A/N: Please forgive me for taking so long to update (I blame school n.n)
Ohp. And forgive me if Sesshomaru seems to be a bit OOC. e.e
Carry on (:
PS: Your comments are appreciated :3
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Many changes had indeed occurred in the past months – not only in him, but he supposed in everyone else also. He had changed in the sense that he’d learnt what it meant to love deeply. Rin, on the other hand had shown much growth in the past few months – both physically and when it came to maturity in general. But that was expected, as she was a human and they did age much faster than demons. Jaken, after several lumps on the head was finally learning to accept Hana – just as he had, eventually, grown closer to Rin.
Hana, however, showed the most change of all.
Over the months it had become much more obvious that she was carrying a child, and now it seemed as if she were just about ready to deliver – even with her small frame. Her hair was slightly longer, and her face, at moments, seemed to have developed a captivating glow that never failed to enthrall him, especially in the sunlight. He assumed the light glow was another one of her strange “symptoms.”
Sesshomaru looked down at Hana with caring eyes – a look which he’d developed over a long period of time. She sat quietly in the grass, rubbing her round stomach as she stared out at the open field while Rin stood behind her, attempting to braid her hair. Normally, he would have merely left them behind – leaving it up to them to find him and Jaken when they were done resting, but as stated: he’d changed. He’d realized – with the aid of a dream that had, once again, involved his mother – that having a mate and being a father entailed his being much more considerate than he once was.
Sesshomaru had become so immersed in his thoughts of how much things had changed over so little time that he had failed to notice what was happening right next to him. Hana had grabbed Jaken and was now hugging him tightly, tears streaming down her face. For a split second, he had become worried, but as quickly as the feeling had come, it passed, and he merely watched on as he heard Hana:
“Oh, Master Jaken, I’m so happy you’ve come to finally accept me, and I’m sure Sesshomaru is also glad,” she cried dramatically as she almost suffocated the imp with her bosom. Though he appeared uninterested on the outside, Sesshomaru couldn’t help but become amused with what Rin addressed as Hana’s “mood-swings” – mainly because Jaken was the one who usually suffered the most.
“Don’t be silly,” Jaken muttered when she’d finally set him down, “I am only being nice to you because you are carrying Milord’s heir.” The toad demon folded his arms and looked away.
Sesshomaru turned his attention away from Jaken’s antics and focused on the demoness carrying his child. Rin was just about done with her hair. He’d forgotten how much younger Hana looked when her hair was braided. This was why he had, so long ago, vaguely hinted at the fact that he preferred her hair down – it made her appear more mature. And though he did like that style more than this one, he noticed that having her hair in a braid brought out more of her features - including her bright smile and her ears which had been hidden by her hair all along.
Sesshomaru smirked to himself faintly.
Here he was, trying to look as uninterested as possible as he sat with the people whom he supposed had become his family, admiring the hair of the wolf demon that he’d fallen in love with. Not to mention the fact that it did not bother him in the least that his child was not going to be a full dog demon.
He questioned what his father was thinking of him in the netherworld.
Sesshomaru soon pushed the thought aside.
“Hana,” he said, and she looked up at him, her hand still on her stomach.
“Yes?” She questioned calmly. It seemed that she had finally learned to control her blushing. A part of him would surely miss that one amusing aspect.
“We’re leaving soon.”
With that she looked up at him, and though her cheeks were stained from the tears which she’d been shedding earlier, she wore a cheerful look on her face.
“Okay,” she said softly as she smiled sweetly at him.
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Hana was almost certain that she would be giving birth soon, and though she wasn’t entirely sure how far away “soon” was, it still managed to make her extremely nervous.
To think that she would become a mother soon…
Over time, she had found being an expecting mother to be a bittersweet thing; although, she often thought it mostly sweet.
The only downsides, she thought, were the occasional moments when she would suddenly become overwhelmed with feelings of sadness, or anger, or frustration, or even pure happiness.
She commended Sesshomaru for being able to put up with her sudden changes of mood.
Then again, that was one of the roles of being a mate: being there through thick and thin.
She looked over at him as he sat calmly and silently next to her at the base of a tree. The sun had gone down and he had sent Jaken off to aid Rin in finding food. His eyes were closed.
