InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love Is Blind ❯ Brothers ( Chapter 5 )
Two days later saw Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Myouga, Kirara, Kaede, and Sanji being greeted by an irate Sesshomaru. He growled softly at Sanji.
"Subaru-sama beat you by almost a full hour."
"Sorry, had a nasty head wind."
"You had best go protect her from me, lest I separate that annoying head from her shoulders." Sanji chuckled softly and trotted past him into the palace. Sesshomaru's attention swiveled to Kaede. "She has yet to awaken."
"It has been four days?"
"It has."
"Please take me to her."
Sesshomaru nodded and the old woman fell into step with the taiyoukai. The others followed until they stood outside a door in the women's wing. Sesshomaru slid it open to reveal a very pale Kagome asleep on a futon. She was well covered against the chill and guarded by a youkai woman who rose and bowed when Sesshomaru entered. Kaede gestured for the others to wait outside while she tended to Kagome. She slid the door shut and began a thorough examination of the woman.
"Tell me exactly what happened. Sanji-sama was a little unclear on some of the details."
Sesshomaru nodded and began. It was a short telling, but he was sure he'd gotten every detail, however insignificant he thought it might be. Kaede nodded slowly as she covered Kagome's still form.
"I take it Subaru-sama is a healer of some kind?"
"She is a…master of magic I suppose. There is no real title for what she is beyond Pain in My Ass."
"Perhaps you should send for her and see to your other guests as we confer. I have some ideas, but I require her expertise."
Sesshomaru nodded and stepped outside. He had rooms made up for Inuyasha and his companions after sending a guard scurrying to fetch Subaru. Once he was sure everyone was where they should be he paid a visit to the children. Many of them were sullen and almost all of them had been crying. He sat on the grass and gestured for them to gather around him.
"Does anyone know what the function of a Lord is?"
Shippou raised his paw and Sesshomaru nodded for him to speak. "A Lord is someone responsible for those under him. He must protect them and take care of them when they need it and he must know when they would be better off on their own."
"That is a very thorough answer. Kagome-san has been teaching you well. If you know that, then you know that is it my duty to take care of Kagome-san. I am a Lord and would never shrink from this duty. Right now there are two healers in with Kagome-san. They are doing everything they can to make sure that you will have your mother back soon. Do any of you know why she went up on the wall that day?" There was a collective silence and Sesshomaru felt an almost fatherly smile touch his lips. "She went up there because she loves you and she knows how much everyone else loves you. She would never let any harm come to any of you. No one forced her onto that wall. Not me and certainly not any of you. She went up there of her own free will. What happened was no one's fault. Sometimes Fate just chooses a person, for ill or for good. Kagome-san was chosen and she fought Naraku with everything she had. She will fight him again some day, I promise you that much."
Silently he prayed that Kagome would not make him a liar. He rose and the children returned to their games, still gloomy, but not as much as before. In the hall he found a messenger waiting for him. He was needed in Kagome's room. Upon entering he found Kaede and Subaru chatting softly while Sanji stood by trying to look bored and failing miserably. He smiled sheepishly when Sesshomaru entered. Kaede rose and bowed slightly.
"We believe we know why Kagome-san has not awakened." They all took seats around the woman's futon. "When she healed you it was as much an accident as her attack on Naraku. However she had yet to gather the Shikon fragments to her when she did it so the power had to come from somewhere else."
Subaru nodded slowly. "Yes, yes. Do you remember what I told you about drawing on your life force?"
"It can never be replaced once it is gone."
"She drew on her life force to heal you."
"So she cannot be awakened?"
"Kaede-sama seems to think there is a way to restore her life force to her." Sesshomaru could not help a glance down at his hand. Subaru correctly interpreted his look. "The healing will remain. By now your own energies have seen to it. All we must do is find a way to bleed off the excess power her life force is generating and send it into her."
"Very well, let's get this over with."
Silently Sesshomaru sent a prayer of thanks that he would not have to give up his arm to heal her. He was more than willing to, he owed her so much, but it was not something he would enjoy. He watched in silence and the two women prepared to cast whatever spell it was they thought necessary. Subaru would cast the spell and just expect him to know what to do, but it seemed Kaede was blessed a bit more common sense than that.
"We will gather the energy within you then you must kiss her."
"Kiss her?"
"There are less chaste ways of restoring her life force, but we thought this way would be best."
From the blush on Sanji's face they had discussed this at length and in detail. He nodded and waited. After a moment Kaede laid two fingers on his lips. He was surprised at the spicy scent of her. It seemed that humans who spent a great deal of time around Kagome improved their bathing habits a thousand fold. Even Inuyasha smelled cleaner to his sensitive nose. He felt a strange tingling in his lips. It was almost an itch. Then she removed her fingers and nodded.
He bent and kissed her. At first he had meant for it to be nothing more than a demure brushing of lips, but the sweetness of her taste and the intoxicating aroma of her natural scent conspired against him. Her lips responded to his and he unconsciously deepened the kissed. He could feel the power flowing out of him into her. Her lips parted in a silent invitation he was having trouble refusing. At last the last of the power was gone. He broke the kiss and sat up. Kaede, Sanji, and Subaru all had strange smiles on their faces. Kagome stirred and looked up at the strange gathering. Sesshomaru nodded to her, rose and left. She watched him go out and turned to Kaede.
