Brothers Alternate Ending Posted

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. This chapter has actually been done for quite a long time. I just
haven’t felt like posting it. Gomen nasai. I will try to get the next one out sooner. AK

Brothers

Chapter 8

            The body was heavy, heavier than anything he had ever tried to carry, but Inuyasha braced
his feet beneath him, continuing forward just the same. His hands gripped Sesshoumaru’s ankles
and elbows, holding the Youkai firmly across his shoulders as he wound his way through the
muddy underbrush and ducked low hanging branches. Both of them were soaked to the bone and
Inu was having trouble keeping the rain from running into his eyes. He knew the Palace wasn’t
much farther if he could just keep going a little longer. It surprised him just how difficult it had
been to pick his brother up. He had never had anything tax his strength quite like this, but the
relaxed, dead weight of the Youkai felt like a mountain pressing down on him. The dense bone
and hard, sinuous muscle weighed more than he imagined.

            “Hang on, Sesshou.” He grunted, stepping over a large tree root jutting out of the ground.
“We’re almost there. It’s just a little bit farther, and then we’ll be home, okay?” Icy fear
squeezed at his heart as his brother remained quiet and limp in his arms. “Don’t you dare die on
me, you fucking dog,” he growled as he took a second to wipe the rain out of his eyes. “I’m not
living without you, do you hear me? I’m not going to take your place out here. I don’t know
how to be a Governor or whatever it is you are, and I don’t know how to be a ‘dad’, so you can’t
leave me with Rin. I’ll just screw everything up if you do, so you have to hang on and get better,
Sesshou. I can’t be you. I don’t want to be you. Are you listening to me?” He jarred the body on
his shoulders, trying to get some response. “I’m not going to do your damn job, so you better
snap out of it and start talking to me... Sesshoumaru!? Are you listening to me, you fucking
arrogant dog?” His voice broke on a sob and he fell quiet, tears mixing with the rain on his face.
‘Onegai, don’t die, Anaki... don’t leave me... don’t...’

            “Inu...”

            The voice was small, hoarse, and almost didn’t register on the hanyou but his highly
sensitive hearing picked it up and he pricked his ears back towards his brother. “Anaki? Did you
say something? Anaki?”

            “I-Inu... what...”

            Relief flooded through Inu and his grip on Sesshoumaru’s extremities tightened. “Hang
on, Sesshou. I’ve got you, Anaki, and we’re almost home.”

            “Home...”

            “Hai, home.” Inu turned his head and tried to see his brothers face but it was obscured by
a swathe of silver hair. “We’ll be there soon and I’ll have you in bed were you’ll be warm, I
promise. Everything will be alright, Saiai, just hang on. Onegai.”

            “I-I’m... so-sorry, Inu...”

            “Sorry?” Confusion filled his mind. What was Sesshou apologizing for? There was
nothing to be sorry for. “Everything’s okay, Sesshou. Don’t worry. Everything is just fine.”

            “Iie, I-I...”

            He sounded so weak. Inu looked forward, hoping to see the Palace. A long sigh of relief
left him as the unmistakable outline of the stone edifice loomed in the near distance. “We’re
here,” he said, readjusting the Youkai’s position. “It’ll only be a few minutes. Hang on.”

            Inuyasha hit the open double doors like a whirlwind of red fury, his voice booming
through the hallway like thunder.

            “JAKIN! Where the hell are you?”

            “I’m here, Lord Inuyasha.” The ugly little green demon came skittering around the corner
of the study door, nearly slamming into the Youkai-laiden hanyou. “EEEYAH! Lord
Sesshoumaru! What has happened to Lord Sesshoumaru?”

            “Shut-up and help me get him to his room. I’ll explain later.”

