Author's Note: Written for Aamalie's Friendship Fic Challenge over on LJ. I picked the Inuyasha+Sango pairing... though if you squint, you'll see some unrequited love in here. (Not saying whose it is. Could be both for all I know. *innocent smile*)

Home is not where you live but where they understand you. ~ Christian Morgenstern

"Kagome is safe."

Sango wondered how was it she was both happy and sad, hearing it from Inuyasha; happy because her friend was not – as she secretly feared – dead or hurt; sad because she was not there. With them, with Inuyasha.

"... Inuyasha?"

He, with his stoic face, pushed past them gently and vanished into the forest. She opened her mouth to call him but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Let him be for now," Miroku said softly. "He needs to be alone."

No, she thought, even as her mouth voiced agreement and her body followed him in the opposite direction. No one ever wants to be truly alone.

And foolishly, Sango kept her words unspoken and decided to let him be.

Even as Sango kept herself busy with the preparations for a new life, her thoughts constantly strayed to Inuyasha. That look – that mask – of the determined man grimly hiding his feelings; alone again after everything he had been through.

The hooded gold eyes which were hurting so much.

She, in a moment of impulse, put aside the basket she had been packing and went to the kitchen. A bento (she remembered how to prepare them, she had seen Kagome carrying them many times) was thrown together with the leftovers of lunch and she ventured out into the sun.

Sango knew where he would be.

Resting her small burden on the worn wood of the Bone Eaters' Well, she looked around.

"Inuyasha?"

When the silence had dragged on for too long, a muffled thump signaled his reluctant appearance.

"What?" he asked sulkily, sparing her a brief glare for disturbing his solitude.

She held out the wrapped bento between them, bridging the gap she suddenly realized had sprung up. "You must be hungry – I brought you lunch."

Inuyasha eyed it. "I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not hungry," he stubbornly repeated.

Sango frowned. "Well, I'm not taking it back." The slayer set the bento back on the edge of the well and made to return to Kaede's hut. "You can eat it later."

He snorted, and was gone in a blur of red.

The next morning (once she had made up her mind to start something, Sango was determined to finish it) she brought another bento to the well.

She could not help but to smile at the sight that greeted her; the bento from yesterday, practically licked clean and rewrapped neatly in its carrying cloth, set in the exact same spot she had placed it yesterday.

"Inuyasha?"

No answering grunt. Yet she knew he was there; he could not possibly be elsewhere.

"There's more daikon in this one. Kagome-chan once told me you liked that."

Sango set down the fresh bento and carried away the old one.

This time, instead of leaving immediately after delivering his food, Sango leaned against the well, looking into its depths. He emerged without fanfare from the branches of Goshinboku; Inuyasha unwrapped the bento and noisily began to eat. The hanyou paused in between mouthfuls, glancing at her. "What're you doing?"

"Thinking."

He grunted through a mouthful of rice. "What the hell for?"

"Kagome-chan's world... I wonder how it's like." Sango pictured it in her mind's eye. "I hope she's fine there."

"Of course. Don't be stupid." Inuyasha wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "She's lived there her entire life."

She sat serenely at the base of the well and watched him devour the rest of his meal. When he had licked the last morsel of food up and set aside the box, she picked it up and rose to go.

"We miss her too."

"... Keh."

Miroku woke, still a little groggy. Warm afternoon sunlight filtered in through the shuttered window; he had slept through the whole morning – but even then felt no inclination to get up. Smiling lazily, he put out his hand and found nothing but a warm depression where she had been.

"Sango?"

She was already up, shrugging into her kosode and tying the obi.

"Sango, where are you going?" he asked, trying his best not to pout.

"To pack a bento for Inuyasha," she answered. Sango reached for her hair ribbon but changed her mind, letting her unbound hair spill over her shoulders. Miroku rose as well and dressed hastily. Crawling on his knees, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind as she smoothed out her clothes, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

"I'm never going to get used to this," he commented.

"What – not being slapped for this?" Sango joked.

"Partly." He winked. "But mostly to waking up with you."

She tilted her head to kiss him. "Flatterer."

Miroku's contented smile turned lecherous and he began trailing kisses down her neck. "I aim to please," he muttered against her skin between kisses.

"Miroku!" She swatted at him, laughing. "Not now, you pervert! I need to deliver the bento to Inuyasha – "

"Don't bother," interrupted a familiar voice, "I'm already here."

He stood, framed in the doorway, one hand on Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha sniffed the air and scowled, stepping in and settling himself beside the hearth. "Though it seems I came not a minute too soon." He glanced at the couple's disheveled attire and a patch of colour brightened his cheeks; he covered up his embarrassment with a contemptuous snort.

Sango blushed and squirmed out of her husband's embrace with a squeak. Miroku smiled and moved to sit down opposite his friend, not even bothering to adjust his attire. "It's good to see you too, Inuyasha."

"Yeah, whatever," the hanyou exclaimed. "I'm only here because it's a waste of time for Sango to keep bringing food over there."

"Whatever the reason, we're glad you came." A properly attired Sango eventually emerged from the kitchen and set down the trays of food before her husband and her friend. She nodded in agreement with her husband, determinedly not meeting the hanyou's eye.

One ear twitched in her direction but Inuyasha said nothing.

"It's a bit early, Inuyasha," said Sango in surprise; her sewing lay, forgotten, on the tatami.

"Yeah, whatever." Her visitor eyed the mound of cloth and snorted. "You, sewing?"

"I only ever learned to do repairs," she explained. "I'm learning how to make clothes now. It's only right, now that..."

The hanyou's eyes moved from the sewing to the faintest hint of a bump showing in her kimono. "Keh. That bouzu didn't waste any time, did he?"

"Inuyasha!"

