bear his child, would it come out half-demon?” Kagura mushed her face with her hands. Kagome cleared her throat and began going through her pack.

“I may have something to remedy that - as a just in case,” Kagome said with an awkward smile. Kagura took her hands from her face and gazed at the priestess girl, her red eyes glimmering with hope.

“If you wish to pursue Sesshoumaru and you actually get somewhere with him, you could have him use one of these.” Kagome held up a flat square object with symbols that read durex.

“I brought these back with me a while ago when I thought things were moving forward with InuYasha. I don’t suppose I’ll have the opportunity to use them before they expire the way we go back and forth.”

“What strange and colorful vegetation, how does it work? Is it some kind of love charm?” Kagura asked.

“Sort of.” Kagome blushed. “If you should ever get so close to Sesshoumaru that you might take it to the next level - if you’re sexual attraction is mutual - then you use this.” Kagome paused, looking in the direction of Rin. “You use this to prevent him from sowing his seed, if you get my drift.”

“And how does it do that?” Kagura curled her lips over her incisors.

“Well, Sesshoumaru would put this on his.” Kagome paused for censorship. “On his sword and then it‘s safe, you see.” Kagome opened the wrapper and demonstrated on her hand how to apply the charm.

“So, which sword does he put it on - Toukijin or Tenseiga?”

“No, you don’t understand. His other sword,” Kagome replied. She discarded the stretchy vegetation she had rolled onto her fingers. Kagura gave her a look of confusion and then leaned in agape.

“I think I understand now how this piece of vegetation works. Thank you, Kagome.” Kagura accepted the durexes and smiled in thanks.

“WIND SCAR!” Another thunderous sound this time followed by light and wind.

“Oh no, InuYasha!” Sango moaned.

Sesshoumaru dashed about, blocking InuYasha’s attacks with little needed effort.

“Wait, InuYasha! Don’t hurt anyone!” Kagome called.

“Kagome! I’ll kill you for this, Sesshoumaru! WIND SCAR!" The girls collectively threw themselves into a gallop from where they had been sitting. Ah-Un took Rin and Jaken out of harm’s way again. The mossy tree by which Kagura had felt so close to Sesshoumaru was destroyed in a booming blast.

“InuYasha, SIT BOY!” Kagome screeched. InuYasha was instantly face-planted into the ground in front of Sesshoumaru.

“If your discussion is adjourned, perhaps you two should leave with the cur.” Sesshoumaru replaced Toukijin, retrieved Hiraikotsu and returned it to Sango. He then walked to where his tree had been and stood with his back to the others, his hand gathered in a fist at his side. Kagome and Sango looked at each other and then at Kagura. Kagura smiled sheepishly and nodded. The two girls helped InuYasha up and dragged him out of the all but obliterated camp.

The half-demon’s grumbling and shouting slowly diminished in the darkness. There was apparently some disagreement between he and his female companions as to whether Sesshoumaru and his new companion - Kagura, InuYasha newly learned - deserved to die this night or not. Sesshoumaru stood observing the smoking fissure where the mossy tree he used to rest by had been. He frowned at the smoldering ruins before him. How did everything culminate into this humiliation?

‘Ridiculous. My camp destroyed by my ignorant half-brother… and all for this woman.'

He could sense Kagura coming up behind him. He felt such anger he wanted to turn and rip her to shreds with his poison claws - just cut her right down the middle and watch each half fall in opposing directions, her guts spilling out between them. Was that too harsh? For the destruction of the camp, maybe. After all, it had been his decision to bring the girls who had lured InuYasha and his pesky Wind Scar to their location. But for the humiliation of the whole state of affairs - that was grounds for execution.

He tasted the air for Kagura’s position behind him and realized she had stopped so that, if he did turn in attack, she would be just out of his immediate reach.
‘Does the wench read minds?’

“Sesshoumaru… I’m sorry,” she bemoaned.

“We need to move camp somewhere else. This place is no longer suitable.” Sesshoumaru continued to stare ahead.

“Fair enough, where shall we go?” Kagura patted and smoothed her clothes.

“We’ll move to the wooded area by the stream. The calm part. I know you’re familiar with the place. Rin, Jaken, gather any items you care for. Guide Ah-Un, we are going immediately,” Sesshoumaru decreed.

‘She had to know what she was doing earlier in the stream,’ he pondered as they walked, ‘She lured me like a sea-nymph.’ They arrived at their destination and bedded down. The soil that now made their new camp was soft yet well packed. The trees provided some shelter and there were no bugs beyond the grassy area in front of the bank.

