InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love Reigns Down ❯ Wednesday's Child ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: InuYasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan Inc. and Viz Media.


This is a fan-fic continuation of my first story, “Paradox: The Power of Letting Go”. As with that story, this one will again deal with time shifts and time travel, but don’t worry, it’ll all make sense in the end. ^_^


Feudal Era

The slow drip of water echoed in the cavern as the young woman pulled her kimono closer to her body to ward off the cold chill seeping into her bones. She glanced towards the cave opening, the dim light of the fire only reaching the sparse bushes lying in the entrance; darkness enveloping everything that lay beyond.

Fate.

She had berated and scoffed at the idea of fate. Once — so long ago — she had believed. She was loved and she had loved. Then one fateful night, all that had mattered to her was taken away. She had spat the agonizing irony at her mother, thrown hurtful words at the woman who had borne her. Destiny was too cruel and she had become an unbeliever in fate. But now… now here in this small, dark cave waiting for him to return, it made her question her beliefs and her words.

She absent-mindedly stroked her stomach as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. Glancing worriedly at the entrance again, she gasped as her abdomen tightened in another contraction. Digging her fingers into the dirt and squeezing her eyes tight, she panted heavily until the pain slowly subsided. Swallowing hard, she slowly opened her eyes as she heard the slight shuffle of hesitant footsteps enter the small enclosure. Focusing her gaze on the shadowy figure she gave a weak smile as her companion hesitantly asked about her state.
 “I-I’m fine,” she gasped slightly.

Nodding, he turned away. Shaking the rain from his clothes, he knelt by the pit and threw another stick into the fire, stroking the flames to new life as he pondered thesituation that he was currently in.


It was by chance that he had stumbled upon this girl. Trying to shake off the restlessness that he was feeling all day, he had gone for a run and came upon her leaned up against a tree. She had been holding her swollen belly, gasping for air. Kami knew what she was doing in the woods alone, miles away from the closest village. Any idiot could see that she was in labour. When she finally noticed him her mouth rounded in surprise and her eyes lit up. He supposed that she was happy to see someone, anyone. And in the condition that she was in, even a hanyou would do.


To hide his discomfort, he demanded to know why she was  alone. Her eyes misted in pain and he barely heard her when she whispered," He’s dead."

Jarred by the haunted look in her eyes, he hesitantly approached her with an offer to help. Smiling gratefully, she accepted his offer. Luckily, he knew of a cave that was nearby that would shelter them from the imminent storm. After several awkward moments — when he didn’t know if he should put her arm around him or his around hers — and when he realized that she didn’t mind his touch, he finally scooped her up and carried her.

Reaching the cave, he made her as comfortable as he possibly could, all the while trying to find clues to her identity. But she had clamped her mouth firmly shut after her quiet confession and refused to elaborate on her origins. He could feel the tension radiating off her small frame as she evaded his questions and the stubborn tilt of her chin told him that he wouldn’t be getting any straight answers from her.hestarted a fire and assured himself that she would be all right, he went out and scouted the area, trying to figure out where she had come from. He thought that surely someone must be looking for her, but after an hour of fruitless searching in the rain, he came up empty-handed. When he returned, he didn’t want to cause her any additional pain, so he refrained himself from prodding her further. He figured he’ll get the answers later. Right now, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Glancing at the woman now — he didn’t even know her name — he was relieved to see her relax her stance. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly through her mouth, storing her energy, waiting for the next wave of pain to hit her. He turned once more to stroke the fire, satisfied that she was all right for the moment.

The young woman stirred as she heard the rustle of cloth. Tilting her head slightly, she watched her companion through half hooded eyes. Wistfulness crossed her face as he took off his haori and draped it next to the fire to dry. She stared at his hands — calloused and rough — and the fluid, graceful movements of the man they belonged to. She watched as the light from the fire caught and reflected off his silver hair as he moved about, oblivious of her scrutiny. Confusion whirled through her as her thoughts started to drift towards her husband. She tried to fight the pain that had suddenly spiked in her heart and constricted her breath in such a way that the contractions hadn’t.Her heart clenched as thoughts of her husband invaded her mind and she felt the stirrings of painful memories rising up to the surface. She quickly clamped down on her emotions. If she let the floodgates open now, she would drown in her sorrows and she couldn’t afford to do that — not now. He’s not my husband, she reprimanded herself. She had to remember that.

