Living the Fairy Tale Life by Ericedwyn

Living the Fairy Tale Life

Disclaimer: Inuyasha was created and lovingly brought to life by Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: This was written in response to the September 2018 Monthly Prompt (Fairytale) for the SessKag blog on Tumblr.

This is also an "intermission" piece related to A Demon Should Act Like A Demon, and gives a glimpse into the future of Sesshoumaru and Kagome.

Universe: Canon Divergence

Rating: T

~*~

Kagome sighed audibly as she took in the sight of the crayons, scrolls, loose parchments, quills, and what not that littered the floor of the library.  She should have reminded the children to put them all away before dinner, and they were now preparing for bed.

Resignedly, she proceeded towards the nearest pile before reaching down to gather the mess the kids left behind. 

“Finally!" The raven-haired woman exclaimed breathlessly, after what seemed like an endless task.  She smoothed some stray tendrils of hair away from her face, and wiped at the light sheen of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.  Kagome took several deep breaths to steady her breathing as she leaned back a little to work the kinks out of the muscles of her lower back with her free hand.

The former human glided her hand to the front, rubbed the rounded swell of her belly, before she laid it at the base for support.  It was getting much harder for her to move lately and she was getting much slower.  She was substantially front heavy now in her last term.  ‘Soon… very soon,’ she thought as she gazed down tenderly.

After a moment, Kagome waddled towards a large wooden chest by a book case on one side of the library, and carefully knelt in front of it.  She lifted the cover, laid the load she carried, and shifted some things inside to make room for everything.  It was then that she espied the glossy plastic folder she has been looking for, for nearly a year.  It had gone missing from her backpack one day, and its former contents of old homework papers were found stuffed between pages of a history textbook. 

She wiggled it out from under some toys, closed the lid of the chest, and laid it open on top of it.  She chuckled softly as she took the sheaf of papers from the left pocket, and began to rifle through them.  Her fingers traced over some of the kids' artwork -- a sketching of her mate's dog form hovering in the sky with only the eyes and markings colored in, an abstract portrait of her by Shippou, a colorful field of flowers she recognized by Rin, and a drawing of her and Sesshoumaru kissing--which she couldn't help but grin at.  'Oh, those kids...'  She thought affectionately, as she slid the pile back into the empty pocket, and then removed the contents from the other one.

As she shifted through the new pile, she noticed a small, handmade booklet, carefully sewn on one edge, with a drawing of her and Sesshoumaru in formal wear, like the ones they had to wear when visiting the Youkai Court.

Kagome mused as she brought it to the front, and opened it to the first page.  On the back of the cover was a drawing of Sesshoumaru in full gear, Rin in an orange and yellow checkered kimono with bare feet, Tsumi-san next to her, and Jaken drawn very far from the rest.

~*~

Once upon a time, there was a lonely Ousama who lived in a castle far away in the West.  He lived there with his kawaii daughter, a woman who is like an Aunt to him, and a mean, yucky toad.  Sometimes he would leave his daughter at the castle to protect his lands, but whenever he was home, his daughter could see how lonely he was.

~*~

Kagome remembered the time almost a year ago when Shippou and Rin handed her loose parchments of the beginnings of their story.  What she now held in her hands must be the completed story, and as Tsumi's scent mingled with the children’s, the Hanyou must have been the one who helped turn it into a book. 

She smiled as she turned the page.  On the right side was a drawing of her, in her old white and green school uniform, carrying Shippou in her arms, with a huge, yellow backpack by her feet.  She laughed at the grossly exaggerated size of the bag, which was open and spilled books, bags of chips, lollipops, and shapes that looked like cups of ramen. "Gosh, I miss instant ramen..."

~*~

Then one day, a beautiful Hime and her son came to live with them.  The Ousama’s daughter was very happy to have a new playmate named Tail and a new oneechan.  She was also happy because the lonely Ousama started to smile, but only when he thought no one was looking.  His daughter secretly wished that the new Hime would become her new okaasan someday.

~*~

Kagome flipped the page, and saw a drawing of her, one hand holding Shippou's hand and the other holding Rin's, with the fortress in the background.

~*~

One day, when the Ousama was away, the Hime and the two children went for an adventure outside the castle.  They were having a lot of fun.  The adventure was cut short when the Hime and Tail smelled a youkai, and the Hime told the children to go back to the castle.  The Hime stayed to fight the bad youkai who was trying to hurt a lady and killed it, but she got really hurt.

~*~

Another flip of the page showed a drawing of a sad looking Sesshoumaru kneeling by the bed, watching a sleeping Kagome.

~*~

When the Ousama returned to the castle, he found out that the Hime got hurt.  He felt really bad, but he realized that he loved her very much and wanted to protect her and make her his mate.

~*~

Kagome remembered the doubts and insecurities she felt during that time.  Her burgeoning feelings were so raw, confusing, and too much for her to handle--especially coupled with the changes that were brought on by her transformation from human to youkai.

Tears welled in her eyes from remembering some of the difficulties she and Sesshoumaru went through, and pulled a handkerchief from inside the folds of her kimono to dab at her eyes.

The Miko-Youkai turned the page and smiled as she ran her fingers over the drawing of her and Sesshoumaru holding each other kissing.