Sesshoumaru sat on a log by the water’s edge and settled his gaze on the trees that lined the other side of the stream. He couldn’t help letting his eyes drift down to the water. He pictured Kagura’s song and dance, the way the ends of her hair floated like little black serpents on the surface of the water. That pressure he dreaded - not because he didn’t like it but for reason that he didn’t understand it - returned down below.

He turned his head to look behind him. Jaken and Rin had fallen asleep by the new campfire. Kagura lay staring up at the sky. He turned his face forward again. She was probably waiting for him to ask her what she and InuYasha’s friends talked about. Like he cared… Or did he? It was he that brought them to her aid.

‘It may have appeared to be a kindness - a favor even - but I only did it so that Kagura might more quickly learn to deal with her humanity and leave us for good. I can no longer tolerate this distraction. This feeling.’ “This weakness.” His last thought came aloud.

“Sesshoumaru?” Kagura’s voice was a mere breath.

“Go to sleep, Kagura.” Sesshoumaru didn’t bother to whisper. No reply came but he didn’t think she’d done as he commanded. He turned to look behind him. She was lying on her side, her body kind of crumpled, looking fixedly at him. Through him, even. He turned and sat sideways on the log so he could more easily view and address her.

“Can’t sleep?” Though the question was thoughtful, his voice gave it a matter-of-fact, disinterested quality.

“Apparently not,” she replied. “May I sit with you?”

Sesshoumaru was loathe to respond to that question.

“Sesshoumaru?”

“Do as you please.” He turned his face back to the water, his body following suit.

Kagura got to her feet and padded softly over to the log. She warily planted her bottom on its rough surface, leaving a fair amount of space between she and the dog demon.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“For what?” His eyes shifted toward her. She lowered her head, kicking pebbles from in front of the log.

“For tonight. For last night. For my imposition in general,” she expounded. His eyes returned to the tree-line ahead of them, his claws drumming on the log between him and the irksome woman. She eyed him for a moment or two and then hung her head once again, sighing. She stood up and walked along the water’s edge to a tree whose branches stretched over the water’s face. She reached for a branch and touched some of the leaves, watching how they moved in the breeze.

She let her gaze fall to the surface of the water, the same zephyr rippling it gently. A hand fell upon her shoulder and she turned. Sesshoumaru stood behind her, a yielding expression on his face. His gold eyes connected with hers and his lips parted.

“It does you no good to miss it,” he said.

“Miss what?” Her brow furrowed.

“The wind,” he replied. She turned back to the water.

“You don’t understand,” she breathed.

“Still, thinking about them won’t return your powers. It will only cause you pain.”

“What does it matter to you?” She turned again, glaring with tear-filled eyes.

His stare sharpened.
“It doesn’t.” He returned to his place on the log and continued his watch on the horizon. Kagura’s breath caught in her throat and she leaned back against the tree, eventually sliding down to the ground and landing hard on her rump. She put her face down and hugged her knees, the same little jerks whelming her figure that shook her as she cried herself to sleep the night before.

Sesshoumaru did his best to ignore the sniffling and whimpers that drifted to his ears over the breeze. He looked behind him at his sleeping companions. They were hardly a distraction, even with Jaken's snoring. He was unable to tear his mind away from Kagura’s weeping. He stood from his seat and approached the sobbing woman, kneeling in front of her huddled form.

“Kagura.” He set his fingers on her bare foot. His touch sent a jolt through her and she pulled her hands from her face, her wide crimson eyes meeting his. He moved next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Will this stop your tears?” He asked. Kagura sniffed hard and wiped her face.

“I think so.” She laid her head at his shoulder.

“Then hold on to me.” He shifted and rested his head against the tree behind them. She slowly slid her arms around the demon Lord and settled her head in the fluff of the mokomoko. Sesshoumaru observed the moon’s passage across the twinkling sky, slumberous Kagura embracing him still as shades of orange swelled from the east.
_______________

Chapter 4:
Prelude

Several months passed and Kagura was ready to burst with child. Sesshoumaru held Kikyou prisoner. He agreed to free her under the condition she act as midwife when it came time for Kagura to birth his child.

The labor was much more excruciating than she had anticipated but the pressure in her belly finally lifted in that last horrible push. She could tell something was wrong by the look on Sesshoumaru’s face. His expression started with wide eyes and slightly dropped jaw. Shock. It then turned sour and his ‘O’ of surprise closed to a sneer. Anger.

“It’s a boy.” Kikyou hardly sounded celebratory.

