The white tower
This story is rated PG-13 for sexual situations
Chapter 4 – An Unhappy Meeting
Jaal slept for five days, never waking, barely stirring. Kaiba poured potions down her throat, trying to rebuild her strength and replenish her blood loss. On the third day, she began to get a little color back into her face. On the fifth day, she woke up.
The first thing she saw was Bya, kneeling by her side and still holding her hand, but sound asleep; the Great Dragon had finally succumbed to exhaustion. Rin was sitting on the other side of Jaal and smiled at her, whispering that she was going to get her mate. Rin quickly went downstairs to wake Kaiba.
Kaiba realized that there was no way for him to examine Jaal without waking Bya, so he gently shook the Dragon awake. As tired as he was, the Dragon's eyes lit up when he saw that his beloved mate was awake. He moved to sit at her side and kissed her forehead.
Kaiba pronounced her well on the road to recovery, but refused to allow her to leave her bed until she delivered the child. He said nothing about the delivery itself; but he was still very fearful for her life. If the child was in Dragon form, there was no way that Jaal would survive the birth. Even a normal birth would be very hard for her; to lose more blood after having lost so much already and her body already showed a propensity for hemorrhaging.
The next day, there was a very unexpected visitor at the White Tower. Tennu went to the door and came back with Yusuke following him, looking for his son. Raike blanched when he saw his father; he was not ready to face his father, but now he had no choice.
Together father and son went outside so that they could talk freely. "Why are you here, son?" Yusuke asked. "And without even telling us. Your mother has been very worried. InuYasha told us where you were when he came to the Village."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry Mom."
"Well, what are doing here?" Yusuke repeated his question.
"I wanted Jaal to help me."
"With what? Why do you need a sorceress? Are you ill?" Yusuke asked, his brow creasing with concern.
"I wanted her to help me find power."
Yusuke looked at his son, "What are you talking about? Why do you need power?"
"So I can be like you and grandfather. You won the Dark Tournament when you were much younger than I am. And you and grandfather held the Northern Lands during the Three Worlds War and defeated the entire Bear Demon Clan by yourselves. I have heard the stories and the tales of your exploits all my life. It's easy for you to say that power isn't necessary when you've got power. You and grandfather are two of the most powerful Demons there are. And I am nothing!" The words just spilled out, like an emotional dam that had been held back too long and suddenly burst.
"Raike! I never knew you felt like this." Yusuke exclaimed, surprised by his son's outburst, then sighed.
"You may think you want my power, but you don't. You don't know how it was growing up, living with rage and pent-up anger and not understanding why. Starting fights, beating up everyone, with or without a reason; it didn't matter. It was just the fight that mattered. If I had stayed in the Human World, I would be nothing. I never would have finished high school; I was so close to getting expelled so many times. And even now, the blood lust is still very much a part of me. When I get angry, I don't want to shout, I want to hit. That's why your mother and I never have arguments. I am scared to death of what I might do to her. So when we have even the smallest disagreement, I leave. I have to. Son, please believe me, you don't want this power."
"But I don't have anything at all! I want something -- I feel so useless!"
"But you're not! You are a vital part of the Village."
"How? I can't do anything! I am a terrible swordsman, can't hit the target in archery, have no healing skills, nothing!" The boy hung his head in shame and despair and Yusuke slipped an arm around his son's shoulders.
"You are the most important thing in my life."
Raike looked into his father's eyes and said sadly, "It's not enough."
Then he turned from his father and walked back into the White Tower.
Yusuke returned home and informed Keiko of their son's words, and then held her tightly as she sobbed on his shoulder. "What an ungrateful son!" He muttered angrily. "We have given him everything!"
"No, it's not that." Keiko lifted a tear-streaked face. "He has always felt so inferior to you. And he never had anyone to grow up with. Kome and Souten were too old for him and Kamara and Kayla too young. Raike has always felt like an outsider. My heart breaks for his pain. If Jaal can give him something to stop those feelings, then I am grateful to her. I only want my son to be happy."
"And this is one of the many reason I love you. You balance my anger with your compassion." Yusuke smiled at his mate of many years and leaned forward to gently brush away her tears.
Another week passed and the mood of the Tower was not a happy one. Jaal was unhappy at being forced to stay in bed, Bya was worried sick about her and filled with guilt that he had gotten her pregnant to begin with; Kaiba and Rin were tired and frustrated by the pregnancy and its numerous problems; Tennu was upset because he was accomplishing nothing and felt completely useless; Raike was depressed by his father's visit and his continued lack of power.
Kaiba spent his days going back and forth through the portal that Bakura had created. He was pouring through his books and spells, trying to find out something more about the Great Dragons. Finally, he went to Suzaku to see Kyo. He was the only Great Dragon other than Bya walking this land; the others were still hibernating under the mountains. Kyo turned out to be more help than he expected.
