Author's Note: Please note this story was published once, but accidentally deleted. It has already happened in the storyline. It falls just before the story entitled "Sleep". I am sorry for this mixup :)

The day was a scorcher.
Kagome awoke with a thudding headache, the kind that makes you feel sort of queasy, and she knew it was the heat. Already it seemed to press down on her, as if trying to squash her into the baked ground. The only other time she felt this way was when the air was thick and heavy, waiting for a thunderstorm to open up, to release it's burden of rain on the earth below. But she knew there was going to be no rain. The ground was still parched. The grass was drying up, turned yellow and brown, burnt by the sun.
She sat up, pushing the one thin sheet off of her, looking around. Even after dark last night, the heat had been oppressive, and she wanted nothing more than one think sheet to cover herself. The shade of the tree she slept under offered no relief.
Kagome looked around for her friends, but saw no sign of them. Miroku's bed was empty, and InuYasha had taken to his older ways lately, preferring to sleep sitting up, leaning back slightly against a tree. No blankets for him. Even DarkWind seemed to be gone.
Standing up, she reached out for the Kageri in her mind, ~DarkWind?~
He answered her swiftly, ~Nushi. You are awake.~
There was a strange cast to his voice that she heard, and it put her on edge at once, ~DarkWind, what's wrong?~
~Nothing, Nushi. Forgive me for leaving your side, but I thou-~
~Never mind that, what's wrong? Your voice is funny.~

There was a mental pause, and the Kageri's voice came again, ~I am well, Nushi. Please, do not trouble yourself.~
Kagome shook her head impatiently, wanting to demand to know what was going on, but decided against it. The Kageri had been through too much lately. She still worried about him, not that he had been...injured.
Broken.
~Are the others with you?~
~No, they are within the village. InuYasha-Warrior and Miroku-Mo...Miroku, are helping some villagers deepen their well. They hope to find more water.~

Kagome paused, listening to DarkWind's mental trip. Even the Kageri seemed unsure what to do or say around Miroku.
~So where are you, then?~
~Just outside the village.~

Kagome gathered up a small bowl, facecloth, large bottle of water, and towel. They were trying to ration water, so they used just enough to wash in. Kagome was starting to wonder if she should take Miroku and InuYasha back to her world for a while. If nothing else, they could all take a shower, and get clean. There was no drought in her time.
~What are you doing out there?~
There was a mental pause.
Kagome stopped walking, waiting for his answer. When none was forthcoming right away, she asked again.
When the Kageri answered, his voice had a strange quality to it, ~I am speaking to Tristar.~
Kagome frowned, ~Tristar?~
~Yes, Nushi. She is the one...the...woman, from the village. The one who used to be Kageri.~

Kagome blinked. Of course, the woman from the village of demonn, hanyou, and humans. DarkWind told her she had been a Kageri once. She had been called DawnStar. The one that DarkWind...held feelings for. Loved, maybe.
Kagome shook her head, then spoke, ~DarkWind, for goodness' sake. Why are you sounding so secretive? You don't think I'd be upset you're talking to her, do you?~
A strange sensation came to her, channeled through DarkWind. He was Kagome's Kageri. Therefore, he was supposed to be loyal to her, and her only. Almost like a lover. Nushi, he called her. Beloved. As it was expected of him. He had explained to her, when they had first become bonded, that he often became his female master's lover. Now he was having feelings for another woman, and that was not supposed to happen. DarkWind was feeling guilty.
Kagome mentally chuckled, ~Stay with her, you goose. Visit all day, I don't mind. You feel so strongly for her.~
DarkWind spoke back, unsure, uneasy, ~Nushi? You are certain? You are not angry?~
~Of course not! Take all the time you need.~

A strong sensation of love towards her. Happiness, kindness, and love, ~Thank you, Nushi.~
Smiling, Kagome broke the link, and went to wash up for the day.
As she washed, Kagome thought over what had happened to the Kageri. How he had been taken, somehow, by Naraku. And when DarkWind had refused to kill Miroku...had refused an order by his master...he had become Broken.
How ill he had been. Literally wasting away before her eyes. Fading out, almost. She had finally, through InuYasha, managed to regain the link. Had taken him on again, as her Kageri. She remembered DarkWind's shocked face, when he had realized she still wanted him as her Kageri. How he had been unable to understand why she would want a broken weapon.
"You are not a tool to me!" she had yelled at him, desperate to hold onto him.
When she had put the chain back onto her wrist, had re-bonded with him, how confused he had been.
"Kagome, you cannot keep me. I am Broken. I cannot stay."
"You
will stay!" she had yelled back at him, "That...that's an order, DarkWind! I'm commanding you to stay! Do you hear me? You're staying here as my Kageri!"
"You...you do not keep a Broken, Kagome."
"Well I am! It's my choice!"
"You...you are...
choosing to keep me, Kagome? Even though I am Broken?"
"Yes."

Kagome towelled her face, thinking about Izumi, as well. What the other woman had told her.
"Will he be ok, Izumi?"
"That depends on what you mean by
ok, dear."
"Well...will he stop being a...a Broken?"
"That is something I do not know. Because, Kagome, there has
never been a Kageri that became Broken, that was re-bonded with someone."
"What, never?"
"Never. As you can see, the symbol that defines him, his Kageri symbol, is damaged. It is no longer complete. That marks him as a Broken. But he is rebonded with you. So...while I can not say for certain, I
think he will not get any worse. But having been a Broken, he has lost a great amount of his powers. He will never be as strong, Kagome. You need to remember that."
"I don't care. Even with only half his powers, he's still more powerful than anyone else."
"That's not what I mean, dear. DarkWind is still bound to you. He will still want to serve you as before. He is going to try and do what he always did. You are going to have to make certain he does not injure himself. Or worse."