“What’s wrong? Why won’t you let me see?” Kagura pleaded. Kikyou held the little boy up so Kagura could view him. He was light-skinned and had silvery white hair like his father but something wasn't right. He had little dog ears on top of his head and dark brows like -

“This cannot be. I cannot have a child that mirrors my idiot half-brother so. Not so much like InuYasha. I will not tolerate it.” Sesshoumaru glared. He stood and drew Toukijin. Light burst from him and it raged toward the two women and the child. There was a terrible din as they were enveloped by the light.

Kagura woke with a gasp, sweat pouring down her face. She flicked her stinging eyes around the campsite. Neither Kikyou or Sesshoumaru were anywhere to be seen. There was no child. She held a quivering hand in front of her face.
"Get a grip, Kagura," she told herself.

A sharp pain seized Kagura's neck, burrowing into her shoulders. She sat up and examined her surroundings. She was still by the tree where Sesshoumaru had calmed her tears with his embrace.
'Gah, no more sleeping against trees,' she thought. She made her way to her feet and staggered to the campfire.

The only other person around, if one could call him a person, was Jaken. He was silently stoking the fire. He looked up when Kagura approached and averted his eyes when she sat down across from him.

“Where are Sesshoumaru and Rin?” Kagura asked.

“Rin is searching for roots. I don’t know where Lord Sesshoumaru is, he left before I was awake. He is probably on another canvass of the area to make sure you didn’t bring any trouble,” Jaken said.

“What is it with you? Why do you have this attitude toward me? Can you not see that I care for your Lord and that he reciprocates? At least a little bit.” Kagura shook her head.

“I’m only looking out for my master. The last thing he needs is to be distracted by a woman.”

“Oh no, better he be distracted by a young child or a bumbling fool of a servant who are always getting into trouble and needing rescued.”

“Good point and well made, Lady Kagura.” Jaken scratched under his hat. “What is that?” He pointed to the string of connected flat square objects hanging out of the front of Kagura’s kimono.

“Oh, these?” Kagura pulled out the objects. “Kagome gave me these to use with Sesshoumaru.”

“What are they for?” Jaken asked.

“Well, as far as I understand, they’re to protect me from... receiving a certain thing from your Lord. The vegetation contained inside these little packages goes on his-” She eyed Jaken for a second. “On his sword and then I‘m supposed to be safe from his seed being sown.”

Jaken took the objects from Kagura to better view them. He tore one from the grouping and returned her the rest.
“Interesting. Excuse me.” Jaken got up and walked from the fire. He slipped from view beyond the trees.

“Hmmm,” Kagura said to herself, “Weird little creature.”


Chapter 4

“Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!”

Sesshoumaru heard Jaken crying his name as he drew near to camp. The imp came running like a maniac and, looking every direction but straight ahead, collided with Sesshoumaru’s knees. He fell flat on his back and shook his dazed little green head. He looked up at Sesshoumaru’s irritated expression and struggled to his feet.

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” Jaken ejaculated.

“I heard you the first two times. What is it, Jaken?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“I have something to tell you about Lady Kagura,” Jaken panted.

“What is it? Did something happen to her?”

“It’s true you care deeply for the woman isn’t it, my Lord?”

“You ask such stupid questions, Jaken.” Sesshoumaru shifted his glare up to the sky.
‘My face shows my loss of resolve. The moment I hear of something to be told about ‘Lady Kagura,’ I fall to pieces. Why, Father, of all the useless things I inherited from you did this predisposition to care for others, simply because they concern for me, have to surface?’

“Shall I continue, Lord Sesshoumaru, or do you not wish to know?” Jaken began wringing his little hands.

Sesshoumaru lowered his head and turned away.
“Do as you will, Jaken.”

“I have reason to believe Kagura intends to betray you."

"Go on." Sesshoumaru's head lifted slightly.

"She was gifted by Kagome some kind of charm which you are to put on your sword in order to keep your seed from her.” Jaken held up the parcel he carried with him. The dog demon saw it from the corner of his eye and turned back to Jaken in order to receive it. He held it up and looked at it for a few seconds.

“Did you pilfer this from her without her knowledge?” Sesshoumaru felt a burning in the pit of his stomach.

“No, my Lord. She fed me the information and allowed me to see the charms herself.” Jaken replied, his voice beginning to shake.

“Charms, plural? You mean she has more than one of these?” That burning began to rise.

“Yes, my Lord. She said you are to take the vegetation inside and place it on your sword and then she will be ‘safe.’ Those are the words she used.” Jaken backed up a little.

"How did you manage to acquire this information?"

"I have my ways."

Sesshoumaru turned again.
‘She's been playing me for a fool. All those moments we spent together were a lie. What was she really feeling while she pretended to relish my embrace? How could she sleep fearing I may ravish her in the night?’ His thoughts grew uglier as his stomach churned in a vortex of disgust. He opened the wrapper on the durex, took the slick, stretchy object from the inside and examined it.

