Chapter Text
Steam curled like pale spirits around Sesshomaru's bare shoulders as he stood waist deep in the natural spring, silver hair cascading down his back like liquid moonlight. The forest was quiet. Peaceful
He flexed the fingers of his new arm slowly, watching the way muscle and claw obeyed him. Strong. Whole.
He had let go.
Let go of resentment.
Let go of his obsession.
Let go of his father's shadow.
And in return, he had been deemed worthy.
The Western Lord closed his golden eyes.
"I require nothing more"
The air shifted.
It began subtly, a drop in temperature, a pressure in the atmosphere that pressed against his skin. The steam thickened unnaturally, swirling instead of rising.
Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open.
Mist gathered at the edge of the spring, not drifting with the wind, but moving with intent.
A presence.
Ancient.
Familiar.
Overwhelming.
Sesshomaru stepped from the water in one fluid motion, neither hurried nor careless. His mokomoko settled over his shoulder as if alive, and Tenseiga hummed faintly at his side.
From within the mist, a tall silhouette formed.
Broad shoulders.
Flowing hair.
Regal armor.
Red markings.
Golden eyes that mirrored his own.
"Father?" Sesshomaru said in shock
The Great Dog General stepped fully into view, his form translucent yet powerful enough that the very earth seemed to bow beneath him.
Sesshomaru’s claws flexed.
Before he could draw his blade, the spirit spoke, his voice deep and resonant, echoing like distant thunder.
“Peace, my son.”
The command was not forceful. It did not need to be.
Sesshomaru did not lower his guard.
"You are supposed to be dead"
"Yes" his father replied calmly. "But death does not sever all duties"
A tense silence stretched between them. Steam coiled around both figures like an audience of unseen spirits.
Sesshomaru's gaze hardened.
"If you have come to lecture me on compassion once more, save your breath. I have surpassed the need for your approval"
A faint smile touched the spirit's lips.
"You have, indeed"
That gave Sesshomaru pause.
His father stepped closer, mist parting around him.
"You have grown beyond hatred. You have released your obsession with inheritance. You have chosen your own strength"
Sesshomaru said nothing, but his grip loosened slightly.
"You have become a true Lord of the West"
The words settled heavily.
Not as praise.
As acknowledgment.
"Then state your purpose" Sesshomaru demanded coolly. "You would not appear merely to offer compliments"
The Great Dog General’s expression shifted, to something calculating, almost amused.
"There is one final inheritance you have yet to claim"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed.
"I require no sword"
"It is not a blade"
The mist thickened again, swirling around them like a veil.
"It is a mate"
Silence.
Then-
The temperature plummeted.
Sesshomaru’s killing intent spiked sharply, pressing against the spirit like a blade at his throat. Though he does know rather... That he can not do anything against a dead man. After all, this was a mere spirit he was speaking to
"Choose your next words carefully"
His father did not flinch.
"Inuyasha"
The name echoed through the forest.
The spring water rippled violently.
Sesshomaru's expression did not change, but the air around him cracked with restrained power.
"You mock me"
"I do not"
"Inuyasha is a male" Sesshomaru said trying to point out the obvious
"Inuyasha is female" his father corrected evenly
The world seemed to tilt.
Sesshomaru stared at him.
"You...Explain to me"
"For her protection, her true nature was concealed" the Great Dog General said. "Human lands are cruel. Demon courts are crueler still. A female hanyo born of my blood would have been hunted. Used. Claimed"
Sesshomaru's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "he's right" his consciousness told him
"She was raised as male to survive"
Images flickered in his mind unbidden-- Inuyasha's smaller frame, the pitch of his voice in rare moments of vulnerability, the strange scent he had never fully deciphered.
"Why tell me this?"
His father's gaze sharpened.
"Because she is your destined mate"
The words landed like a thunderclap.
Sesshomaru's aura flared violently, cracking nearby stones.
"This Sesshomaru does not bow to fate"
"You misunderstand,” his father said calmly. " this was not forced upon you"
The spirit stepped closer.
"You were born first. The heir of the West. A pure-blooded demon of unmatched strength."
"And she" his voice lowered, "was born second. A hanyo. A bridge between worlds"
"Power and balance. Fang and flame"
He looked directly into Sesshomaru's eyes.
"You were always meant to be together"
Sesshomaru's thoughts churned, anger, disbelief, and something dangerously close to recognition.
“But....Inuyasha despises me"
"And whose fault is that?" his father countered softly, "but she has never truly turned her back on you... Has she?"
Sesshomaru thought over what his father said. He was right, Inuyasha.. He.. She... Never truly turned her back on him despite the many times he pushed, kicked, and beat her away.
Trust.
Instinctual.
Unspoken.
Sesshomaru’s claws dug slightly into his palm.
"This changes nothing"
"It changes everything"
The Great Dog General's form began to flicker.
"You have both been told"
Sesshomaru's eyes widened a fraction"Told?"
A knowing look.
"She too has be informed of her role"
The mist began to thin.
"Whether you accept it or reject it...the bond has already begun"
At that moment, something pulsed faintly in Sesshomaru's chest-- subtle, unfamiliar, but undeniably present.
A thread.
A pull.
South.
Toward the human village.
Toward--
His father’s voice echoed one final time.
"The West requires a Lady....and you have been alone long enough"
The spirit vanished.
The forest returned to normal.
Steam drifted harmlessly once more.
Sesshomaru stood alone in the spring, water lapping quietly around him.
But nothing was the same.
His golden eyes lifted toward the horizon.
"Inuyasha"
The name felt different now.
He flexed his new arm slowly.
A mate.
The Lady of the West.
His sister
Destined.
Sesshomaru stepped from the spring, aura steady once more, but beneath the calm surface, something ancient had awakened.
And far away, in a quiet village--
A hanyo girl gasped awake beneath the same moon.