Strength

All yo wonderful reviewers HUGS!!!

Anyway most especially Kmoatan, Princess Sin, Himalia, Snowfall, synergy08 and a few others, have had it with the humans, so I am doing a little something about it in response. :)

Dermitria : Thanks and call me Ajj

Many reviewers seem to have the impression that Sesshy already loves Inuyasha – he doesn't – yet. He wants the Hanyou now, but love... I'm not sure he is in love yet... do you really think he is?

Ahhh for all those who were touched emotionally by this fic, I am honored, Thank you. Im a bit embarressed to admit me, but I made myself tear up a couple of times. *sigh – so thanks it means a great deal.

Read, review... and again try not to want to kill me too much. ANGST ALERT still up.

Chapter 12 : Exposed

Sesshoumaru and the others, looked dumb struck at Inuyasha's plan. There was a sick sense of logic to it, however...

"Inuyasha, you clueless Hanyou, this Sesshoumaru does not lie, and would NEVER allow anyone to teach his pups to lie. Yes I wish the pups to return to the Western Kingdom with me, and you will accompany them as their bearer and father" Sesshoumaru said flatly. "Unlike you Hanyou, regardless of my personal issues with you I would not deprive my children of both their parents." Sesshoumaru's voice was cold, he was angry with Inuyasha for all the years he had lost with his children. And to further his small vengeance against the Hanyou he continued. "Their welfare must be secured, and this Sesshoumaru, at least, is willing to sacrifice his comfort for that end."

Inuyasha winched at the accusation. For less then a second anger flashed through him hot and heavy, immediately he swallowed the lava in his throat. He could not afford to lose control, his pups needed Sesshoumaru. So he did what he had taught himself to do over the years, he swallowed it, turned the fire on himself, he let it sink into what was left of his heart and locked it away. He forced himself to see the situation from Sesshoumaru's point of view and he acknowledged he could have informed Sesshoumaru when the pups were not born with Hanyou ears, but he hadn't. Maybe he had been selfish but... He had done his best.

It didn't matter. Sesshoumaru was going to allow him to be acknowledge as the father, he would be grateful for that. It was okay if Sesshoumaru was disdainful of him, as long as the DaiYoukai looked out for the pups security, Inuyasha would accept any treatment, any punishment -without protest. He forced a smile; his throat was too dry for words, so he simply nodded, as if in agreement.

There was a clatter behind Inuyasha and they all looked up. Hana's eyes were filled with rage, she picked up her cushion and flung it at Sesshoumaru, who of course brushed it aside. Inuyasha was about to leap to his Hana's defense, sure that Sesshoumaru would kill her for her actions, but the DaiYoukai was simply looking impassively at the human woman glaring at him.

"YOU ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOUR COMFORT!!! You DARE!! YOU DARE speak to INUYASHA-SAMA about sacrifice, you... you... egoistical YOUKAI!" Hana spat the words. "You dare sit there, and JUDGE Inuyasha? What gives YOU the right to do that!!! How DARE you be ANGRY at HIM! You speak of sacrifice.. what a joke!!! YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!" She ranted on in rage, all her pent up frustration at never being able to really help the Hanyou rising to the surface.

Inuyasha was at Hana's side in a flash, his hands gently on her shoulders. "Its okay, Hana. Its okay. Calm down, I'm fine, its just Sesshoumaru's way, I'm used to it. This is for the children's future. Its really okay Hana, I can take it." He turned her to him and hugged her protectively. With blank eyes he looked at Sesshoumaru, "Please don't get angry with Hana, she does not understand about the Shiro Inus. I would like her and her daughter to travel with us, don't worry, I will explain things to her as well, and make sure that you are not inconvenienced Sesshoumaru."

Before any of the others, angered by the scene, could say anything Sesshoumaru stood up, gesturing for their silence.

"Inuyasha, I am curious to hear your explanations to others, simply because none of your explanations so far have yielded any real information. This skill of giving no real information is new to you brother, yet you wield it with great efficiency. Why do you need such a skill Inuyasha? What are you NOT saying?" Sesshoumaru asked, grim satisfaction washed through him as he saw his brother's eyes widen in apprehension. "This Ningen seems to want to have some words with this Sesshoumaru, release the Ningen and be silent, Inuyasha. This Sesshoumaru wishes to hear her words without your interruption. Ningen, this Sesshoumaru gives you leave at this time to address him in any way you see fit. You have my word that I will not retaliate against you in any way for what you say or do at this time, as long as you speak the truth as you see it and you do not allow my brother to censor what you need to say."