“Did she happen to say which sword it was supposed to be applied to?” Sesshoumaru asked without turning.

“No, my Lord but I believe her lack of mentioning it must have indicted your birthright - the Tenseiga.” Jaken replied. Sesshoumaru turned to Jaken and handed him the gooey vegetation. He drew Tenseiga, his eyes moving up and down the blade.

“Jaken.” He knelt down to Jaken’s level and turned Tenseiga’s hilt toward him. “Do you see where that piece of vegetation rolls up?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Roll it down onto the hilt of Tenseiga.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

“If she truly wants to deter me, so be it.”

~

Rin returned not long after Jaken left, edible roots in hand. Kagura joined her for the chewy breakfast. They each washed in the creek and sat by the fire to dry. Kagura reclined, sighing, and watched puffy clouds cross the brilliant blue overhead.

“You seem to be feeling better. Are you happy?” asked Rin. Kagura’s brow furrowed.
‘Are you happy, Kagura,’ His words reverberated in her mind. The events over the last two nights flashed behind her eyes.

“If happiness is being here with you all, then I suppose I am.” A tiny smile spread across Kagura’s lips.

“Good.” Rin beamed and lay back herself. She and Kagura dozed by the fire through the afternoon. Rin fished for dinner when the time came and Kagura tried her hand at cooking.

“I’m sorry, Rin. I’m afraid I’m not very good at this.”

“It’s okay, everyone has to learn sometime. I’ll eat the burnt one.”

“Rin?”

“Yes, Lady Kagura?”

“Thank you for being so nice to me.”

“A friend of Lord Sesshoumaru’s is a friend to me.”

~

The bright sky began to dim behind the trees. Sesshoumaru returned to camp with Jaken and sat by Rin, whom was recumbent opposite Kagura.

“Everything all right out there? You were gone a long time,” Kagura noted. Sesshoumaru did not respond, only stared into the flames of the campfire.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, Lady Kagura and I cooked fish and I also found roots for us to eat. Please, have your fill,” Rin smiled.

“I’m not hungry,” Sesshoumaru said. Kagura turned to Jaken, who sat nearer to her.

“What’s wrong with him?” She asked. Jaken only shook his head in reply. As her eyes passed over the demon lord, she noticed a strange film over Tenseiga’s hilt. She recognized that membrane.

“Sesshoumaru, what’s on your sword?” She asked. His eyes stared out from under the white fringe that obscured the majority of his forehead, save for the blue crescent moon right in the middle, and she shuddered.

“Master Jaken, perhaps we should go find more firewood.” Rin stood. “Master Jaken!” Rin pulled at his sleeve.

“All right, all right! I’m coming,” he grouched. The imp and the girl departed from fireside and skittered off into the woods.

“Sesshoumaru, are you all right?” Kagura's brows tilted in concern. Those amber eyes peering at her with such disdain. What had Jaken done?

“Sesshoumaru, please speak to me,” Kagura begged. Sesshoumaru rolled the love charm off the hilt of his sword and tossed it aside.

“You can tell InuYasha’s wench that this charm does not work,” Sesshoumaru ordered.

“Well, in all fairness, it’s not being used the way it is supposed to be.” Kagura swallowed hard. “How did you expect it to work?”

“The way you told Jaken it would work. You have a lot of nerve not trusting me. Last night; the incident at the stream. You behave strangely for a woman who would use a charm with the intention of pushing me away from you.” Sesshoumaru glared.

“All due respect, Sesshoumaru, but that is completely false. That is not what that charm is to be used for at all,” Kagura explained.

“Then how, pray tell, was its use misconstrued?”

“Well, first off, you had it on the wrong sword.”

“Very well then. I put it on Toukijin and then what happens?”

Kagura restrained a smile.
“No. It goes on your other sword, my Lord.”
Sesshoumaru didn’t look amused. Kagura sighed and dropped her head.

“This is so embarrassing.” She touched her hand to her forehead. “This is not the way I wanted this to come about.”

“Wanted what to come about?” Sesshoumaru’s glare sharpened. He lay his hand at Toukijin.

Sweat beaded on Kagura’s forehead and tears welled in her eyes. Sesshoumaru took his hand from Toukijin and laid it in his lap, his expression relenting.

“Kagura,” he plied.

“Sesshoumaru, it should be no secret that I have certain feelings for you and those feelings have not changed. I don’t know what Jaken told you, but if it had been anywhere near the truth-” she broke off and looked into space.