            Jakin sputtered and nodded, rushing up the stairs in front of the snarling hanyou to open
the door and pull the blankets down on the bed. He watched wide-eyed as the younger brother
tenderly laid the body of his dear Lord down and then began to loosen the ties of his drenched
kimono and hakama. The swords he humbly removed and laid on a stand next to the bed. It was
then that Jakin found himself the subject of a baleful glare from a pair of seething amber eyes.

            “You’ve done what was needed, now get out of my way. Go make some hot tea, he’s
freezing to death.” Inuyasha snarled at the gapping shocked demon and then shoved him toward
the door. “Now you baka, before I turn you into a wall hanging.” He snorted, watching the
underling scamper from the room, whimpering and wailing all the way. “I don’t know how you
stand him, Anaki. The little maggot would drive me insane.” His rain-soaked haori slapped to the
floor followed by his hakama, leaving him only in his thin under garments.

            “H-he’s loy-al, Inu... he’s de-vot-ed.”

            “I don’t care if he wiped my ass every morning and washed it too, he would still make me
crazy. He’s just so... so whiney.” Behind him, Sesshouomaru smiled weakly.

            “He s-serves h-his pur-ose.”

            Inuyasha turned and climbed onto the bed and gently began removing his brothers wet
clothes. “Yeah, well I can’t imagine him doing anything useful, except maybe providing a
distracting for Rin.” He tugged the water-laden silk kimono from underneath the limp body and
tossed it onto the floor. “God, when did you get so heavy, Anaki? You’re like trying to move a
segregated landmass.”

            “In-so-l-lent... pup...” Sesshoumaru tried to remind his brother who was the mightier
Youkai, but then he was attacked by a violent fit of coughing that left him both breathless and
weaker than a baby. He sank into the pillows, his skin an ashen color as Inuyasha removed his
hakama and pulled the warm blankets up to cover his shivering body. “M-must tell y-you...
Inu...”

Damn his voice, it was so weak, he sounded like a child. “Inu-yasha...”

            “Don’t,” The hanyou leaned over the pale Youkai and lovingly smoothed the wet hair out
of his face. “Save your strength. We’ll talk later.” Pressing tender kisses over the cold skin and
pale eyelids, Inuyasha slipped his arms beneath his brother’s trembling shoulders and lifted him up
against his chest. Then he turned and leaned back against the pillows, cradling the heavy body,
pulling the blankets up to Sesshoumaru’s neck. “Rest, Anaki. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

            “Dy... I’m d-dying, Inu.” It was such a struggle to talk, but he had to say his last before it
was too late.

            Inuyasha froze, his hands turning to lead where they held his brother. His ears heard the
words, but his mind refused to process them and his heart backed away in terror from the
implication they represented. He’d misunderstood. That was all it was. Sesshoumaru’s voice
was so weak, he had simply not understood what he said. He wasn’t dying. He was too strong to
die.

            “You’re just tired.” he said, gathering more of the blankets around his brother. “You just
need to rest. Jakin is bringing some hot tea soon, that will help make you feel better. Then you
can sleep and in the morning you’ll feel better. You just got wet and way too cold... that’s all...
you just need to rest... drink the tea... get warm...” Anxiety fluttered through his voice and his
eyes darted toward the door. “Where the fuck is that worthless demon anyway? He’s been gone
long enough to brew a hundred pots of tea.”

            “...doesn’t m-mat-ter...”

            “Yes it does!” Inuyasha barked as his emotions rose. “Don’t say that to me. Don’t you
dare ever say that to me.” He leaned over and buried his nose in his brother’s hair and inhaled his
scent. “You’re going to be just fine. Do you hear me? Just fine...” His arms crushed the Youkai
against him and he shuddered, feeling how cold the flesh still was. “Onegai, Sesshou... don’t
leave me.”

            “My h-heart... it-it’s bro-ken... Inu-yasha. This one... is un-wor-thy...” Sesshoumaru
reached for the hanyou’s arm and wrapped a trembling hand around it. “I have... sinned ag-against... your soul, sai-ai... I-I can-not b-bear the pain...”

