A/N: Good day to y'all. I was just listening to this song by Next Phaze (an uber-sexy R&B Filipino-American singers), and I felt inspired to write a story about Sango and Miroku. I just started typing, and this is what came out. I just needed to let it all out! So if it's not that good, I'm so very sorry, but it is my fic and I needed to vent out… hehe.
Oh, and Miroku's explanation of how they defeated Naraku came purely from my own imagination, since I haven't seen the ending of the anime yet. So if there's any inconsistency, please bare in mind it was only for the purpose of this fic.
Disclaimer: I don't know if anyone had done this before, but I haven't seen anything yet so MEH. The plot belongs to me, and the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. And the song "I Sure Remember" by Next Phaze does not belong to me either… Download the song while you're reading this please!
Now on with the story, just don't kill me as you imagine Miroku as an old man. –grins sheepishly-
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CAN YOU REMEMBER? I SURE REMEMBER.
By Kristin-a-dette
Miroku, the monk, smiled as he held his beloved's hands gingerly. Her once smooth and flawless hands were now littered with wrinkles and tiny age spots, but he didn't care. He still thought they were beautiful, for it showed she had been through a lot of years filled with life lessons, adventures and love. His hands were no better; but they still remember how comfortable they fit with hers.
Sango…
She was dying, but not because of some sort of disease or demon attacks. Old age had finally caught up with them, and this was something that was unavoidable and both a blessing and a curse for the couple.
"Houshi-sama…" she managed to say.
He smiled wryly, tears blinding his eyes. After all these years of being together, she still called him that. He remembered asking her once why she still does that, and she answered: "Because I got used to it now." He remembered laughing at that statement, but he also felt a little hurt. He knew what she wasn't saying. She still doesn't trust him enough. It was only the times when she got very angry or extremely pleased at him that she would utter his first name. But it didn't matter to him now, for it was her special name for him.
"Houshi-sama, you pervert. Why are you still flirting with the other girls in the village?" Sango had closed her eyes, and a tear fell. Her voice choked with raspy emotion and Miroku could feel his heart breaking into two.
Of course, she couldn't remember him now.
She turned back to him, and smiled weakly. "That Houshi-sama, he's always making me angry. But… I was so scared that I might lose him, especially with his Wind Tunnel curse. I wonder, I wonder if we managed to kill Naraku… and saved him and my brother…" She looked at her hands and blinked with astonishment. "Are these my hands? They… they look old. Maybe I'm possessed?"
Miroku smiled. This was what he came for. Unlike Sango, he could still remember everything.
"I remember the day when you said hello
With a smile on my face I said hi.
Oh, it felt so good like waterfalls,
Fallin' deep within inside of me."
"I'm here to tell you a story, Sango." He began.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
Unbeknownst to him, a single tear fell from his amethyst eyes. She always asks the same question everyday.
"I'm Miroku, Sango. Don't you remember?"
"I remember the day when we first met girl,
Three hours advance there I was.
But I didn't mind,
Waiting at all,
As long as eventually you'd come."
She laughed with effort. "Impossible. Miroku isn't you. He's not here. He's outside asking women to bear his child or conning lords out of their money."
He smiled. "But Miroku got older, and he's right here standing in front of you."
"He got older and became a hundred years old?" She asked skeptically. He smirked. Of course he wasn't a hundred years old. He just felt like one because of worrying too much over her.
"Impossible," she was still saying. "That means… he managed to get rid of his curse?"
His Sango was always intelligent, albeit old age and the memory loss of their many years together.
"That's right. We defeated Naraku."
She blinked. She took this as surprising news. "We did?"
"I sure remember,
Can you remember?
When you came along
And proved I was wrong
(That there is love)"
"Yes, it was the final battle. Inuyasha, Kagome, you and I were injured badly. We were losing our strength, and then suddenly Sesshomaru and Kouga came to help us out. This motivated Inuyasha to give all his strength. We finally, finally defeated Naraku."
"I sure remember,
Back in September.
When I fell for you,
And changed all my views."
Her eyes were now brimming with tears, her hands clutching tightly with his. "What happened next?"
"Kikyo tried to kill Inuyasha, but Kagome stepped in, taking the brunt of her attacks. She was almost dead, but seeing Inuyasha ignoring her and tending to Kagome, Kikyo finally decided that she has to let go of him. She gave up the part of the spirit that she took from Kagome before and gave it to Kagome. Then she finally left our world."
Sango took this in, and then whispered, "What about… Kohaku?"
Miroku hesitated. This was the part of the story that he always struggled with, for fear of her reaction. "Kohaku… well, he was finally free of Naraku. You were happy that you will be together again, but… you know he was only living a false life. You decided to take off the shard from his back and give it to Kagome, saying that you don't want him to be a walking corpse, unable to come to terms with what he'd done with your father and friends. You want him to have a peaceful death."
She started sobbing. "Yes, I know… I always knew we could never live normally anymore. I always knew that. But I still couldn't stop hoping…" He let her cry for awhile, his heart breaking as he listen to her. Finally, when she stopped crying, he whispered out:
"Sango, do you want to hear what happened to you and… I? I mean, Miroku?"
"I remember that kiss by the bay,
Feeling cold I wrapped you with these arms.
Acting like we're alone with no care we went on,
Waking up next to you at dawn"
She blushed, and lowered her lids. "Was there a happy ending?"
He grinned, showing perfect teeth despite his age. He could feel a crick on his legs, but pain was no matter to him as long as Sango remembers. "It depends. To me, I mean Miroku, it was a happy ending for him. But for Sango, who knows if it was."
