UnBound Memories

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. I know I'm due either a lime or lemon soon, but with the InuYasha part of the stoy mostly resolved, Sesshomaru needs to heal, and he'll need help.

Chapter 11

Succession of Power

“It’s a boy,” she said, looking at her friend and stepson. “you have a little boy.”

********

“Thirteen hours.” Sesshomaru said, holding InuYasha at arms length, hands moving down to his son’s shoulders.

“What?”

“I was in labor thirteen hours, and you bucked and kicked the entire time. Though I don’t know why I expected it to be any different from the rest of the pregnancy.”

“Probably because I wanted the hell out.” InuYasha squirmed beneath Sesshomaru’s grip. “Wanted to get away from you.”

“I still have marks from you,” Sesshomaru said, releasing InuYasha. “Right here.” His finger grazed over his right hip. “And right here.” His left finger traced upwards from his stomach to his left side under his ribs. “They were where my skin stretched most, and now appear like the demon markings on the rest of my body.”

InuYasha’s eyes darted down to Sesshomaru’s stomach, then looked back up. He seemed to have resigned himself to the truth, though the hurt in his eyes was contagiously painful. InuYasha moved to the bed and sat down, looking up at his newfound parent. “My entire life, you’ve tried to kill me.”

Sesshomaru heaved out a breath as he sat beside InuYasha. “I was not myself. The last thing I remembered of who I once was was the day Father and Izayoi announced they were married in a human ceremony, and a wolf demon said that I needed to kill her or at least any offspring from their union. When I woke back up after the memory spell, I found a tiny hanyou asleep on my chest, and I assumed you must be theirs. I did not remember having done anything that would have led to a child, hanyou or otherwise. I was so certain you were Father’s and Izayoi’s, I could not even comprehend that she was nearly four months pregnant when I woke to find you laying on me, only a month old.” Sesshomaru smoothed out his hakama, despite the fact that it wasn’t really wrinkled at all. “I made you cry for the first time that night.”

Sesshomaru looked over at Inuyasha, who was rubbing his hands over his face, then the older inu turned his head downward again. “Whatever Father did, it removed all of the memories, not the emotions that were there,” Sesshomaru couldn’t seem to stop playing with his hakama. “I knew I resented you.” he glanced out of the corner of his eye to see how those words affected his son. “I knew I was furious with the entire human race. I just had no idea why.”

“But you said you were friends with moth--with Iz--” InuYasha was struggling with what to call her.

“She was my friend, but I was angry with her, too.” Sesshomaru paused. Telling Inuyasha this was nearly as hard as telling him the truth about his resentment of the young demon. “Did you know she was healer and a miko?”

“What is your point?”

Sesshomaru slid closer on the bed to InuYasha, knowing what he had to say, and knowing that it would make the young demon furious. “She gave me medicine before I knew I was pregnant. It all but guaranteed that you could survive anything.”

“You tried to kill me?” InuYasha stood up from the bed, his stance one ready to strike, but Sesshomaru never moved, only hung his head in shame.

“No, I could never actively kill you. I loved children too much to actually try to kill the one that was growing inside of me.” Sesshomaru closed his eyes. “I had lost the desire to live, myself, and nearly starved until I was over three months along.”

“And what happened then? Did you just get hungry?”

“You moved.” Sesshomaru wrapped his left arm around his stomach. “Not much, but enough that I could feel it, feel you.” Sesshomaru’s breath came out ragged. “Izayoi knew how much I loved children, and knew that if my actions hurt you, when I regained myself, I would just as soon take my own life. And I would have, but there is still a part of me that harbors anger to her for making that decision on my behalf, whether she was correct or not.

“But if it had not been for her, then the only thing that comforted me after the attack, the whimpering, downy-headed little baby would never have happened. I would never have had a night’s sleep where my thoughts were calmed by the gentle breathing of my pup resting on my chest, rather than haunted by that day that created him. I would never have gotten to see him smile or open his eyes for the first time. I could never have listened to the way his voice cooed when he was happy, and never cried even when he was upset.

“I would never have seen him grow up into one of the most powerful demons, half or not, that walks this planet. He would never have shown me unconditional love, even when I refused to treat him properly. He would not have saved me on more than one occasion, saved so many others. There would be a world so much worse off because he was not in it.”

Sesshomaru stopped himself still unable to look up at InuYasha.

“Don’t choke yourself with all that sentimentality,” InuYasha said as he crouched in front of his parent. “Keh, you’ve done without it for so long, you might have a bad reaction to it.” He folded his arms on Sesshomaru’s knees and rested his chin on them, trying to look the older inu in the eyes. “Can you tell me one thing: Where the hell did you come up with a name like InuYasha? Was I just not good enough for a real name?”

********

Sesshomaru could feel his father kiss the top of his head. “It’s a boy, Sesshomaru.” Touga lowered Sesshomaru’s legs, wrapping his arms around his son, trying to comfort the young inu whose entire body was wracked with sobs. Even Sesshomaru himself didn’t know exactly whether he was crying tears of joy or tears of sadness. All he knew was that he couldn’t stop.