“What is the truth?” Sesshoumaru shifted on his bum, averting his eyes from the former wind sorceress. She got up and walked around the fire. He himself stood, his stoic mien almost faltering as Kagura stopped practically nose to nose with him. Her eyes, the color of blood, glimmered with anguish in the last rays of the sun.

“That is a good question. What is your truth? Be honest with me - completely honest. Would you be this angry if you did not share with me the very feelings you denied you were even capable of just the other day?” She asked. He pressed his lips together between his teeth.

Kagura’s expression neutralized.
“That’s what I thought. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, caring for another person. It doesn’t have to denote weakness; you can turn it into strength. Having such feelings has been known to cause people to fight that much harder, to keep them alive even in the most dire circumstances.”

Sesshoumaru let his lips relax and ran his tongue between them; he made no reply. Kagura wiped her eyes with her hand, smearing tears over her cheeks, which glistened softly in the fading light. She stood tiptoe and boldly pressed her forehead against his, the sweat-soppy fringe over hers giving his a light tickle.

“Sesshoumaru, that charm,” her voice shook, “Is intended to contain your seed so that, should you expel it in me, I do not risk becoming pregnant. That is what that vegetation is used for.” She pulled away and turned from him, folding her arms over her chest. “There, you know the truth,” she concluded. He felt his face tighten into an expression of remorse.

He stepped forward and reached his hand out to her shoulder but hesitated to touch. He could hear her heavy, labored breathing. He took a deep breath of his own and let his hand fall on her shoulder, as it had the night before. She turned and put her arms around his waist, smushing her face into his armor. He closed his arm around her, his hand grazing up and down her side.

“Can this be? Has the great demon, Sesshoumaru, broken his icy veneer to show concern for a pathetic woman?” Kagura mused. He squeezed her in response, laying his head against hers. She lifted her face and met eyes with him again.

His brow furrowed.
“If you want so badly to be intimate with me, then why the charms? Why are you so desperate to block my seed?”

“Because, if I were to bear you a child any part human, you’d slay us both,” Kagura replied. The first stars peeked through the dark cover of night and the moon began to rise. A mild wind tossed Sesshoumaru’s silvery hair behind him, the white moonshine casting over them giving him an almost ethereal quality. She reached her hand out and touched his snowy locks, letting the silky tresses glide between her fingertips.

He sighed softly.
“I can’t say what I would do if you were to have me a half-human child, but I doubt I could find any reason to kill my own progeny… let alone you. If it makes you feel safer, you may keep those love charms,” Sesshoumaru disclosed. Kagura dropped her face in teary laughter and then returned her eyes to his. Gold and crimson met yet again, staring into forever. Kagura closed her eyes and lifted her face until their lips touched.

That tingling pressure he’d come to know was overwhelming; his hunger pangs at last stood to be satiated. Sesshoumaru found himself accepting her kisses open-mouthed. His tongue slid by hers and his hand drifted south down her back.

She pulled at his cuirass and he slipped it from his body. He permitted her to pull him to the ground and straddle him where the source of his pressure pushed between her legs. She opened her kimono, let the string of small square parcels fall by Sesshoumaru’s side and the layers of garments she wore slide from her shoulders and down her pale arms to his lap. He slid his hand up her torso and over her left breast. She shivered, a heated exhalation escaping her lips. She bent to kiss him again and he let his hand glide over the smooth raised texture of the spider-shaped scar that covered her back.

“Sesshoumaru," Kagura breathed, "I love you. I always have." She slid her hands over his chest under his kimono, which was beginning to open and fall back from him onto the earth. She kissed his neck and he closed his eyes momentarily.

His mind searched the seven centuries he had lived for any likeness to this yearning he felt when she touched him so. Not even for power had he had this desire. He couldn't recall ever letting anyone get so close to him before and it was a little scary, even for a great demon like him. He slid his hand up Kagura’s thigh and let it rest on her naked hip.

“Have you ever been this close to anyone before?” He asked. Kagura moved her face over his and shook her head no.

“Are you afraid?” He queried next. Her face took on apprehension.

“A little,” she replied. He brought his hand up and stroked the side of her face.

“Don’t be,” he whispered and then kissed her lips.

~

“My, he must be really letting her have it,” Jaken said, “Judging from all her carrying on back there.” He and Rin rested by a tree several yards away from camp.

“Master Jaken, it’s very rude to eavesdrop. Besides, you don’t really think he’d hurt Lady Kagura, do you?” Rin started to turn to look behind the tree they were sitting against but realized she couldn’t see back as far as the camp.

“Whatever she deserves, Kagura will get what’s coming to her.” Jaken replied.

