Birth of a Legend by Arlome

Chapter 1

Title: Birth of a Legend.

Pairing/ Characters: Inu no Taisho/Sesshmom, Sesshoumaru

Rating: K+

Summary: While the Inu no Taisho is away, his mate goes into labor.

He was making his way through the forest that grew by the southern borders of his territory; his wife's condition did not allow him to travel further than that. The child within her womb was very heavy when he left on the much needed patrol and it was clear to all that the heir to the Western Lands would soon grace the world with his presence.

"Go" she told him, pushing him towards the gate of the castle "If anything happens, we'll send someone to get you".                                                                                                                         

And so he left, while his warriors remained behind to protect the castle, wife and unborn heir.                                                                               

The Inu no Taisho was kneeling on the forest floor, sniffing a broken branch when he recognized the scent of one of his warriors, moving very fast towards him. He sprang to his feet as the great ball of speeding light stopped by his side.

"Oyakata-sama!" the man cried "it's your wife, she's in labor!"

The Inu no Taisho glanced at the sky and then at the excited face of the warrior.

"Will I make it in time?" he asked worriedly.

The soldier shrugged and laughed.

"Of course you will, Oyakata-sama! I left the castle but two hours ago when the Lady felt the first pangs of childbirth. These things take days!"

The Inu no Taisho nodded, clasped a hand on the warrior's shoulder and thanked him before launching into the air, the thought of the long awaited meeting with his heir spurring him on.

                                                                       ***

He ran all the way from the gates, up the stairs, past the guards and down the corridor to the room where his wife lay panting and moaning. He nearly bumped into the maids that blocked the door, tried to talk them into letting him inside just to let his spouse know that he has come, and was rejected. Just as he was about to draw himself to his full, intimidating height and claim his right as the Lord of the castle, a strong, piercing wail of an infant shook the entire place. The Inu no Taisho blinked twice and stared at the startled maids before him.

"Is that mine," he asked, somewhat puzzled "or is there another woman in labor around here?"

At that exact moment the shoji door to the forbidden room was opened by a beaming midwife.

"Oyakata-sama!" she cried happily "you have a son! In just a moment you will be able to see him and the Lady!"

"So many exclamation marks…" thought the Inu no Taisho as the midwife continued to yap.

"Wait a minute," he said, trying to stop the flow of words and terms that came at him, "I've been told that it would take days! It's been" he looked at the sky, "four hours!"

The maniacally smiling midwife nodded enthusiastically.

"Hai!" she cried "it was a very quick birth. The lady felt some strong pains, the birth fluids broke and the next thing we know the little head of silver curls is being pushed out-"

"Yes, thank you." the Inu no Taisho stopped her before she could continue that thought. There were some things that a man- be he demon or human- just was not supposed to know.

"Well, in any case" said the slightly dejected midwife "the child is healthy and the Lady is fine. I've never seen such a quick birth; I guess the little guy really wanted out, eh?"

"Can I see them now?" asked the Inu no Taisho hopefully and the maid smiled again.

"Sure you can, Oyakata-sama, just follow me!"

The Inu no Taisho entered the chamber that was strictly forbidden for men and took a deep breath. The scent of blood and birth fluids still hung heavily in the little room, despite the maids' efforts to get rid of the cause of the foul smell. In the center of the room, on a bloody futon, lay his exhausted wife. Her sweaty silver hair clung to her pale cheeks and her yukata was loose; a little pink mouth was attached to her left breast.

"Husband," she sighed and inclined her head towards the suckling infant, "come and meet your heir".

The Inu no Taisho smiled widely, his chest broad with male pride, and went to sit next to his reclining wife. He placed his large hand on the infant's silver head and caressed it softly; the child spat the nipple out of his tiny mouth and twisted in his mother's arms. Little fists flailed around as the heir to the Western lands decided to voice his discontent at the rude interruption of his lunch.

The Inu no Taisho laughed fondly and took the infant from his wife's tired hands; he did not miss her relieved sigh as she sagged further into the futon and closed her eyes.  The demon's eyes travelled down to his son's face and his smile broadened; the mop of silver curls, which the Inu no Taisho smoothed gently out of the way, concealed little leaf-like ears and the sign of the crescent moon that was his wife's heritage. Two thin and even magenta stripes adorned each tender cheek and tiny, soft claws set themselves into the Inu no Taisho's finger and pulled as his son decided to draw it into his mouth.

"I think the little piglet is hungry again" he said and handed the child back to his mate. She pushed her yukata open, revealing a full, pale breast. As soon as the nipple was brought close to the boy's mouth, he latched onto it like a starving man and started suckling greedily. The Lady winced in pain and grunted.

"I'm afraid of what will happen to my lovely nipples once his fangs begin to grow" she muttered darkly. The Inu no Taisho laughed out loud and shook his head.

"We can get a wet nurse, if you are that concerned".

The Lady snorted in a very un-lady like fashion and turned to look at her husband.

"Are you going to name your son, husband, or shall we wait until he is of mating age?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow and the Inu no Taisho shook his head again.

"I decided to give you the right to name our heir" he said, smiling at the uncharacteristically shocked expression on her face.

The Lady opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She frowned, shook her head and tried again.

"Husband," she said in a quiet voice "it is your right and duty to name your firstborn, why bestow such a generous gift upon a woman?"

"Because" he said and touched the infant's cheek softly "you are my wife and you carried our child for many months and birthed him under great pain. There will be other sons whose names I will choose".

The Lady looked at him with raised eyebrows and wide eyes for a moment, but seemed to come to her senses very quickly.

"Well," she cried triumphantly and straightened up" in this case, our son's name shall be Sesshoumaru".

The smile on the proud father's face froze and he blinked twice. Did she just name their harmless little boy…?

"Sesshoumaru…" The Inu no Taisho said slowly, "how…interesting".

His wife noticed his reluctance and frowned.

"You….do not like the name" she said dejectedly and looked down at their now, Kami be praised, sleeping son.

"No!" the panicking fresh father cried, his hands before him in a pacifying gesture, "I love it! It is so…unique and…extraordinary. Anybody can be called Taro! 'Sesshoumaru' has a certain….ring to it…" He finished lamely.

He was lying through his teeth and he knew it. But how could he tell a woman that just went through explicit pain and held her son proudly in her arms that the name she had picked for the said son fits more a murderous bastard than a sweet little baby?

"Oh…"said the lady and smiled, "I'm glad you like it".

The Inu no Taisho let out the breath he did not realize he was holding and contemplated the name he had picked out for their child.

'Well' he thought as he looked at his radiant wife and, for now, innocent child, 'I guess 'Inuyasha' will have to wait for our next son…"