Somewhere To Belong: Nine Months Later

Suko ran as fast as she could through the woods trying to get away from the demons that were chasing her.
"What do they want with me?" she worried as she stopped and leaned against the nearest tree as the pain in her stomach came to a peak again.
"Oh God!" she cried as she clutched her hard, swollen stomach.
***************************************************************************************************************************
Earlier that day...
Suko awakened in the early morning hours when she felt her baby kick her so hard that it made her eyes water.
"Okay, okay... I guess you're not comfortable like that," she said to the child in her stomach. She turned onto her side as her thoughts were plagued with worry.
"Where is he?" she wondered. She started to weep as she thought about Sesshomaru. She tried to stay positive, but it had been nine whole months since he had disappeared and now she was beginning to lose hope. Now she would be forced to raise their pup alone... she, who had no idea how to take care of herself... let alone a child.
Unable to sleep anymore, she got up and started to walk around the dark castle (which she was pretty used to by now). She walked out to the garden and sat down on a large boulder facing the east where she could just barely see the sun starting to rise. All of a sudden, she got another sharp kick to her stomach. No... this was not a kick. This pain was a lot more intense. Within a few seconds, the pain was gone again and she stood up to go pick some flowers to surprise Rin with when she woke up.
As she stood up, she felt a warm fluid flow trickle down her legs. "Oh no," she thought. She now knew what was going on thanks to the childbirth video that they made all of the girls watch at school. And now she was scared to death. She didn't want to have her baby alone. "Jaken!" she thought, "That's it! Maybe Jaken will know what to do."
She turned to go into the castle, but stopped when she noticed a horde of demons encircling her. And at the very center of this horde stood Kagura.
Suko stood frozen in terror as she recalled her last encounter with the Wind Sorceress. And then it happened again... another sharp pain in her stomach, which was much stronger this time that it made her cry out. When the pain subsided, she looked at Kagura with a frightened look on her face.
"So, Naraku was right. It is happening now," Kagura remarked.
Suko turned and ran. She ran as fast as she could. She didn't care. She just wanted to get away from Kagura and these demons. Especially now that she was about to give birth. And especially now that Naraku somehow knew it.
As she ran, fireballs exploded all around her from the airborne demons that were pursuing her.
"Stop, you idiots!" she heard Kagura yell. "I told you to find her! Not kill her!"
Suko found a thick group of bushes and slid under them as quickly as she could, hoping that the mob of demons didn't notice. She watched, nervously, as they flew overhead.
"Where'd she go?" they asked out loud.
"Let's split up... find her!" Kagura commanded.
Suko gulped in relief as they disappeared from sight.
She crawled out from under the brush and was rewarded with another painful contraction for all of her hard work. She bit down hard on her hand to keep herself from screaming. She knew she had to find somewhere to hide... and soon. She took off in the opposite direction, half running, half limping.
She came to a meadow where there were no trees or bushes for her to hide among if the demons came back. "Now what?" she wondered.
"There she is!" growled a demon.
Suko took off running back the other way.

She started running as fast as she could when her contraction had ended. She could hear the horde of demons not far behind her. She could feel another contraction starting, but she didn't want to wait to run until it ended, so she kept running despite the pain that was trailing down her thighs now. She ran, blindly, through the forest as the tears hindered her vision. Then she hit something and was knocked backwards onto the ground by it.
"Suko?" she heard a familiar voice ask.
She looked up and saw Inuyasha standing in front of her. She jumped up and threw her arms around him as she cried.
"Inuyasha! Thank God!" she exclaimed.
"Get back with Kagome, Suko," he said as he pushed her aside. He greeted the approaching pack of demons with the Tetsusaiga, ready to strike.
"Give us the girl!" snarled one of the beasts.
"Like hell," Inuyasha replied. "Wind Scar!" and the demons were destroyed in one blast. "That's what I thought," Inuyasha scoffed. He turned around and faced Suko when he heard her cry out in pain. He noticed she was clutching her stomach, which was a lot bigger than the last time he had seen her.
"What's going on?" he asked as he approached the group. "Where's Sesshomaru, Suko?"
Suko ignored him and just kept breathing hard, trying to get through the contraction. When it ended, she answered him...
"He disappeared nine months ago after he was critically injured in a battle with Naraku. I haven't seen him since. And now, if you can't tell, I'm about to have his child. I don't know why, but Kagura arrived with all of those demons when I first went into labor. I think Naraku sent her. Please don't let Naraku get my baby, Inuyasha!" she pleaded, hysterically.