~

A cool breeze licked at their sweat and saliva sticky skin. Sesshoumaru wrapped he and Kagura in his mokomoko, which provided them a pillow at the point where it stretched between them. They curled their bodies under the fur’s shelter and faced each other. Kagura slid her hand over to Sesshoumaru’s and locked her fingers with his.

“Am I imagining things? Are you smiling?” she questioned, “I mean, it's barely perceptible, but I think it's there. I don’t think I have ever seen you smile before.”

“I smile when the situation warrants it.” His voice was like silk. She grinned and sighed sweetly. Her eyes fell to what remained of his left arm. It stopped just below his shoulder. He looked to the same place, then returned his regard to her face.
“What?"

“Doesn’t it hurt to lay on it like that?” She wrinkled her nose.

“No, it doesn’t bother me. Does it bother you?”

“What, to watch you lay on it?”

“In general.”

“No, but that looks painful. InuYasha did that, didn’t he?” Kagura let go of Sesshoumaru's hand and touched her fingertips to the muscular stub where his arm had been, then traced her fingers down his chest.

“Yes, he did," he answered.

“I can see why you would want to take his life, but he is fighting for a noble cause and I’m sure whatever quarrel you had between you then is small in comparison to what you’re after now. You’re both fighting on the same side - against Naraku.” Kagura lifted her hand to Sesshoumaru’s face and touched his cheek.
“But no more talk of that. I want to enjoy this moment as long as I can. I wish we could stay like this forever.”

“But we can’t. Not only are Rin and Jaken still out in the woods, lacking sufficient protection, but there is the matter of Naraku to discuss. You know I have to deal with him and you being with me is no doubt going to complicate things.” Sesshoumaru mimicked her gesture of affection, taking Kagura’s hand and locking fingers with her again.

“How do you figure?” Her stare hardened.

“Well, for one, we shouldn’t assume because he exiled you that it really means you are no longer bound to him in any way. For all we know, he may have planned all this from the beginning. We’re likely playing right into his hands.” He took his eyes from hers and regarded their interlocking digits.

“You think he planned for this to happen?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Perhaps. Is it so farfetched that Naraku might have wanted to use you to get to me?”

“Or you to get to me.” Kagura’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?” Sesshoumaru’s own eyes amplified. Kagura sat up and let the mokomoko slide from her body.

“If Kagome had not given me those charms-” She stopped mid-sentence.

“Kagura?”

“It all makes sense now... If he was thinking the same thing I feared before. What if he gave me this human heart knowing it would turn me human - at least some part human - and that there would be a chance I could thus have a part human child? If we had been together without Kagome giving me that special vegetation, it is likely I would have conceived your child. It's possible he saw at least part of this coming. If that was his twisted plan all along, he expected you to kill me.” Kagura covered her gaping mouth with her hand. Sesshoumaru sat up, the part of the fur which covered him falling away, and touched the burn-scar on her back. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut briefly.

“He would want me to be at the height of happiness before I watch the only man I have ever loved destroy me... and the child he'd given me. And here I am, powerless to defend myself against anything,” Kagura lamented.

“Nothing like that will happen. You have my word. I will protect you,” Sesshoumaru said. She turned her crimson eyes to his golden regard, unbelieving. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, a tiny laugh escaping her lips.

Sesshoumaru sighed.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like to suddenly discover the powers you relied on so heavily are gone - stolen. I understand why you mourn them.” His hand slid down her back and off her buttocks as she rose to her feet. She bent, picked up the free end of the mokomoko and wrapped it around her slim body. She walked into the night zephyr; it blew the loose pieces of her hair behind her and rippled through the fluff of the mokomoko.

“Only when I step into the wind. Only then do I think I would trade anything in the world to have my stolen abilities returned.” She turned and faced Sesshoumaru again, her hair winding around her face.

She tucked her billowing locks behind her ear.
“Anything but this.” She smiled, closing the distance between she and the demon Lord.

She dropped the fur, took his face into her hands and pressed her lips to his. He curled his hand around the nape of her neck and fell backward with her against him. The wind caressed their bodies as they lay in each other’s encirclement under the journeying moon.

~

“I don’t hear anything anymore.” Jaken stumbled to his feet.

“Does that mean we can go back?” asked Rin.

Jaken turned back to Rin, his froggy eyes intense.
“You stay here, I’ll go and check things out.”

“But I want to come with you!”

“Rin, Lord Sesshoumaru will be very angry if you don’t do as your told!”

“Whatever you say, Master Jaken. I don’t want to make Lord Sesshoumaru mad.” Rin lowered her deep brown eyes sulkily.

“Right… I’m going.”

“Good luck, Master Jaken.”