"Is someone going to tell me what just happened or do I get to guess at it?"
Sesshomaru stood in the hall clenching his fist so tightly his claws drew blood. It took him precious minutes to regain his ever waning control. How did that human have this effect on him? It simply wasn't natural. Youkai and humans did not belong together. His father had made that mistake and Sesshomaru would not repeat it. He stalked off to his study to try and get about the business of running his kingdom. In a garden not far from where he sat he could hear the laughter and cries of children at play. Kagome had returned to them. He sat listening to them as he worked, marveling at how he had ever gotten anything done before without such divine music.
He worked late into the night, foregoing his dinner in order to prepare his lands for another attack by Naraku. There was a soft knock and growled something that the petitioner obviously interpreted as permission to enter, though it was not. He looked up ready to dress down whomever it was that disturbed him, when he saw Kagome sliding the door shut behind her. She carefully balanced a tray with a rather sizable meal laid out on it. Her smile dispelled his foul mood as she crossed the room to gracefully set the tray before him.
"Youkai or human you should eat, especially if you plan on staying up half the night."
"Youkai do not need as much sleep as humans."
"Be that as it may, you must still eat."
She moved the papers and ink off his desk, setting them in neat piles out of the way and set the tray before him. She poured him a cup of tea then prepared to rise.
"Why are you doing this?"
A warm smile crossed her soft lips. "I am the mother here in the palace. Since when do I need to explain myself?" She saw annoyance flash in his eyes and sighed softly. "Because I worry about you, Sesshomaru. I worry you will never know love, and youkai or human, you must know love. I don't know what happened to you to shut your heart up the way you do, but I think it has something to do with humans, specifically Inuyasha's mother." He did not respond and he did not need to. Kagome could sense the level of contempt he felt toward the woman. "You want to understand humans, fine, I can explain them in one easy lesson. We are what our choices say we are. Reason and intention mean little in this world. I chose to go up on that wall. Does that make me a foolish girl who overstepped her boundaries and almost died for it, or a hero? That is not important, only that I chose to go up there instead of hiding in fear and letting one of the people I care about fight the horror I could sense beyond these walls."
He gaped. She cared about him? "But why…"
"Why is not important, it never is. Some people will tell you it is everything I tell you it is nothing. What you do and say is all that matters. What you did for those children was important. You gave them hope when they had none. It meant a lot to them and it means a lot to me. Thank you for that."
She rose and was gone before he could stop her. Sesshomaru took a sip of his tea and began to eat his meal. He was not given to overt emotion and she had managed to draw several genuine reactions from him. More than that, he'd liked being with her. Having her in the room warmed him. He finished his meal and opened the door, wordlessly passing the tray to a guard. He stepped out into his garden and stood under the light of the waning full moon. Had she changed him? He didn't feel any different, not really. Yet here he was with his brother sleeping under the same roof, feeling secure in the knowledge that Kagome could keep the hanyou in line.
He sighed. He was not used to others taking on responsibility. He decided he needed to talk to Inuyasha. It was a short walk to his brother's old rooms. Sesshomaru knocked and almost smiled at the irate voice that told him to go away. He opened the door anyway and almost frowned when he saw the meeting that was in progress. The monk, the demon slayer, Inuyasha, and their two youkai allies all sat staring at him. He closed the door and stepped forward.
"Before you try to steal her away, you had better ask her if she wants to go. She has been free to leave at any time she wished. I have even told her I would provide for her and the kitsune to safely rejoin you. It was her choice to remain."
He winced internally at the phrasing, her speech still fresh in his mind. What did that particular choice mean to him? And what did it mean to them? Sango nodded and faced the men.
"I told you he could not hold her against her will. Kagome would rather die then be used against us. Next time you should trust my opinion in this."
She pushed herself to her feet and the cat demon rose as well. She gave Sesshomaru a deep bow before exiting. Miroku rose as well, bowing to Sesshomaru.
"I too bid you goodnight, Lord Sesshomaru."
He watched the monk go before turning back to Inuyasha and Myouga. "Leave us, flea. I wish to speak to my brother."
"As you wish, oh mighty Sesshomaru."
He waited for the flea to leave before sitting. "A brown noser and a coward that one, but he is adept at finding information."
"Cut with the small talk. What do you want?"
Sesshomaru nodded and began a detailed account of Naraku's attack. He left nothing out, except, of course, his own feelings on Kagome's actions. Inuyasha seemed to relax slightly as the telling continued. Finally Sesshomaru ended with his sending Sanji to fetch them.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"I want you to understand why I am asking you to stay. Naraku will attack again. He took a great blow four days ago, but it was not a crippling one. When she is forced to call upon this power again, I want you to be here."
"What makes you think she'll do it again?"
"When she has made up her mind, is it easy to dissuade her?"
"Easier to stop the tide from coming in." Both men exchanged tentative smiles. "So you think she'll do it again, even if we try to stop her."
"I think we can take it for granted that she will not hide when he attacks. The rest of the Shikon no tama will be called to her, after all, the spell is incomplete so long as the jewel is incomplete. I do not know exactly what will happen. I have never dealt with this type of magic before."
"We'll stay then. After all, you said Naraku sent his wasps. That means he thinks we're already here. I'd hate to disappoint him."
Now their faces mirrored cruel smiles as each envisioned the fate of the hapless hanyou when next he stumbled within their reach.