No one had told her that childbirth would have been this difficult.
Lady Kaede had instructed her to push every time she felt one of those "contractions," but every time she did push, it felt as if she were doing it in vain. Not only that, but she was certain that this was the most painful thing any person - human or demon - could experience. She couldn't imagine how much worse she would've probably been feeling had she been a human.
Hana groaned as she pushed again. It wasn't until she'd felt the wetness of a tear on her cheek that she realized she was crying.
Kagome rubbed the back of her hand comfortingly; Hana tried her hardest to avoid squeezing the human woman’s hand to the point of breaking it.
"Ye are doing very well, Hana, just keep pushing and keep breathing," Kaede's voice was calm.
"I," Hana choked out the words, "I can't. I just can't,"
She closed her eyes as she felt another - very painful - contraction. "I can't." Another tear fell down her cheek.
Maybe this was one of the reasons she wanted Sesshomaru to be there. Whenever he was around, he made her want to be strong - to be brave. In a way, he was her motivation. He had always been her motivation. But he wasn’t there.
She knew, however, that this was different. There was not much that Sesshomaru could do in this situation. Delivering this child was all up to her.
How could she be able to go to battle with her own father but not be able to deliver a child?
She felt pathetic.
And just as she was about to stupidly give up, she heard a voice call from somewhere beside her:
"Do not be foolish. Of course you can."
There was only one voice that she knew to sound so low and indifferent. And so she opened her eyes, her breathing heavy.
Her eyes widened.
"Y-you-agh!" Before she could finish her statement, another contraction hit her. They were becoming much more frequent and even more painful.
She heard Kaede chuckle.
Looking up, there was Sesshomaru kneeling next to her, his eyes seemingly full of concern. She hadn’t even heard him enter.
He had come.
Though something was very wrong…
The sleeve of his haori was covered in blood – obviously his -, and so was one of his legs.
She looked at him, frightened, her breathing labored and beads of sweat forming on her forehead. There was much that she now wished to say, but, due to the current conditions, couldn't.
"……blood? What...Ahh!" She cried out, gritting her teeth as another contraction forced her to push. The pain in her entire lower region was preventing her from being coherent with her words.
"Ye cannot stay in here, Sesshomaru. I am sorry but ye must wait outside" Kaede spoke softly from where she was kneeling between Hana’s legs. Knowing very well why, he did not protest. Instead, he placed a hand on Hana's face, leaning in to kiss her softly on the top of her head before leaving.
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Demons were – of course – far stronger than humans, but when it came to child bearing, he still worried about her. Hana was not as formidable as other female yokai when it came to strength, but he loved that about her. She gave him something to protect. Although, in this situation, there was not much that he could do.
He was almost certain that, at the moment, Hana was cursing the day she had allowed him to have taken away her innocence - and every night he'd been with her after that also. He hadn’t protested or questioned the old miko when she’d told her to leave for he had known exactly why. The blood on his body was a probably going to end up being a health hazard to the child.
He hoped he hadn’t worried Hana with his bloody and disheveled appearance.
One thing he did question, though, was why he was being forced to wait outside of the room with the two demons that he probably detested the most.
Standing at the door, Sesshomaru made sure that he kept his distance from the half-breed and the wolf (why he was there, he had no clue). He closed his eyes briefly in thought. It wasn’t long before Inuyasha decided to speak up:
“So you really are having a kid, huh?”
Sesshomaru gave Inuyasha a sideways glance
“Hn,”
Meanwhile, the wolf was standing ever farther away, his back turned towards them. A part of Sesshomaru wanted to ask him what business he had there.
Inuyasha smirked
“You can act all tough. I know on the inside you’ve turned into a big softie.”
“It would be nice if you would remain silent for once in your life,” retorted the daiyokai dryly. He wanted Inuyasha to be silent not only because he was a nuisance, but also because he wished to focus – focus on what was happening inside that room that he had just been in.
It was becoming much harder for him to sense the aura coming from both Hana and the baby. It was as if their auras were slowly growing weaker. For a split second, Sesshomaru became worried, but, eventually, he had managed to convince himself that what he had been thinking was merely a worst-case scenario.
But nonetheless – unbeknownst to Inuyasha and the other wolf demon – Sesshomaru, for the first time in his life, became anxious
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She could tell that the baby’s time of birth was almost near. But she could also feel herself growing weaker by the minute.
Was childbirth supposed to have this effect on her?
Now breathing even more heavily than before, Hana was doing as she had been instructed by Kaede, which had been to take a break from pushing in order to allow the pup to come out on its own for a while. She found that not pushing when contractions came was much more difficult.
Gathering up the little strength that she had in her, Hana spoke in between groans of pain: “Kaede,” she muttered “…how much longer is it…until…until,”
“Ye are almost there, Hana. And ye are doing quite well. Just a few more,” the elderly miko gave her an encouraging pat on the leg.
“Now, when I tell ye to push, ye must do so, alright?”
Hana nodded weakly, relieved that her pain was almost over and eager to soon be able to hold her very own child in her arms.
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Good, it was almost time.
He was not usually one to eavesdrop, but his keen hearing prevented him from not doing exactly that.
Sesshomaru supposed it was also his instinct and his concern for the wellbeing of both Hana and the child that had caused him to do such a thing.
And so he waited, and eventually, after listening closely enough, he heard Hana grunt softly as she gave one last push, and the miko then informed her that she had “done a good job.”
But moments after that he could sense that something was terribly wrong.
Moments after its birth, one would usually, easily hear a baby’s cry. But there was no cry – not one sound.
He heard the miko mutter the words “oh my,” which had caused both Hana and Inuyasha’s human wife to question what was wrong. The miko responded, and suddenly he heard Hana cry out:
“I…what!? No, no, that can’t be it. I…no…please,”
And at once, Sesshomaru sprang up, forgetting completely about his wounds, and storming into the hut, a grave and unsettling feeling suddenly overwhelming him.
YOU ARE READING
Brave Hearts (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)
Fanfiction[This is a sequel to A Flower and A Dog Demon] After finally admitting to himself that he does indeed have feelings for the wolf demon, Hana, Sesshomaru remains unsure as to whether his pride will let him show her how he feels. But before he can com...