Jaken departed without another word and began the trek back toward camp. His vantage point didn’t allow him much of a view as he passed through the brush that encircled their little clearing. He poked his head through the final set of bushes. There his Lord lay by the fire, Kagura recumbent and smiling alongside him, her fingers tracing delicately the sinewy contours of his lean torso.

“Lord Sesshoumaru,” he gasped, running full tilt toward the canoodling twosome, “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen under the spell of that evil woman - LORD SESSHOUMARU!”

Kagura let out a strident cry.
“Jaken, you little toad, get away!” She clutched the mokomoko to her bosom and lurched to stand. As Jaken approached in his frenzy of panic, she knocked him backward with a well-placed punch. Sesshoumaru made his way to his feet, the mokomoko curling around his bare hips in the wind. He moved before Jaken and waited for him to stand.

“Ack! My Lord, where are your clo-” Jaken flew several feet back from the impacting demon Lord’s foot.

“Jaken, your behavior today makes me doubt your fitness to carry the Staff of Two Heads,” Sesshoumaru noted.

Jaken crawled groveling to his Lord’s feet.
“My apologies, my Lord. Please forgive me, my only wish is to serve you - and serve you well.”

“Wow, it really is perfect,” Kagura blurted. She put her hand over her mouth as Sesshoumaru turned. He eyed her guilty expression curiously.

“Jaken, go back to Rin before she comes over here and sees this,” he commanded.

“Yes, my Lord.” Jaken stood and patted dirt from his robes. “I’ll go right away.” The imp scurried back into the trees.

Kagura dropped into a seated position with a high-pitched sigh of seeming relief. Sesshoumaru walked to where their attire lay, picking up her clothes and tossing them in her lap.

“Get dressed,” he instructed. Kagura slowly put her arms through the sleeves of her colorful layers, tucked her string of small packages in the front of her kimono and tied it shut. Sesshoumaru dressed in his garb, struggling at the last with his cuirass, which proved difficult to put on due to his missing arm.

“Here.” Kagura stood once more. “Let me help you.”

He shot her a look of shock mixed with disgust. She smiled softly and reached her hands out to him. She straightened his pauldron on his shoulder and retied his sash around his waist. He watched her with wistful eyes, his stare relaxing at last when her own crimson gaze shifted up to regard him.

“There,” she said, “You’re all set.” She slipped her arms around him, breathing him in; the air between them was still thick with their combined aroma. He wrapped his arm around her waist and let his hand rest on her hip.

“We must do this again some time,” he said in little more than a whisper.

“Sesshoumaru… We’re not moving too fast, are we?” Kagura’s brow furrowed.

“Have your feelings changed since we shared this act?”

“No.”

“If you know what you want, why dawdle.”

“Good point.” She lifted her face and met his lips with a fiery kiss. He tightened his arm around her, his hand slipping over her bottom. She pulled away with a giggle.

“Let’s not get this started again. Poor Rin needs to go to bed. Let’s go get her… and Jaken.”

“Very well,” Sesshoumaru replied. They ended their embrace and walked into the woods, where Jaken and Rin were waiting.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, Lady Kagura!” Rin called as they sauntered into her view.

“When did all of this ‘Lady’ business begin?” Sesshoumaru inquired.

“I’m sorry, my Lord, is that wrong?” Rin bowed her head.

“Are we being presumptuous, my Lord?” Jaken bowed to the ground.

“No, it is fine,” Sesshoumaru imparted. Astonishment filled Kagura’s face as it pointed up at the demon Lord.

“You may both return to camp if you feel so inclined,” said Sesshoumaru. Rin approached the couple, her eyes moving between them several times before settling on Kagura.

“Are you all right, my Lady?” The little girl’s voice was small.

“Yes, I’m terrific. Why, what’s the matter?” Kagura’s expression of joyous surprise turned to confusion.

“We could hear your cries from here…” Rin trailed off. Kagura’s eyes grew wide and her lips curled in a sneer of chagrin.

“Um, well,” Kagura stammered.

“Master Jaken said that Lord Sesshoumaru was ‘letting you have it.’”

“Oh, he was letting her have it, all right,” Jaken chortled.

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru glowered.

The imp fell back into his full-body bow.
“I’m sorry, my Lord, it just slipped!”

Kagura laughed nervously.
“It’s very late, Rin. You should probably get to bed.”

Sesshoumaru knelt down by the child.
“I wouldn’t hurt the Lady,” he said softly.

Rin smiled and hugged him around his neck.
“I knew Master Jaken was full of it.”

