Hey Minna! I'm back with a new fic. This one is my wacko, Miroku-like, hyper alter-ego/muse's fault. Tenshi just pops up at work one day and would not let me rest until this was done.

BTW: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Miroku is a hentai, but a cute one too.

Now on to the story...

The shard hunting group was headed back to Kaede's village for a rest after a long week. They had collected 4 more jewel shards and had an encounter with Kagura and Kohaku. A casual observer would think that the group was just tired after their exahusting week, but if you knew the group well enough you could tell that tensions were high. Ever since their encounter with Kagura and Kohaku, Sango had not been herself - even Miroku could not get a reaction out of her. Sango's mood had been shifting from anger to sadness to longing then back to anger. The closer they got to the village the higher the tension got - Miroku wasn't groping anyone, InuYasha wasn't complaining, and Kagome wasn't "Oswarii"-ing InuYasha. They didn't want to set Sango off.

Finally once they got to the village, Kagome took off towards the well and InuYasha took off after her to stop her - leaving Miroku and Sango by themselves to head the rest of the way to Kaede's hut. Finally Miroku, fed up with her moodiness, tried one last time to snap her out of it.

"Sango?" he asked softly - if she was in one of her angry moods, there was no telling how she would react to anything.

"Sango, we all know you are upset because of the last fight with Kagura and Kohaku, but we will save Kohaku from Naraku." He was about to continue when Sango finally snapped.

"NO!" She yelled, shoving Miroku's hand off her shoulder. "Will everyone just stop trying to cheer me up? You - NOBODY - knows what I'm going through right now! Just shut-up! Shut-up and leave me alone!" and with that said (more like shouted) she took off toward the clearing by the lake, her favorite thinking spot.

She needed to be alone to think and sort out her feelings. As she was running toward her favorite spot, the tears started to fall. She broke out of the forest into the clearing where she dropped to her knees sobs racking her body. She cried for everything she never cried for before - she cried for her mother and father, her brother, his lost childhood, and innocence, the life she always wanted and now could never have. She stiffened as her tears subsided and she heard the tell-tale jingle of Miroku's staff as he sat next to her.

"Sango, I know you don't think I know what you're going through, but I do. We've both lost our families and had our lives set off track because of Naraku. I never told anyone this, but my mother died giving birth to me. I lost my dad when I was 14 to his Kazanna. I had no family except for Mushin and Hatchi. Now though...sigh...now I have one. Our little group has become my family..." his voice faded away as he was caught up in his own thoughts.

Sango glanced at his face and noticed that they had shifted positions. They were sitting next to each other, Sango with her head on Miroku's shoulder, Miroku with his arm around her waist, hand rubbing up and down on her arm in an attempt to sooth her. As she saw her face, she noticed it was the real Miroku - the soft, vulnerable side. "The side I fell in love with..." she wispered softly as she slipped into sweet slumber wrapped in the comforting embrace of his arms.

Happy V-Day! Hope you like it so far. Next chapter will be the conclusion to the M/S side of the story. Don't forget to RR! That's the only thing that will keep Tenshi satisfied and keep the story coming!

Ja-ne!

Kitsune-Tenshi-16