As she sat there watching him intently, a thought came to mind.
“Sesshomaru,”
“Yes?” He responded without opening his eyes.
“Since you’d met me…you’ve always been so…patient. I mean, you’re always – somewhat – willing to wait for me and Rin to rest and then continue on. I was wondering…why exactly is it that you travel the lands of the west?” She was glad that she’d been able to get through her sentences without a sudden change in mood.
Sesshomaru opened his eyes and looked down at her, obviously wondering what the reason behind her sudden interest in such a topic was. She grew a bit flushed.
“I am merely curious.”
He then looked away from her.
“It is my duty as Lord of the West to ensure that no one tries to claim these lands as their own.”
“And secondly…?”
“I merely do it in hopes of finding opponents worthy of testing my might.”
“I see,” she said softly.
“Why do you ask?”
At his question, Hana impulsively placed a gentle hand on her round stomach.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
Suddenly she felt a faint kick. It made her heart flutter and she soon became filled with joy at the thought that there was something growing inside her: a child – his child.
As a sudden realization struck her, Hana gasped softly. Sesshomaru glanced over at her; there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Hana moved closer to Sesshomaru, stretching across and taking a hold of his right hand. He said nothing but the look in his eyes clearly questioned “what is this woman up to?”
She took his hand and, without looking away from him, placed it on her stomach.
“So many months have passed and you’ve never even felt your own child kick,” she stated calmly, looking into his golden eyes.
And at that, he wordlessly took a hold of her, bringing her closer to him and eventually causing her to end up sitting between his legs. He wrapped both his arms around her as she sat in front of him, briefly placing his lips on the top of her head. For a second, she’d been surprised, but soon enough the look of surprise which she’d held on her face was replaced by a much calmer and much more content one.
“I have been sensing the child’s demonic aura all this time – is that not enough?” he questioned, his voice low.
“No – of course not,” she scolded. Sesshomaru was unresponsive for a moment.
“Very well then,” he said, placing his hand back on her stomach.
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He had never even thought that something as minor as feeling the kick of his unborn child would have had such a calming effect on him. Sesshomaru had never felt this way in ages – if ever.
And so he held her there in front of him, not questioning a thing and, for once, not worrying about being “too affectionate.”
Sesshomaru felt something wet fall onto his arm, and his incisive nose soon began to pick up faint traces of salt in the air.
“Why do you cry?”
He could tell that she hadn’t expected him to have found out she was crying so easily. Over time, Hana seemed to have developed a habit of underestimating him. She did not respond, instead using her free hand – the hand that wasn’t resting on top of his – to wipe her eyes.
“They are happy tears.” She laughed pitifully.
“To think that I had to face death twice and then lose my only living family member in order to find love and start a family of my own,”
He could tell that she wasn’t sad – that she was, in fact, smiling, even with tears falling down her face.
“Your father may be dead, but you are not alone.” He assured her.
“It means a great deal to me when you actually attempt to be comforting,” she laughed through her tears.
“I merely do such things because I,” and for the first and last time ever in his life, the daiyokai seemed to have choked on his words for a split second, “love you.”
At that it seemed as if something had finally broken in Hana, and she began to cry even more, lifting her other hand from off of his and using both hands in an attempt to stop her tears from falling.
A small smirk formed on his lips at what he believed to be Hana’s tears of joy, and somehow she seemed to have realized this.
“Forgive me, pregnancy just has me really emotional – that’s all.” She sobbed. Sesshomaru held her even tighter.
“Sesshomaru,” she whispered when she’d finally managed to stop crying and after a moment of silence. When he’d responded, she continued:
“May I ask you a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Well,” she paused, “I mean no offense, but the thought of giving birth with just you, a human child and a – whatever Master Jaken is – isn’t very appealing to me. It’s somewhat unsettling, actually.”
Immediately, he could tell where she was going with this.
“You wish to stay with the human miko until you have delivered our child?”
“I know it means seeing your brother but -,”
“Very well then,” he did not oppose.
Hana – who seemed to have been surprised at his willingness to do such a favor – only had one reply, which was a soft, but still audible, “Oh.”