            “I forgave you, Anaki... I forgive you still. It doesn’t matter anymore, don’t you see that?
I love you now, the past is forgotten between us. Onegai, you have to stay... I-I can’t live
without you.... Sesshou... Anaki?”

            “I can-not forgive m-myself... I love y-you too much.”

            “You have to. You can’t leave, I won’t let you leave.” His voice broke and he fell silent,
unable to voice any more of his pleas. ‘Where are you, Jekin? Where is that bloody tea?’ The
room grew quiet, and soon all Inuyasha could hear was his own labored breathing and the fine
rattling of air passing through his brother’s lungs. ‘Please, Anaki... don’t do this.’

            “I’ve brought the tea,” Jekin stumbled into the room toting a silver tray filled with a silver
tea set; the pot was pouring steam from its’ spout and the cup and saucer rattled with his
footsteps. “Is he any better?”

            “I...” As Inuyasha raised his head to scold the annoying little demon, the only sound in the
room he wanted to listen to ceased and went silent.

            Sesshoumaru stopped breathing.

            “NOOOO!” Screaming and turning the Youkai over onto his back, Inuyasha frantically
wiped the hair out of his face.            The brilliant golden eyes were closed, the beautiful face
frozen in blank repose, and not even the slightest flare of his nostrils could be discerned. Panic
seized Inuyasha and he put his ear to Sesshoumaru’s chest, listening for the faintest stirring of life,
but there was nothing. Only silence. The Great Lord of The Western Lands was gone.

            Sesshoumaru was dead. Inuyasha lay across his chest, the silence of his dead heart
thundering in his hanyou ears. Tears ran unheeded down his face, but not one sound left his
trembling lips. Grief unlike any he had ever known, crushed down upon his soul, pinning him to
the lifeless body of his brother. Even the loss of his mother had not so devastated him, but this,
this loss would leave an endless pit where his heart had once lived. His life was finished. For him
there was no further reason to live. Nothing mattered without Sesshoumaru. The world was just
an empty crater.

            “Lord Inuyasha?” Jekin tentatively reached out for the stricken hanyou, his own eyes
awash with tears. “What shall we do? What will happen to us without Lord Sesshoumaru?”

            “Go away, Jekin.” Inu didn’t want to think about anything right now. He didn’t care
about anything right now. Sesshoumaru was dead. What did it matter what happened to them?
“Leave me alone, do you hear? Don’t come in here again. If you do, I swear I’ll kill you.” His
voice sounded as dead as his soul felt, and Jekin could do nothing but leave. Inuyasha heard the
door close and closed his eyes. “It’s alright now, Anaki. I’m here. I promised I’d never leave,
and I won’t. I’ll stay with you forever.... forever.”

 

            It was two days since Sesshoumaru had given up his ghost to the netherworlds, and still
Inuyasha had not come out of his room. Even the hystercial sobbing of Rin had not broken
through his grief and brought him back to the reality of his brother’s death and the rest of the
world. Instead, he remained draped across the body in the same position as if he intended to stay
there until they both turned to dust. It seemed nothing would reach him inside his pain, and no
one dared enter the room lest they meet an untimely demise at his hands. The Palace became
nothing better than a tomb shrouding the remains of the Great Lord.

 

            It was strange, but he was not aware of ever knowing that flesh turned hard and stiff when
it died. Stranger still was the fact that once stiff, it then passed through another stage and became
pliant again. When this happened to Sesshoumaru’s body, Inuyasha lifted the ice cold arm and
draped it over his shoulders, imagining within his sorrow filled mind that his brother was holding
him again. If he concentrated hard, he could almost feel the even rise and fall of the broad chest
beneath his cheek and hear the stead ‘thud-thud’ of the strong heart beating inside. If he tried, the
hanyou could convince his broken spirit the beautiful, proud youkai wasn’t dead because more
than anything, he wanted to be with him again.