"Hana, don't! Its not necessary!" Inuyasha said quickly, as Hana took a step back from him.

Hana gently cupped his cheek, but there was a light of determination in her eyes. "No Inuyasha-sama, you break my heart. For you to even think your children would call you uncle and not Papa... that is impossible. If you had asked, mentioned it even, you would have broken all of their hearts, especially Yuusha's. 'Papa' was his first word, remember, ....he refused to say any other word except 'Papa' for six whole months. You are the absolute centre of his world. Your plan would have hurt him. To protect them I kept silent all this while, and now to protect your pups, I can keep silent no longer."

Hana turned to the group, her eyes narrowed on those at the back. "What I am about to say however is not for those who have naught to do with Inuyasha's future. While Inuyasha-sama does not care if you are present or not, I do. You are part of Inuyasha's past and have nothing to do with Inuyasha's family. More importantly you have not got Inuyasha's trust so please leave." Hana said to Inuyasha's ex-group.

She was not sure of the Wolf demon, but she had a feeling that nothing short of a battle would get him out of the room. Also there was a look of open admiration in his eyes when he looked at Inuyasha that was a stark contrast to the DaiYoukai's inscrutable features; it gave Hana a bit of hope.

The humans stood obviously wanting to protest, but the looks that Sesshoumaru and Ryoku gave them -shut them up. Inuyasha, knowing he could not stop Hana, sank back in his seat and ignored everyone, he was not quite sure what Hana intended to say, but it didn't matter. Hana was not privy to his deepest secrets anyway, so it was probably best to let her say her peace. He really wanted her to get along with Sesshoumaru, as the pups would need her when he was gone. So he sat back and let it play out.

Slowly Kagome, Miroku and Shippo stood up and heads down filed out. Shippo clung to Kilala as if she were his life raft, depression pressing on the kit as he walked out. Just as the defeated kit reached the door, Inuyasha said softly. "Shippo, it is late for you to be out in the cold. Go to my pup's room, press both your hands against the barrier three times, and then bow three times. Shiori will let you in. You may sleep on the couch."

Shippo gasped, joy filled his too small face. "Thank you Inuyasha-sama." He gasped and he ran off half afraid the Hanyou would change his mind.

Miroku, Kagome and Kilala stood in the garden. The Fire cat had not been sent out, she had left because her loyalty was to Sango and Sango's mate. Miroku looked thoughtfully at Kagome who was red faced and pacing. "You know she was right, don't you?" Kagome didn't answer as she continued pacing.

"Kagome-san, you are not a child anymore, so why do you persist in behaving like one around Inuyasha? Why can you not see that we were the ones in the wrong?" Miroku asked pointedly.

Kagome froze and looked at Miroku. The silence stretched and finally, finally the Miko's own mask shattered. She looked at her feet and said so softly that Miroku had to strain to hear, "Because... if Inuyasha.. is not like that, it.. it.. means I am a bad person, a horrible, horrible person. How could I be like that Miroku, I am a Miko, I'm supposed to be pure, good! I'm supposed to be the good guy Miroku, how could I have done that! What kind of person abuses a friend! How could I have been so blind to his needs, so damn horrible." The Miko sank down to earth and began to shake and cry. The guilt she had been trying to bury, overwhelmed her, and this time her tears were genuine. Miroku sharing in that guilt, sat beside her.

Kilala her conscious clear, curled up in a bed of soft flowers and went to sleep.

**

Hana looked at the three Youkai and Kaede, they 2 Shiro-Inu's were hard to read, but Hana sensed they were impatient for her to start. She focused on Sesshoumaru, he was the other father, and his role in the future was pivotal. He had to understand what he had done.

"When we first met Inuyasha-sama it was about a month before the pups were to be born. He was in hiding, but still he saved Shiori and me. It took me a while, but I finally realized he was hiding from you, the pups other father. Inuyasha-sama refuses to tell me how or why the two of you had sex, but once he told me that the reason he was hiding. You are too much of a egomaniac to realize it but he did try to tell you, once, and you attacked him! How could you do that? How dare you act like the injured party when you almost killed your brother just for daring to try to talk to you. But you did more then just attack him physically didn't you? You said he should have been killed for having the audacity to be born, how could he go to you for help after that? ...after you successfully convinced him that if the pups were Hanyou like him, you would have them killed... you dare blame HIM, for the fruits of your behavior? You don't deserve to be their other father." Hana glared at Sesshoumaru. She had no idea if her words impacted the DaiYoukai or not, his face gave nothing away. "You know nothing of sacrifice." Hana said not sure how to continue.