She was so caught up in watching him that it took her a few moments to realize that he had stopped moving. Slowly raising her gaze, she met his eyes, inscrutably watching her. She could feel a slow, heated blush rise up and before she could open her mouth to break the awkward silence, her abdomen clenched — as if on cue — stealing her breath away. Grasping her stomach with one hand, she clawed at the ground with the other, leaving deep groove marks in the dirt. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she slowly expelled her breath and waited as the contraction subsided.

Minutes passed. As if feeling the weight of his eyes on her, she opened hers — brown eyes full of pain met with concerned amber.

With an intrinsic sense,knew exactly what she needed. Caught up in the moment, he didn’t question how he knew or why he felt this way. All he knew was that for the sake of this one girl, he would allow his gut instincts to guide him. Picking up his red haori, he slowly approached her and carefully draped it over her swollen belly. Satisfied once that small task was completed, he shifted into a cross-legged position beside her. He couldn’t help but notice that her eyes followed his every move. To prove his theory, he untucked his hands from the sleeves of his shirt and casually rested them on his knees. He smiled inwardly as he was proven right. He felt her indecision as she slowly reached up and tentatively curled her hand around his.


He didn’t pull away.

Without thinking he gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, careful not to scratch her with his claws. Her hand felt so small in his and he tried to project the warmth of his body into her chilled one. A teary smile crossed her face, full of gratitude and something else that he couldn’t quite place. Her lips parted slightly and was followed by a soft “thank you.”

“Keh—” He tampered down his embarrassment and timidly reached out to brush away a stray tendril of dark hair from her face which was flushed with exhaustion. Fuelled by courage, he lowered his hand on her head and began to soothe back her hair, damp from a mixture of sweat and tears.

The girl closed her eyes and tried not to cry.

Another contraction ripped through her body and she arched her back in pain, gripping his hand. ‘Kami, she’s strong’, he thought as he felt his bones crunch with her reflex. After a few laboured moments, the girl’s breathing became slightly even again.

“Do you need anything?” he asked apprehensively.

“No —  no, thank you…. InuYasha,” she whispered.

Suddenly she felt a gush of warmth slide down her legs. Her shock turned to embarrassment as she looked down at the wetness soaking through her robes. Her mortification was short-lived as another contraction hit her. “Ahhhh!” Arching her back to combat the onslaught of pain, the haori slipped off her body to land in a crumpled heap beside her. “Ohh! O-ou… m-my baby is coming!” The young woman twisted her body in reflex to brace herself against the contraction that seized her. As pain coursed through the core of her abdomen, her mind became a blank haze, and the pushing sensation became so great that she involuntarily cried out, “InuYassshaaa!”

The hanyou jumped slightly before tentatively reaching out to pat her hand. “What can I do?”

“Ju-just, please... just be… here.”

He nodded. Then realizing she was squeezing her eyes shut and couldn’t see his affirmation, he said softly, “I’m here. It’ll be all right.”

She bit her lower lip to keep the tears at bay. With heartache barely hidden in her voice, she whispered, “Thank you.”

InuYasha rubbed his nose in discomfort. He’d just wished that she would stop thanking him. Suddenly she struggled to sit up. She managed to heave herself up onto her elbows before two strong hands cupped her shoulders and gently eased her back down.

“You shouldn’t try to get up,” he said.

She could feel the heat emitting from his hands through the thin cotton of her kimono. His hands, so warm and solid against her, felt safe and with a sigh she sank back down on to the makeshift bed.


“I-I… I need to go—” she stopped and grunted. “I have to …to relieve myself—”

“You—” The hanyou looked confused before comprehension dawned on him. “Do you mean you have to shit?”

The unexpected words from his mouth made the girl choke on the giggle that had erupted from her lips, dying quickly as another contraction gripped her.

The flush on InuYasha’s face suddenly receded as his eyes narrowed in confusion. His musings was sharply interrupted as the hand he held gripped him tightly and she insistently argued, “I need to go—”

“No, no, don’t get up. It just means the baby is coming. Do you feel like you need to push?”