~*~

Tail told the Ousama’s daughter that his Okaasan’s heart broke when his Otousan died.  That was before they came to live in the castle.  But the Ousama had been good to him and his Okaasan, and Tail started to see that his Okaasan was learning to love again.  Tail was very happy about that.

~*~

Kagome turned the page with anticipation at how the story continued--as what she had just read was the last thing she remembered reading a long time ago.

The right side was intentionally blank and the left side contained a small slip of parchment that was sewed into the page.  She recognized Sesshoumaru's elegant script.

~*~

But the Ousama didn’t know how to tell or show the Hime just how much he cared.  He was afraid that he would drive her away or that she wouldn’t care for him in the same way.  He hoped she would love him one day.

~*~

Kagome made a small sound.  This time, she couldn't contain the tears that rolled down her cheeks.  She wiped at the tears in a defeated way.  'I didn't know he felt that way...'  She whimpered. 'I wish I had known sooner.'

A flash of light flared, and a sudden materialization next to her blew the young lady's hair towards her face.

"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked, as he knelt beside her, unease in his tone and a deep frown on his face.  He gently brushed the tendrils of hair that had gotten stuck to her wet face.

With his mate's transformation from human to youkai, coupled with the changes from her pregnancy, he has had much difficulty in reading, scenting, and distinguishing the myriad of emotions and mood swings that Kagome seemed to go through on a regularly, changing basis.  He searched her tear streaked face for answers.  "Tears of Joy? Sadness? Are you in Pain?"

"A little of everything?"  Kagome said in a small voice, as she raised her face towards him.

Two perfectly arched eyebrows lifted in response. Although, why he would be still be surprised, after so many months into her pregnancy, was beyond him… as the only thing constant was his mate feeling just about everything.

The young woman caressed Sesshoumaru’s script.  “I wish I had known this then…”

“You never saw it?” The Daiyoukai asked, as he wiped Kagome's tears away with his thumbs.

Kagome shook her head from side to side, and sniffed. “Maybe things could have been easier or things could have been better sooner…”

"It matters no longer."  Sesshoumaru murmured, as he gazed at his mate tenderly.  "It turned out well in the end."

“Yeah, it did.”  Kagome matched the tenderness he showed in her smile.  "Have you seen this?"

Sesshoumaru took the handmade book she held out to him, and then sat down beside her.  Kagome leaned against her mate, while he read through the booklet, watching his face for any subtle expressions, until he stopped at the one with his writing. 

The Daiyoukai turned the page, and a three panel drawing met their eyes.  The top panel showed the back of Kagome and Sesshoumaru, leaving the fortress hand in hand.  The middle panel had a drawing of Sesshoumaru training Kagome with Tetsusaiga, and the bottom panel had a drawing of Sesshoumaru, on his knees, in front of the kids with Kagome crouched next to him.  The children were all smiles.

~*~

The Ousama left again to patrol, taking the Hime with him.  He wanted to show her his vast kingdom, and to teach her how to use her new powers.  They left and returned several times, but one day, Tail and the Ousama's daughter felt the strong love between them, and the Ousama told them, that they were now... a family.

~*~

The couple turned to each other and smiled, and each remembered how happy Shippou and Rin were at the news.

Kagome flipped the page, eager to see and read what came next.

The drawing of a black dog, with a blue crescent moon on its forehead and magenta markings on its face and paws, squared off against a dragon youkai three times its size.

~*~

While their Otousan was away on patrols, an enemy came to threaten the fortress, but their Okaasan boldly fought to protect them. 

~*~

It didn’t escape the couple’s notice that “Ousama” had become "Otousan and the “Hime” had changed to "Okaasan,” and the kids saw them as “theirs.”

The next page showed a bigger, white dog with the same markings with its fangs clamped down on the dragon youkai’s neck.

~*~

Okaasan was hurt during the fight, but luckily Otousan came back just in time, and won the day.  Then Otousan noticed something different about his new mate.  She was pupped!

~*~

Kagome giggled, as she turned the page to see a picture of all four of them with a very pregnant her.

~*~

And we can't wait to meet our baby brother!

(Tail wants 5 more brothers and sisters. Rin wants 10 more.)

~*~

"I don't really look this big, do I?"

And Sesshoumaru wasn't about to fall for that one.  "You are beautiful,” he said as he laid a kiss atop her head. He flipped the page to see a family drawing with Kagome holding a baby with black hair and golden eyes who shared the markings as its parents, framed by a litter of puppies.

~*~

And they lived happily ever after...

~*~

“10 more pups…” The Daiyoukai mused aloud as he closed the book, and handed it to her.

“I don’t know about that…” Kagome laughed, “let’s get through our first one first.”

“Hn.” 

Sesshoumaru brought his mate gently to her feet.  “Indeed,” he said solemnly, while he supported her out of the library.  “Although, I wouldn’t mind ten more.  I am sure we will enjoy the trying part.”

The Daiyoukai smirked.

Kagome giggled. 

~*~

Later that evening, before heading to bed, she propped the children’s story book, at its new place of honor, on her writing desk.  She gazed at it knowing that she was happily living her own fairy tale life.