The listeners were silent, Sesshoumaru could feel the accusing glances aimed at him from Kaede, Kouga and his mother. He did not care about them, what concerned him was that there was no accusing glare from his little brother. Instead there was a resigned air about him, the air of one that had expected nothing more then how he had been treated. Inuyasha's behavior was not right, something more was not being said.

"You insist I know nothing of sacrifice, ningen. Inuyasha said that all he needed to do to ensure the pups were born safely was get assistance from a goddess. You will explain what you mean by sacrifice." Sesshoumaru demanded.

"You did not ask how the goddess helped ensure their survival my Lord... what was involved." Hana said, as her eyes began to cloud with tears. "No words could do justice to this, Inuyasha-sama please I am sorry, I am so sorry, but you have to show them your upper body. Please!!"

Inuyasha's ears picked up, his eyes went wide, as he jumped up. "WHAT THE FUCK!! NO WAY!! That has nothing to do with anything, SHUT UP HANA!!!!"

Everyone turned to the Hanyou, and Inuyasha realized he had made a tactical mistake. If he had managed to play it cool, to shrug and pretend it didn't matter, he may have pulled it of. But this was the first strong reaction any of them had seen from the Hanyou, a reaction more suited to the Inuyasha of a few years ago. Hana had taken him by total surprise, he had hoped she had forgotten, but that was foolish of him, who could forget such an ugly sight. He could not help his instinctive reaction to shut Hana up and now he could see it in his eyes, they were determined to see what Hana was talking about.

Inuyasha took a deep breathe and his mind groped for a way to get out of this. "Keh! There is nothing to see. Hana you can talk to them all you want, you definitely don't need me here." Inuyasha said as he began to back away.

"Inuyasha, please, what does Hana mean? Please tell us, it will be no worse then our imaginings after all." Kaede said persuasively.

"Yeah, Dog-breathe we all seen you without your shirt so what is the big deal, you chicken or something?" Kouga taunted trying to get the Hanyou's competitive spirit to spill the beans.

Ryoku stayed silent her eyes probing the Hanyou.

Inuyasha turned to walk out of the room.

"Inuyasha stop!" Sesshoumaru said his Youki rising. "Hanyou have you forgotten who you submitted to? Have you forgotten that you have an Alpha and that you cannot turn and walk away so easily?"

Inuyasha's fists clenched, he turned slowly, this time he could not force back the emotions that rose. "You dare mention that!" He spat out.

"I dare!" Sesshoumaru responded, "Hanyou you know I dare that and a whole lot more! You will remove your top, or this Sesshoumaru will remove it for you."

"Don't touch me!" Inuyasha growled, "Don't you fucking touch me!!!"

Hana was beginning to regret her words, her fear for the Hanyou suddenly rising.

"This Sesshoumaru will not touch you unless its necessary, and it will only be necessary if you chose to be childish about this. Remove your shirt!" Sesshoumaru said, a direct command in his voice.

Inuyasha was inclined to ignore the command, but.. something snapped, they already knew what a pathetic Hanyou he was on the inside – childish – like Sesshoumaru had said, so why hide the ugliness on the outside. It didn't matter after all. Hell, they'd probably get a kick out of how weak he had been.

"Fine! You wanna see, why the hell not, but the pups are not to hear of this." He snapped resigned. Inuyasha pulled off the top exposing his body to his waist. And Sesshoumaru's mask cracked, the DaiYoukai's eyes widened in shock, his eyes blinked in disbelief.

Kaede began to weep, and Ryoku and Kouga both were on their feet, staring. The flat muscled torso was bisected with scars. The burn marks were obvious on the skin, discolored and puckered, scar tissue seemed to cover his whole belly area. Seeing the shock and horror on their faces, Inuyasha gave a sneering smile, "Wanna see more of a Hanyou horror show?" He mocked and he turned for them to see his back, On almost the whole of his back the skin was black and puckered, it was as if his back had bathed in acid.

Hana had tears rolling down her face and she choked out, "Inuyasha-sama got that when we got caught in the wilds during a sudden snow storm, before we came to Awa. We found a small cave, but it was too cold, and there was no way to block the cold from coming in. He used the firerat robe on the pups, Shiori and me, and he sat with his back blockng almost the whole opening. He sat there for hours until the blizzard died, by then, his back had frozen. He never showed it and we did not know. I would have stopped him if I had know, but I swear I did not know." Hana choked out as sobs racked her frame.