“Oh, he’s full of it, all right,” Kagura smirked. Jaken raised his head contemptuously from his prostrate position. Rin released her master and ran off toward camp.

“Hey, Rin! Wait for me!” Jaken cried. He stood and ran after the girl. Sesshoumaru turned to Kagura as the imp cleared the treeline.

“Your face is red,” he noted.

“I’m embarrassed.” Kagura dropped her head and covered her face with her hand.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“Still, I am.” She took her hand from her face and looked up into the night sky. Her eyes fell to Sesshoumaru, the moon casting a shining aura around his form.

“Come, let us return to camp,” he said. His eyes were smiling though his lips remained straight.

“Yes,” she replied, a tender smile showing unrestrained.


Epilogue

“Must you go so soon?” Kagura whimpered.

“I have to stay on Naraku’s trail,” Sesshoumaru remarked. The only sound between them for a measure was that of gently flowing water. Their new camp was situated in a wooded area not too far from the river by which Sesshoumaru and Kagura were standing as he gave her the news of his upcoming departure.

“But, Sesshoumaru, we’re just beginning-,” she stopped mid-sentence.

“I cannot just end my quest midway… and I cannot take you with me. It’s too dangerous.”

“I know.” She hugged him tightly, laying her head in the fluff of the mokomoko.

He closed his arm around her.
“You must understand.”

“Will it really make that much difference if you stay just a little longer?” Her voice choked. She shook beneath his arm, wetting his pelt with silent tears. He lowered his head.

“The longer I wait, the longer I will be gone,” he breathed.

“Just give me a little while longer. Please. This is all still new to me. I don’t know what I’ll do without you,” she sobbed.

“A little while. But then I must go.” His hand ran up and down her back in a warm, sweeping motion. She pulled back and looked into his honey-amber eyes. Their faces drew near until their lips met. They moved to the ground, Kagura helping Sesshoumaru off with his cuirass.

“Only a couple left. We should track Kagome down again,” Kagura noted. She dangled the two remaining charms before her face, frowning at the knowledge that only one would remain.

“We haven’t the time.” He pulled her body to his and pressed his lips hard against hers. An impassioned cry escaped her as his kiss drifted to her neck.

He laid her back and opened her kimono, letting the sides fall back from her to the grass, the sunlight kissing her pale curves. His lips skimmed up her side and she lifted her hand to her forehead, her breath quickening with every touch.

She would savor every second they shared. Every smile, every caress. She would memorize every sensation inciting her nerves, for she didn't know when she would feel it again. Days, weeks. It would be forever to her, no matter how little or how long he would be gone.

“Sesshoumaru? We will be together always, won’t we?"

He moved his face over hers and let it hover close.
“There will be times I will not be with you, especially while Naraku lives. Should you ever long for me, you may keep me always in your heart. From there, I can never leave your side.”

“Do you mean it?” Her voice was a sigh.

“Yes.” They kissed and Kagura slipped Sesshoumaru’s kimono, the juban with it, from his shoulders. The sun passed beyond the horizon, its fading pink rays casting over their milky forms. A sweet breeze blew over them as a purple softness fell over the land.

End Part I
______________

Part II

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 bosom.

“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 cool grass tickled at 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 must have dropped it somewhere.” She sighed heavily. Her arms folded over her breasts, almost as instinct, and Sesshoumaru lay down next to her. He turned his face toward 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, shielding them from Sesshoumaru’s prying gaze.

“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.

______________________

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 encounters 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. The corners of his mouth contorted into a vehement frown, his brow wrinkling over his buggy yellow eyes.

“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 heart racing, blood coursing almost painfully hard through her veins.

“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 once more. 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 in an effort to warm her. Her face relaxed and she let out a laugh. His face wore an expression, which it rarely did even for 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.
_____________________


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, milord. 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 milord, 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.

________________


Chapter 3

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

“Hmm?” Sesshoumaru breathed. He enclosed them in the mokomoko and propped himself up on his elbow next to Kagura. He had dressed in his hakama and boots 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, walking ahead of her, halted in his tracks a few feet in front. She stopped short of running flat into him, the wind baited and yet blocked from her throat as she waited for him to turn. He did at last, his standard detached expression firmly in place.

“Don’t apologize. 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 scattered 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, her mouth hanging open.

“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.”

______________________
editededed.

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 palate. 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.
___________________


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, milord!” 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. He turned again in her direction, by appearances a little annoyed that she was ogling him so.

“What?” He questioned her.

“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 palate,” 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 past 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's eyes glimmered with uncertainty. 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.
________________


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 hear 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, milord?”

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, milord?”

“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.
______________
editededed.

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 okay?” Kagome took a step toward Sesshoumaru.

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