The girl nodded; too overcome with pain to do anything else. “How—?”

InuYasha looked away flustered. “M-my friend told me all about it when his wife gave birth.”

“Oh…” the girl smiled tiredly.

“Keh. I wish they were here. At least they would know what to do.”

“But I’m glad you’re here, InuYasha,” she said quietly as she wearily pushed her solemn thoughts away. She would spiral into a dark depression if she allowed her fears to surface. She was scared; she had never been so scared in her entire life. And she was alone.

No, no, she wasn’t alone. She had InuYasha now. And that was all that mattered. He said that it would be all right.

Her short respite was sharply interrupted by the urgent need to push again. “Ahhhh!”

“Push!”

“I-I c-can’t—” she panted.

“Yes, you can,” encouraged the hanyou. “Push!”

Twenty minutes later the wail of a baby filled the air.


“Wahhhhhhhh!” The shrill cry of the newborn babe filled the small enclosure and InuYasha flattened his ears in response. Grimacing against the sound, he quickly wrapped the baby with his haori, hoping that the warmth would appease the baby and quiet the noise. To no avail, the baby continued to fuss.

“Here, give me... my baby.”

InuYasha gave a slight nod and placed the baby on his mother’s abdomen, the umbilical cord still trailing off of the infant’s belly. Panting lightly, the young woman looked at the hanyou and weakly waved her hand at the cord. “Could you… I mean...”

Understanding, he gently took hold of the cord and sliced through, freeing the baby from its nine month lifeline.

As InuYasha stared down at the baby cradled against its mother’s chest, his heart constricted at the sight of the two and he flinched at the unexpected emotion that shocked and surprised him. “He’s beautiful,” he finally murmured. He looked up and was taken aback by the intensity of the woman’s stare as brown eyes bore into his.

She gave him a small, tired smile, her face lined with the strain of labour. Taking a deep breath, she whispered softy, “He’s beautiful like his father...” Clearing her throat, she composed herself as she stared longingly at the head of black hair.


Fate.

Then summoning her remaining strength, she shifted and curled her arm around the baby. Lifting her otherweakly, she grasped the tiny foot that was sticking out of the robe. Brushing the tiny extremity briefly, she gave a satisfied murmur before she untied her robe and exposed a breast. When she pushed her baby towards a nipple, InuYasha looked away, embarrassed. The baby, smelling its mother’s milk, eagerly pursed his lips around the engorged nipple and began sucking.

As the baby continued to nurse, InuYasha watched the scene discreetly from the corner of his eye. The dying embers of the fire lit the woman and baby in a halo of light, casting dark shadows and shapes around them and the hanyou sat reverently at the sight before him.

After a few moments — still feeling a bit self conscious — he edged a little closer. His curiosity overpowered his embarrassment as he lost all pretense of not watching and stared directly at the tiny lips suckling the breast. He had never witnessed a child birth before and was still awestruck and numbed by the sudden events that had taken place. The cave smelled of blood, sweat and tears. Normally such a combination would make him sick to his stomach, but now he took it all in stride, the smells forgotten at the wonder ofthe miracle that he had just witnessed. A sharp, unexpected pang hit him in the chest as he looked at the mother and babe and he shifted uncomfortably as a feeling of possessiveness welled up inside of him. He was so enthralled with watching the baby that he missed the tender look on thefaceshe glanced up at him.

She regarded him for a few moments before she smiled wistfully and turned her attention back to her child. She moved the edge of the haori away from the baby’s face, giving InuYasha an unobstructed view as she stroked the full cheeks of the sleepy infant. The fourteen hour labour had taken its toll and the woman was slowly weakening from the strain of childbirth. Her hands slipped to her sides and InuYasha quickly leaned forward to support the baby.

The woman desperately tried to retain her strength, for her baby’s sake, but she knew that her child was in good hands. Tampering down her mixed emotions, the young woman gave a feeble sigh and closed her eyes, finally giving into the fatigue.

“Hold on,” the hanyou pleaded in quiet desperation, clutching the baby to his chest. “Please, just hold on.”

Take good care of our son, InuYasha. I love you.


Those were the last thoughts of Kagome Takahashi as she slipped into oblivion.


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