He ignored her faint blush and parked himself against one wall of the hut. "Your new place's pretty spacious – you really going to give Miroku that huge family he wants?"

Sango went into the kitchen and began cooking the rice. "We haven't thought that far ahead," she confessed. "We're taking each day as it comes."

When she heard no scathing retort, no acidic reply, she ventured out tentatively. He was sitting in his usual stance; arms folded in his sleeves, legs crossed, Tetsusaiga leaning against one shoulder. However, his eyes were far away, gazing off into the middle distance. Instinctively Sango knew she had hit a sore spot.

She crossed the room and sat beside him; Inuyasha showed no sign of being aware of her presence.

"It's alright to grieve," Sango whispered. "We miss her – but talking about it helps relieve some of the pain."

"She's not gone forever," he snapped. "Stop talking about Kagome as though she's dead."

The fury passed as quickly as it had arisen and the gold eyes became wistful. "She'll come back," the hanyou said empathetically. "And if she doesn't, I'll wait for her."

Sango said nothing; to her, words would have seemed cheap. She responded by moving closer to him, a silent companion in shared grief.

She stormed furiously out of the house she shared with Miroku, not caring where she went so long as it was away from him. Irrepressible lecher as he was, he had flirted with the village girls. Maybe he had indeed gone too far this time, maybe she was grossly overreacting – Sango did not care. All she could think about was the fact she was bearing his child and he was flirting with other women.

She was puzzled to find herself underneath Goshinboku. It was a magnificent sight; spring blossoms adorning the branches almost withered away by the summer heat.

"You shouldn't be out here, Sango," came the gruff unspoken concern.

"None of your business."

Sango eased herself down amongst the great tree's roots – not an easy task with her swollen belly. She was suddenly exhausted from the exertion of getting there.

"Miroku up to his old tricks?" By now, she should not have been surprised he read her like a book. "Still, it's not like you to get this upset. It's hardly the first time he's done it."

Silence greeted him; he knew she was valiantly holding back her tears.

"... Fine, I was kidding. It's not Miroku's fault this time; you're completely overreacting. Must be the kid." Getting no response, Inuyasha perched himself on an overhanging root closer to her and folded his arms.

"Hey. Relax. At least you two still get to see each other."

Sango forgot her anger, her jealousy, her hurt, and turned tear-filled eyes on him. "Inuyasha..."

"That's all I'm saying," he muttered awkwardly. A clawed hand reached out and patted hers; a rough, not-often-shown side of the hanyou revealed to Sango in that brief moment.

She accepted the sympathy and reassurance for what it was, smiling gratefully at Inuyasha even as she wiped away the tears.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

"Feh." It was soft, accompanied by tinted cheeks.

Sango wobbled to her feet as he watched, a growing look of alarm in his eyes.

"Can you even walk, swollen like that?"

"Certainly," she said loftily.

"Huh. Crazy woman."

She ignored him and walked towards the sound of Miroku's anxious calls.

On days when Miroku was out on extermination missions, Sango often took the girls out of the house for some fresh air – and more often than not, she would find Inuyasha seated nearby, looking as though he belonged there.

The twins adored him, especially the pair of white ears perched on top of his head, much to Inuyasha's dismay and Sango's amusement. No matter how the hanyou snapped and snarled, they were persistent in their fascination with them (and their mother knew he enjoyed the ear-rubbing as much as they did).

"I'm glad you're here."

He cocked an ear in Sango's direction but spared her his customary reply; both infants were sound asleep, nestled in his lap. She shifted her weight, reaching out to smooth a wisp of hair from her daughter's forehead.

"Your kids aren't even a year old yet and Miroku's got you pregnant again. There's no way a mere human can handle so many brats."

She laughed. "Thank you anyway."

Miroku chose that time to return, the telltale jingling of his shakujou announcing his presence. The sound quickly stopped as he took in the scene greeting him.

"Miroku," she said eagerly. "Welcome home."

"Sango," he murmured, kneeling to kiss her. Inuyasha snorted and looked away.

She broke off the kiss sooner than he – and she – would have liked, ever mindful of the hanyou sitting not that far away.

"Later," Sango explained under her breath to her husband, "not now."

He understood; with a small nod, he relieved Inuyasha of his burden and took the girls to their bed.

Life had settled into a steady routine; the twins were starting to learn to walk, Sango and Miroku had welcomed another child into their growing family, Inuyasha was spending more time away from the well and slowly returning back to life. Now and then, he would smile.

Sango knew he did visit the well regularly; she expected nothing less of her friend. It would have been crass of her to refer to it specifically, but she comforted him when he showed up for meals with a smile, a gentle touch, a look of understanding.

She wondered if he ever noticed.

That day had come like any other; she and Miroku busy with the laundry while Inuyasha grudgingly (but secretly willingly) entertained the twins.

Then Sango had read the shudder of tension that passed through his body.

Could it be...?

Evidently, the same thing ran through his mind. Inuyasha disengaged himself from her daughters and vanished into the forest.

Sango barely remembered what happened next; she and Miroku hastily gathering up the children, Satoshi's gurgling on her back as she jogged after him, the squeals of her daughters as they bounced in their father's arms...

And then seeing Inuyasha standing beside the well, Kagome by his side.

The shock at seeing her best friend again – without realising it, Inuyasha's accusation had been correct, she had been treating Kagome as being dead – was somewhat tempered by overwhelming joy.

Kagome was back, and her new family could be complete.

The next thing she saw was the expression in Inuyasha's eyes; they no longer looked lost.

He was home.

The same radiance was in Kagome's eyes.

She was home.

And for the briefest of moments, before Miroku wrapped an arm around her, Sango wondered whether Kagome would ever realise how very lucky she was.