That was when he felt a tiny, still somewhat messy bundle being handed into his arms.

Instinct took over when he looked down at his little pup as he began cleaning off the tiny swollen face of his son, licking the fluids off with his tongue. He was concentrating so hard on the little one in his arms that Sesshomaru didn’t even notice as Izayoi cleaned up his own body.

The baby’s little hands, which had yet to grow their claws, reached up and touched Sesshomaru’s face as he cleaned the pup.

“Do you have any ideas what you are going to call him?”

“Not Sesshomaru,” the owner of said name said as he licked over the pup’s white hair. “You were evil for even suggesting naming me that.”

Touga patted Sesshomaru’s sweaty hair as Sesshomaru tried to examine the squirming creature in his arms, satisfied that between Izayoi and himself, he had managed to get the baby clean. The pup had darker skin than his own, two tiny dog ears atop his head, and hair that, wet as it was, looked silver, though Sesshomaru felt certain it would be nearly as white as his own. He could hear the baby making strange noises, not cries, but tiny whimpers. Sesshomaru tried making noises to the pup, tried shushing him, jiggling him, but nothing seemed to work.

“I think he is hungry,” Touga said.

Sesshomaru was tired, and it was obvious in his face as he looked up at his father. “Hungry for what?”

Touga began to slide from behind his son as he nervously cleared his throat, making the answer very clear to the young demon.

“And how exactly do you propose that I feed him?”

“Just go with your instincts, son.”

Sesshomaru pulled his son to his chest and pulled at his haori until his right nipple was exposed. “Well, little one, you need to take it from there.” The baby palmed at Sesshomaru’s slightly swollen chest, which the inuyoukai had mistaken as part of his overall weight gain during the pregnancy. Still, as Sesshomaru held the pup to his chest, it did nothing more than feel what was placed in front of its whimpering mouth. “Come, inu yasha, eat.”

“What did you call him?” Izayoi said, as she noticed the baby had latched its toothless mouth to Sesshomaru’s nipple and was beginning to feed.

“Inu yasha. Just a name I had given him before I knew what he was. I knew he would be partly dog demon, so it seemed appropriate. Why?” Sesshomaru didn’t take his eyes off of the pup as it eagerly ate.

“He responded to it,” Touga said, as he now stood above and watched.

********

“The name stuck,” Sesshomaru said “Before I really got to name you anything appropriate, both Izayoi and Father were calling you InuYasha, and you responded to it every time. Still, it is far better than Father’s name for me.”

“What’s wrong with Sesshomaru? It’s the kind of a name that instills fear.”

“I was born laughing, literally, they cleared my lungs and I laughed. So, father decided I should be named complete destruction or killing perfection, depending upon the translator, as a bit of an ironic twist on my personality.” Sesshomaru looked down at InuYasha, who still hadn’t moved his arms or head from his knees. Neither one spoke, and Sesshomaru wasn’t anxious to say something that might set his son off. He merely dipped his head downward and met foreheads with InuYasha, who still didn’t move.

“So, what do I call you? Mother? Father? Asshole? Because that one’s worked so far.” Sesshomaru still would not answer. InuYasha’s ears lowered, afraid he’d hurt the demon. “Chichi-ue.”

Sesshomaru pulled back. “What did you call me?”

“Chichi-ue.” InuYasha looked at his father’s face. “Is that wrong?” Sesshomaru didn’t say a word, merely bringing InuYasha into an embrace, not even realizing as he brushed his hand against Tesseiga, not noticing because for the first time, the sword didn’t reject him.

“My son.”

InuYasha returned the embrace. No sooner had he done so, than blinding pain ripped through Sesshomaru’s forehead and, it seemed, InuYasha’s. The two pulled apart, InuYasha pressing his head with his arm, Sesshomaru doing the same with his right hand. When the pain had eased, InuYasha was the first to speak. “What the hell was that?” Sesshomaru looked at InuYasha’s face as he lowered his arm, then down to his own hand. “Your mark. It’s gone.”

“That, InuYasha, was a succession of power.” Sesshomaru held his hand out to his son, palm facing up, a large blue crescent moon plainly displayed. “You are now heir to the throne of the Western Lands.”

“You mean I have…” InuYasha’s eyes darted upwards, as though vainly making an attempt to see the mark now on his forehead. “That mark mean’s I am heir?”

“Yes. It is given to the mate and heir of the Lord of the West.”

“Please tell me they are different people.”

Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, InuYasha, they are different people. If they were not, I would have been quite jealous of Izayoi.” At that, InuYasha twisted his face, as did Sesshomaru, regretfully having created an unpleasant image in his own mind.

“So, I am your son, you gave birth to me, and I’m now heir of the western lands?”

“Yes, InuYasha.”

“Can I tell Jaken?”