            “Sesshou...” his voice was small, scratchy. “Come back, saiai. Come back and take me
with you... onegai, Anaki. I am alone... alone without you and it hurts so much. Please come
back for me. I promise I ‘ll never call you ‘Lord Dog’ again and whatever broke your heart, I
swear I’ll do whatever it takes to fix it. I don’t care anymore, Sessou... I just want you to come
back. Onegai... I can’t be alone again. I-I can’t... there is no where for me to go.” Inuyasha
moved and buried his pale face in the silken tangle of his brothers hair. Hoarse sobs shook his
muscular body as he curled up into a ball and pulled the youkai’s tail around him.

            “Uncle Inu?” Somehow Rin had crawled into the room undetected by the grieving hanyou,
and now her tender, sorrow filled presence was inching over the edge of the bed. “Uncle Inu?
Are you here?” She made her way to the tangle of fluff and started to crawl over the top of the
mountain that was once her beloved guardian. “Uncle Inu?”

            The sound seemed faraway, yet somehow he knew it was very close. Close enough to be
invading his private inner sanctum and his vigil over his brother. Rage roared through his veins
and he felt the heat of his inner demon flaring to life. How dare anyone step foot inside this room.
This was only for he and Sesshoumaru. No one else was allowed. No One! A thin string of
spittle ran down from the corner of his mouth as he bared his teeth, growling low and menacing
inside his chest. His eyes glowed like fiery embers and his claws and fangs grew longer and
thicker. ‘Time to die.’ He thought, and lunged from beneath the cover of his brother’s tail, a
mighty roar loosing from his jaws as his bloodlust rose and he longed to feel the fragile bones of
the intruder crunching between his teeth.

            “UNCLE INU!” Rin screamed, terror exploding from her huge brown eyes. The white
demon about to devour her looked only vaguely like her playful, loving uncle, but this beast had
horrible red eyes, purple stripes on its face, and it looked like it was going to eat her alive.
“Don’t!” she cried, tucking herself into a ball, hiding her face in the fluff of Sesshoumaru’s tail.
“Please, don’t hurt me! Don’t you know me? It’s me, Rin-chan...Uncle Inu?”

            Those last tiny, terrified words finally triggered something in his frozen brain, and as he
landed hands and feet surrounding the small girl, Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut tight and
howled. Great tears of grief and shame rolled down his face, and he buried his face in the tumble
of her silky brown hair. She was trembling, she was afraid, and he was the one who frightened
her. What would Sesshoumaru do to him if he knew he’d almost killed his precious Rin?

            “Rin-chan,” he whispered in a choked voice, and tenderly scooped her huddled form up in
his quaking arms. “Gomen, koishii,” Inu kissed her forehead and tried to wipe the tears from her
face. “Gomen nasai, little girl. Forgive me, Onegai...forgive me.” Then he sat down on the edge
of the large bed and began rocking her back and forth. The effort was two-fold. He was trying to
comfort them both.

            Rin relaxed inside her uncle’s arms and then turned to wrap her own tightly around his
neck. Her face still fit just so against the curve of his throat and she could still get her legs around
his waist. In her mind, she decided that meant this strange hanyou-beast was still her beloved
Uncle because he still felt exactly the same. Relief flooded through her and her arms and legs
tightened to choking proportions. Inuyasha didn’t seem to care.

            “Were you really gonna eat me, Uncle Inu?” Rin asked after a few moments, her voice
muffled against his skin. “You looked like you were.”

            “No, Rin-chan. I would not have eaten you.” A shudder ran through his body and he
hugged her closer. “But I won’t lie to you, koishii...I wanted to kill you.”

            “Why?” She pulled away and stared into his now normal looking face. “What did I do so
bad you would kill me?” Her soft little hand stroked his wet cheek and then she kissed him. “I
just wanted to find you...I missed you, and I wanted to see Sesshou...” Her voice choked up and
her chin began to tremble. “Why did Sesshoumaru-sama die, Uncle Inu? Why did he do that?
He was the strongest Youkai ever and he wasn’t ever s’pposed to die. Why did he? It’s not
fair!” She wailed, burying her face in his shoulder again. “It’s not fair!” 