"Bya got Jaal pregnant! The fool. Dragons can't mate outside their species, at least not if the mother is something else. Let me guess, the pregnancy is accelerated?"
Kaiba frowned at Kyo. "Yes. How do you know this?"
"There are very few that know this, but when I was young and foolish, I mated outside my species. It took us years to conceive successfully. When we did, her pregnancy was accelerated and when she gave birth, she died, bleeding to death. Afterwards I told every Dragon I could not to cross-breed."
"Why didn't you warn Bya?" Kaiba asked.
"I thought I did, but maybe it was his father I told. They look so much alike," Kyo said.
"Did your child survive?" Kaiba asked.
"Yes, my daughter, Takara. I haven't seen her since her second birthday. Everyone went into hibernation right after that," Kyo said.
"Anything special I should know about her?" Kaiba asked.
"No. She was a normal little girl, other than she grew up in two years." Kyo said.
"In two years? So the acceleration continues after birth? Can you tell me about normal Dragon mating and birth? Maybe it will help me make sense of it all," Kaiba said
Great Dragons mate in dragon form and then the female stays in that form until she gives birth to a baby dragon."
"How long is the gestation period?"
"About 22 months."
"What??? Jaal is only about two months pregnant and looks like she is ready to give birth any day now!" Kaiba said in alarm.
"I know. It was the same with Jalala. She wasn't human but she remained in human form most of the time and through out her pregnancy."
Kaiba was dying to ask what species Kyo's mate was but he could tell how hard this confession was on Kyo and decided to let it pass for now.
"And besides you, a Great Dragon has never procreated with any other species before? What if the female dragon falls in love?" Kaiba asked.
"The Great Dragons are usually not that romantic, especially females. The female goes into heat and the males come from hundreds of miles around and fight for the right to inseminate her. Once she is pregnant, the male leaves. They don't set up a home and a family like humans or even some demons do. There is no love involved. Just procreation. And it doesn't happen very often."
"So you never won a battle for a Dragon female?"
Kyo glared at the mage, then growled, "In my lifetime, only one female has gone into heat and I was too young to compete successfully against the older males. I am not very old for a Great Dragon. Still, I tried and I did manage to give one of them a nasty scar to remember me by before he put me out of the game."
"I didn't mean to offend you, Kyo. I am just trying to get as many facts as I can. I am trying to save a woman's life and possibly the life of her unborn child. If she dies before the baby is viable, it will not live either."
"I'm sorry I can't give you more information. And Bya is even younger than I am -- I doubt if he even knows this much. I was hoping it wasn't possible for a human to conceive a Great Dragon's child. Jalala had a very hard time and she was closer to us in kind than humans are. Now I am worried about Vara."
"You have given me more than I expected. And don't worry about Vara. She is not human and cannot conceive with anyone other than her own kind. Her father was the only male of her species that I have ever known."
"Kaiba," Kyo said to the Mage as he turned to go. The Healer turned back. "I would appreciate it if you kept what I told you, about my mate and my daughter, to yourself. It's part of my life that I have left behind. I've moved on now and have a new life with Vara. I don't want anything to interfere with that. If you or anyone else mentions it, I will just deny everything. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Kyo. I will only share this conversation with my mate if that is what you wish. But be aware that the past rarely remains hidden forever."
Kaiba left Suzaku with a little more information and many more worries. What was growing inside of Jaal? He couldn't sense anything because of the protective energy barrier that the baby has created around itself. If it got much bigger, it would tear Jaal apart from the inside out. He was at a loss on what to do.
When he returned to the Castle, he was surprised to see Rin there. "Who is watching over Jaal?"
"Both Kain and Taiki are there. It will take them only a few seconds to go through the portal and bring us back. What did you learn?"
Kaiba conveyed what Kyo had told him. She slipped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head on his chest. "My love, you need rest. You have been studying books and potions for days now and you are exhausted. You must be rested for Jaal when she needs you."
Kaiba smiled at Rin and nodded. Arm in arm, they went downstairs to their rooms. Kaiba used to sleep in his Tower, but when Rin joined him, he moved to her suite which now consisted of three sleeping rooms, two bathrooms, and a communal sitting area. Both Taiki and Kain had their own rooms, although Taiki was rarely there, spending more and more time with the Unicorn herd. The call of their magic was strong.
After a restful night's sleep, Kaiba woke to the joy of his mate's arms and stayed in bed long past his normal time. But their lovemaking was interrupted by hard pounding on their bedroom door.
"Father!" came Taiki's voice, "Jaal is in labor! And she is hemorrhaging again!"