"Calm down. I won't let Naraku get near you. We need to get you to Kaede. She's the only one who seems to know about this stuff," Inuyasha said. "Sango, take Suko on Kirara and get her to Kaede as fast as you can. We'll meet up with you guys soon."
"Okay," Sango agreed. "Hang in there, Suko. It'll be okay.
They had barely gotten off of the ground when Suko was plagued with another contraction.
"They're getting closer!" Suko whined to Sango.
"It'll be okay," Sango said, trying to calm her own worries more than Suko's. "Hurry, Kirara!"
It was only minutes before they landed in front of Kaede's hut, but it seemed like hours. Sango put Suko's arm around her neck and helped her inside.
"Kaede!" Sango called out as she laid Suko on a pillow in the living room. "Kaede!"
"What is it, my child?" the old woman asked as she appeared from a room in the back of the house. Kaede looked at Suko who was drenched with sweat and breathing rather heavily as she clutched her swollen abdomen.
"Oh, I see," she answered herself. Just then, Kagome entered the hut as she kept trying to push Inuyasha and Miroku back out the door.
"You guys don't need to be in here right now!" she yelled at them. Finally they gave up and stayed outside.
"Sango, go down to the spring and fetch some water," Kaede instructed. "Kagome, go find some blankets. Oh and we may need your medicine box as well."
Kagome searched through the hut as it was filled with Suko's screams. She returned to Kaede's side with the blankets and grabbed her first aid kit out of her backpack. She sat down next to Suko, who was writhing in pain, as Sango returned with the water.
Kaede sat herself at Suko's feet and pushed her knees apart to check the progress of her labor.
"Looks like ye got here just in time," she said, "the baby's head is right here. With your next pain, I want ye to push as hard as ye can, Suko." Kaede felt Suko's stomach as it started to harden with a new contraction. "Ready Suko? Push!"
Suko's face turned bright red with the effort as she pushed with all of her might. Sango and Kagome offered her their hands to squeeze, which she did... painfully. Suko pushed and pushed until the contraction ended when she took a very much- needed rest. Her break was short lived, however, as another contraction started almost instantly.
"Again, Suko... push!" Kaede instructed. Suko felt like she was being ripped apart as she pushed. "All right... now stop," Kaede told her, "the head's out. Rest for a moment while I pull the shoulders out. There we are. Now one last push should do it."
Suko pushed one last time as her baby slid out of the safety of her womb. She threw herself back onto the pillow and collapsed with exhaustion. She watched Kagome hand Kaede the bulb syringe from her first aid kit to clear the baby's nose and mouth, and the scissors to cut the umbilical cord, severing the tie between mother and child. Tears fell from Suko's eyes as she heard her baby cry for the first time.
"He looks wonderful," said Kaede as she handed the baby to Suko.
"He?" Suko asked, excitedly. She took the baby from Kaede with eager arms. Her heart melted as she finally got to see her son. His hair was white like his father's except for the red tinge of blood, which would wash out easily when he had his bath. His forehead adorned the same crescent moon that his father had. The only thing missing were the stripes on the cheeks.
"He's so beautiful," Suko cooed.
"He looks just like his father," added Sango.
"Suko..." Kaede interrupted, "I need ye to push the placenta out so we can let Inuyasha in to meet his nephew."
Suko did as she was instructed as Kagome went outside to get Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo.
Moments later they entered the hut and gathered round Suko's side. Inuyasha, who was normally so rough around the edges, even smiled as he glanced down at his nephew. His ears perked up and twitched at the sound of the baby's noises. Suko couldn't help but laugh at his behavior. He looked just like a curious puppy.
"Do you want to hold him?" Suko asked Inuyasha.
"No. Uh-uh. No way. I don't like kids. Especially little kids. I-..." he didn't finish what he was saying, because he suddenly found that the baby was tucked in his arms. His face lightened as he looked at his nephew. He couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, kid, too bad you look like your dad," he chuckled. The room erupted with laughter.
"So, what's his name?" Miroku asked.
"I... I don't know. I haven't given it much thought," Suko answered. She tgought for a moment then said, " I kind of like the name Aiko. It means love child." This last part she said with a smile.
"I don't mean to break up this joyous occasion, but I think Suko needs some rest," said Kaede.
They all left the hut muttering their congratulations to Suko. She thanked them all and fell fast asleep as she cuddled her new baby boy that reminded her so much of his father.