            “No, koishii, it’s not fair.” Inuyasha could feel his heart breaking all over again as the little
girl sobbed in his arms. How did you comfort one so young when your own grief was so large?
He didn’t know, but suddenly knew he was going to have to find a way. “Rin-chan, listen to me,”
he nuzzled her neck and tried to think of what he needed to say, but then she was pulling away
from him and breaking out of his embrace. “Rin!” He shouted, as she ran out the door. “Where
are you going?” Without thinking, he jumped up and gave chase.

            Inuyasha followed Rin down the stairs and then into Sesshoumaru’s private study. He
watched as she frantically pulled the velvet cover off the stand that held the Ten-Siega. Strange,
but he hadn’t noticed that it was not one of the swords he removed from Sesshoumaru’s belt. Rin
picked it up and turned to shove it at him.

            “Here,” she said, her voice shaking. “Use the Ten-Siega, Uncle Inu. Use Sesshoumaru-sama’s sword and bring him back to life.” Again she pushed it at her uncle. “That’s what it’s for.
He said so, so you take it... here. You take it, and use it to bring him back.”

            Inuyasha stared at the fang, his eyes large and confused. Could it really work? Could he
use the Ten-Siega like Rin was saying, or would the sword reject him like the Tessaiga had
Sesshoumaru? His mind reeled at the thought. What if.... He snatched the fang out of her hand
and flew back up the stairs.

            ‘I’m coming, Sesshou... all may not be lost to us.’

OooooOooooOooooOooooOooooO

            She didn’t know what was wrong but she knew something terrible had happened. Her
Miko powers told her that death stalked the Universe, but from where she could not tell. The
pain that radiated through the earth and the living structure of the trees and plant life was
enormous. Whatever had died was something of great significance to the world. It was leaving a
great void within the living matrix and she feared it might upset the natural balance of growth and
evolution.

            Her gnarled hand rubbed at the dull pain inside her chest and her single eye blinked . She
needed to talk to Kagome and find out if the girl felt any of the same things she was sensing.
Kaede leaned over and picked up her basket. She would have to be careful how she approached
Kagome about this, but she was certain it had something to do with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.
What? She was afraid to think about that.

            The trail back through the forest seemed different than when she came out this morning.
There seemed to be more weeds and dead leaves than before. Kaede stopped and looked up
toward the canopy of trees. She gasped and clutched at her throat. All of the leaves were turning
brown, and even now there many drifting in lazy circles to the ground.

            ‘What has happened?’ Her mind raced over the possibilities and she kept coming up with
only one, but it was something she just couldn’t believe. ‘How can Lord Sesshoumaru possibly
be dead? He is an Inu-Youkai. They don’t get sick, and according to Kagome, he and Inuyasha
are no longer making war upon each other, so how can he be dead?’

            No answers were forthcoming to her disturbing question, but the reality of the Great
Lord’s untimely demise was staring her in the face as the land around her seemed to be shriveling
before her eyes. Only the loss of such a great spiritual attachment could do this to the earth.
Sesshoumaru was the Liege Lord of these lands; they were bound to him by the blood and spirit
of his father’s family. Were he to die by completely natural causes or in battle defending the land,
there would be a slight shifting in the natural order to accommodate the loss, but nothing of this
magnitude. Only something traumatic and out of the weave of acceptable events could do what
she was witnessing.

            ‘I must hurry,’ she thought, resuming her trek back to the village and her hut. ‘Kagome
will be able to help me discover what has happened. Between both our powers, we ought to be
able to uncover the truth...I only hope we are not too late to help.’

TBC

 

I love all your reviews. Please keep them coming. They are really the only reason I keep writing
this story. AK