"I'm sure it was…" she barely whispered.
"I remember those times when we traveled,
Far away to places unknown.
We didn't care as long as we were together,
We were so happy then even now."
"Well, Miroku finally was free of the Wind Tunnel, and he was very happy. He looked for you, but you were nowhere to be found. You were the first thing on his mind when the Wind Tunnel was gone, and now that you were missing he felt unhappy and desperate. He wanted to tell you that he loves you. Then he saw you crying your heart out in the fields, and his heart was breaking. So he did the only thing he could, and that was to hug you and soothe your broken heart. Miroku loves you, but he was scared that you will go after your brother. But you didn't, because you want to live with Miroku. You thought that was selfish of you, but it wasn't. Because then you will leave Miroku, and that was selfish. Miroku loves you too much to let you go, he knew he was being selfish, but he couldn't. Not without a fight."
"I sure remember,
Can you remember?
When you came along
And proved I was wrong
(That there is love)."
Sango fell into silence. Miroku waited, tortured with emotions. Then she spoke. "But I asked him if he'll ever cheat on me and he didn't reply. I know he will, you know."
For a second, Miroku felt hurt. He felt hurt because he was hurting Sango and she thought that much about him. Even now, he wanted her pleased with him.
"I sure remember,
Back in September.
When I fell for you,
And changed all my views."
"Nonsense, Miroku would never cheat on you. Because if he did he will lose his one and only love. Then who would bear his children?"
She laughed. "No one, because he's a pervert."
He grinned. "He is, but he's Sango's pervert."
"That doesn't sound right, but he is. He's mine…" she said dreamily. Miroku knew that he had to end it soon; she was going to fade away from him again.
"So did I get married?"
"Of course, and you had lots of children."
"Really?"
Miroku smirked and looked out the window. He watched the children chattering nonstop beside their parents, who had their looks taken from him and Sango. "OK, maybe not twenty. But we had six lovely children together, and we named them after our friends. The twenty and more children were made up by our offsprings. We have thirty lovely grandchildren, Sango."
"I sure remember,
Can you remember?
When you came along
And proved I was wrong
(That there is love)."
Sango closed her eyes in content. "I'm glad that there is a happy ending."
"Yes," he smiled. Then his face turned impassive. He knew that today was different from any other day. He could feel the air changing in the winds. Sango is going to leave him today.
"What happened to Shippo and Kagome and Inuyasha?"
"Well, Inuyasha decided to stay as a half-demon and live in the same village as us while Kagome comes back time to time to our world, then finally after she graduated 'college' she came to marry Inuyasha. Shippo decided to become useful and traveled for awhile, coming back with a litter of his own children and a beautiful fox-demon wife. That little no-good kid. He finally grew up."
He stopped talking and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling. Her long and still glossy gray hair crowned her face, and for a moment Miroku saw the ghost of her youth, but it didn't matter. He would still be in love with her no matter what and won't stop getting tired of looking at her.
He just hoped that she would finally remember him.
She opened her eyes and looked at him for a long time. Taking a deep breath, she raised a hand to his face, caressing it lightly. Miroku closed his eyes and enjoyed the tiny tingle of her touch, thinking ruefully how even though he's already old enough to be a grandfather, he could still feel the small passionate heat that can only come from her.
"Miroku… you're Miroku…"
He snapped open his eyes. Did he hear wrong? "You— you remember me?"
She smiled. "You're old now."
He laughed. "Yes."
"Miroku, I don't think I'm going to last any longer."
He leaned softly against her hand. "I know…" he whispered.
Her eyes blurring, she put down her hand and he stared at her. She gave him a smile that made his heart beat faster. Her smile was filled with love and warmth, and it made him want to stay like that forever.
Taking her final breath, she whispered, "I love you, Miroku, my Houshi-sama…"
Then she closed her eyes.
"I sure remember,
Can you remember?
When you came along
And proved I was wrong
(That there is love)."
Miroku stared at her unmoving body, and leaned down. He cried silently, not moving an inch. "Sango, don't worry, I'll be with you soon."
The screen from the tiny hut opened, and a woman with flowing silver hair was standing with a man with the same hair appearance and dog ears.
"Is she…?" Kagome whispered out.
Miroku turned to look at them, tears filling his eyes. Kagome understood and turned towards Inuyasha, sobbing.
Inuyasha rubbed her shoulders and then looked at Miroku. "I'm sorry, Miroku."
Miroku smiled, and replied, "What is there to be sorry for? It's just another beginning for her in the next life. I know she'll be waiting for me."
Inuyasha nodded while still holding on to Kagome. He gave a gruff grunt; his voice filled with emotion and told her, "Just keep on crying. Heaven knows you already cried enough when you were with her earlier."
Miroku turned around; he still didn't want to leave Sango's side. He traced a finger to her face and lied his head down beside hers, and when his children came to get him a minute later, they saw their old father smiling sadly with tears running down his face. They cried as they looked upon their mother, but Miroku didn't move.
Because after all, it wasn't the end of their adventures together. It was just another phase.
"I remember every moment we've shared,
I'll give to you all I have.
Because you're incredible,
Truly wonderful,
Amazing woman of all."
"I love you, Sango…" he whispered.
THE END.
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-sniff, sniff- OK, this fic made me kinda emotional... Did it made you cry? Or at least mad enough to give me a kick in the bum-bum? I'm sorry but I sincerely hope you liked my fic! Did you feel like it's the same as the movie "The Notebook"? Don't worry, I was thinking about the movie while I was writing this, so it's kinda smiliar. Thanks for reading! If you want, review and get mad at me. LOL.
Kristin-a-dette