Inuyasha immediately felt bad for showing the scars. "Keh, like it matter, its just the skin." He said flatly as he pulled his top back on.

"Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru's voice was raw, he was beside the Hanyou in a flash, his claws were gentle as he held the robes, stopping Inuyasha from fully covering the scars, but not touching his skin. "Why did you not heal?" Sesshoumaru demanded, his words and his gentle hold contrasting.

Inuyasha sighed. "Nothing is free, to save the pups, I did what only a Hanyou can do. The Goddess arranged for it so that I could provide the pups with all the Youki that they needed, the only side effect was that I had to heal as a human for a year after their birth. But I'm still a Hanyou, so I can freaking take damage, but humans scar from even the smallest things. So really it a fucking stupid thing to be so freaked out about. I've got scars, big deal."

"You healed like a human?" Sesshoumaru whispered, his eyes never leaving the scars that marred the skin on Inuyasha's torso. "That was what I felt... through Mee-chan, by the ancestors, .. you did this.. to save the pups, MY pups."

"I did it to save MY pups! It had nothing, nothing to do with you." Inuyasha said in a tired voice. He jerked away from the DaiYoukai pulling his top up and covering the scars. "Its just skin, no big deal, as long as the pups don't see it there is no damage done. I am fine, understand."

"Very well, I understand." Sesshoumaru said gathering himself, his anger at Inuyasha draining away, Hana had been right he had understood little about sacrifice. New unnamed emotions filled the DaiYoukai as he scrutinized Inuyasha still young but shadowed face. "Now you understand this Inuyasha, you are returning to the Western Kingdom with me. You will return as the bearer of my pups, and you will receive all the status and recognition that you have more then deserved from that role. You will also work with this Sesshoumaru in trying to create a true family. There is much I do not know about you now, and this Sesshoumaru will get to know you and his pups better. I will give you as much time as you need to get used to this Sesshoumaru, but in the end we will be family."

Inuyasha stared at a spot behind Sesshoumaru's head, his mind working frantically. "You won't try to force things too fast?" Inuyasha whispered his voice strained. "I can come and go from the palace as I wish?'

"Yes, you are not a prisoner, my are the bearer of my pups." Sesshoumaru stated. "This Sesshoumaru wants us to be a true family, so I am willing to wait a few years until you are ready."

This was even better, Inuyasha thought, he could be with his pups, and help Sesshoumaru develop a good relationship with them. It was a small change really, Sesshoumaru was obviously willing to put up with him for the pups, Inuyasha was not sure what Sesshoumaru meant by them being a 'true family', but he would play along. Pretend everything was fine and then when the time came, he would simply do as he planned, go on a small trip and die.

Sesshoumaru saw the pause as Inuyasha needing a bit of reassurance that he would not be assaulted.

"Fear not, Inuyasha as the bearer of my pups, none will dare approach you without my leave. We will do it the right way this time, take it slow and build a family. You are afraid now, this Sesshoumaru will teach you in the next few years that there is naught to fear, from your alpha's touch. We will mate when you are ready, and this time you will not have pups alone. I will be with you during the birth of our next litter" Sesshoumaru assured.

The light turned on in Inuyasha's head, so that was it. Sesshoumaru wanted more pups, and was willing to put up with him for that end. Yes, he would be given the freedom to just be with the pups for a few more years without always fearing for their future. All he had to do was pretend that everything was fine and they were working towards becoming a family some time in the future. The smile that crossed Inuyasha's face was empty, once he was dead, Sesshoumaru would find some better Youkai to have more pups with. Yes, he would play along, they all would get what they wanted.

"Very well Sesshoumaru, I'll return to the Western Lands as the pups bearer, and if you agree to not push or try anything I do not allow, after a few years, we can look to working on getting you a new set pf pups." Inuyasha choose his words carefully, he did not say that he was providing the pups. Maybe he would try to find a suitable female Youkai who could be a mother to his pups, and a wife to his brother. Yes, bitter relief flowed through the Hanyou at that idea, in the next couple of years, he would work on that finding an appropriate replacement."So is this an agreeable deal?"

"No, I will not allow this! You will not do this to me!" a voice rang out.

---tbc---

Longer chappie then I anticipated so Please review. Thanks!! And do state ideas, what you want and other stuff, I may not be able to give you what I want but it does help in idea generation.