Kagome sighed as she dressed. It was so confusing. DarkWind was so handsome, so powerful, so strong. And he was so...attentive, and caring, and considerate. But was that just because she was his Master? It was hard not to get too caught up in that. It was easy to feel attracted to him, and she didn't want him to be to aware of it. Because if his duties to her included sensing she was physically attracted to him...he might feel he should act on it, for her.
And that would open such a huge can of worms.

She found InuYasha and Miroku talking to several older people in the village. They were clearly the leaders, and by their faces, the news they were hearing wasn't too good.
Kagome approached her friends, trying not to stare too much as Miroku.
Even now, after about three weeks had passed, Miroku looked so strange to her. Dressed in dark grey trousers and a short sleeved simple shirt, his hair loose from his ponytail to hang just past his ears, Miroku seemed like a stranger to her sometimes. It was also strange not seeing his staff nearby. And his face...
Gone was the usual pleasant, happy look to Miroku's face. His face was marked now, by grief and loss. More serious than charming, now. His eyes dark and careful.
Kirara perched on his shoulder, listening as the conversation continued.
The small feline demon stayed glued to Miroku now. Both human and cat-demon felt the loss of the Demon Slayer, whose presence always seemed to be following them, just out of sight, somehow.
The loss of Sango had hit them all, so very hard. But something seemed to have broken inside Miroku. He was determined to end this coming war, entirely by himself, if necessary. And because he felt he had failed Sango when she most needed him, because his terror at her dying had made him unable to offer her any spiritual comfort so that her journey into the next world would be easy...he had cast away his monk's robes.
Kagome's heart gave a painful twinge as she watched him. Kagome had lost two friends that day, not one. For in a way, Miroku had died as well.
"I'm sorry," she heard him speaking now, as she approached, "We've gone down as far as possible. There is very little water there. Is your spring so very low, then?"
"Low enough," the old man said grimly, "Soon Tristar won't be able to call it up anymore. Our crops are starting to wither."
"Count yourself lucky, old man," InuYasha said, voice a little harder than Kagome cared for, "Most villagers lost their crops weeks ago."
The old man nodded, and sighed deeply, "Yes, we know."
InuYasha turned his head from the old man, though as he did Kagome saw his face. It wasn't annoyance or irritation that cause the hanyou to turn, but frusteration and stress. He hated seeing the look on the faces of the old villagers as they were forced to face the hard truths.
His eyes focused on her, and he turned, some of the hardness leaving his face, "You're up."
"Yeah."
Her friends turned to her, watching her face. InuYasha walked towards her, frowning, "Are you ok?"
Kagome weakly smiled, and touched her head, "A bit of a headache. From the heat."
Miroku nodded, "I have one as well."
"You...weren't able to help them get any more water?"
InuYasha shook his head, sliding his hands into his sleeves, "I dug down as far as I could, nothing. When I hit rock, I knew that was it."
Kagome hid her surprise. InuYasha picked up a shovel and dug? She was pleasantly surprised.
She shook her head, looking over at the gathered villagers. They were quiet, knowing this was bad news.
"What should we do?" she asked, lowly, "Do we stay, or move on?"
"I think we should move on," Miroku said lowly, "As much I would like to be able to help them in some way, we would just be more people using their water."
They agreed.

As they were packing up, Kagome turned to her two friends, and spoke, "I was thinking...would you two like to come to my world for a while?"
InuYasha and Miroku looked at her, confused.
"Well...I mean...there's no drought in my time. It would be cooler, and you guys could get a shower or a bath if you wanted. Get the dust off, wash your hair, things like that. And I could get some food into you both. Food is getting a little slim around here now."
InuYasha said nothing, glancing towards Miroku. The other man nodded, and spoke quietly, "We can't do anything here to help these people. There's no way we could bring back enough water from your world, Kagome, for an entire village. And..it would be nice to get cleaned up. I feel like I've got a year's dust on me."
Kagome nodded, "All right, we'll head back to the-"
"But I can't go, not yet."
InuYasha and Kagome looked at him.
Miroku gave them both a faint smile, "I need to go to Sango's village. Kohaku and the others haven't been told yet. And I would like to return her weapon to them."
They had been carrying the Hiraikotsu with them, usually strapped to Kirara's back. It had been left behind when Izumi had taken Sango's body to the Celestial Palace. No one knew what to do with it, but they couldn't part with it, not yet.
InuYasha stirred, "Are you...I mean...I can do it, if you'd rather."
Kagome blinked at InuYasha.
Miroku shook his head, "No InuYasha, but thank you. Kohaku and I became close when last I was there. I feel it's my duty to let him know of his sister's death. Besides..." he gently scratched Kirara's head, "I think Kirara might want to return to Kohaku now. I want to give her that option."
"She's gotten very close to you." Kagome said gently. The small feline demon had taken to sleeping in Miroku's bedding, staying near at all times.
"She has," Miroku smiled faintly, "and I will miss her. But she may want to become Kohaku's protector now. Either way, I know Sango would want me to offer Kirara the choice."
Kagome nodded.
InuYasha stirred slightly. He wasn't sure what to do. He had been planning on returning to the village himself, and tell Kohaku. Especially after Sango had approached him that night, telling him that both her and Kohaku wanted to add InuYasha to their family, have his name carved alongside theirs on their family wall. To offer him a permanent place he could call home. To know there was always a place waiting for him, a place of safety, quiet, and peace, if he ever needed it.
he understood, though, Miroku's need to do this. Miroku was still carrying a great deal of guilt over Sango's death.
"We can all go, if you want," the hanyou said lowly, surprising Kagome again.
Miroku shook his head, "Thank you, but no. I...would rather do this myself."
InuYasha nodded.