The wind suddenly picked up where the group of four sat. Miroku gasped and ran from where he was. Sango jumped up to run after him. He noticed this and yelled back, "Inuyasha, get them away from here!" Inuyasha instantly grabbed both off the girls and held them in an iron grip. Tears slid down Sango's cheeks as she realized what was happening. She fought against Inuyasha's arms and screamed for Miroku. The fading sun glinted off tears that were forming in the corners of Miroku's eyes.
"Dammit, Inuyasha! Let me go!" Sango knew her time with Miroku was drawing to an end and helplessly watching it happen was the worst possibility. She wanted nothing more than to go and be sucked away in his wind tunnel with him. To be with him for eternity, yes a much better choice in her eyes rather than to live without him for even a moment.
"Sango, please stop!" Miroku yelled over deafening sound of his fast approaching death. "I'll always love you, but I'm begging you, forget about me!" She tried hard to hold back a scream and Inuyasha let her go. It was too late, there was no way she would be able to get close enough to him to be in danger before he was engulfed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she raced towards her fiancé. "Miroku! I can't! I love you too!" She caught the glimpse of a fleeting smile on his lips only seconds before his wind tunnel finally finished it's job.
Sango fell to her knees. Her mouth gapped and she just stared at the spot that Miroku had been previously occupying. She finally let out that scream; birds flew from the trees surrounding the area. Kagome ran over to Sango and pulled her into a hug. Inuyasha saw that Kagome was also crying. He took a deep breath and stood for a moment. He was never one to cry but he wasn't used to losing friends; he felt so usless, there was only one way he could have prevented this and that didn't happen: Naraku was still alive. Inuyasha bit down hard on his lower lip until he tasted the metallic flavor of his own blood.
"Shh, shhh." Kagome tried to comfort her friend but she knew better than to say that it was okay. It was far from okay. Sango sobbed into her own hands and was completely oblivious to everything around her. Through her fingers she saw a gapping hole in the ground where the monk had stood only moments before. Her body tore away from Kagome's embrace and she ran to the edge of the massive dent. The ground was loose and gave way under her foot and she slid to the bottom. Sango could hear voices calling her name and even though they were only a few feet away, they sounded miles away from her. Sango laid down in the center and curled up into a ball.
She felt like a child again, when she received the news that her mother had been killed. "Father when is Mother getting home?" A spirited twelve year old Sango asked her father. His brown eyes filled with tears and Sango became frightened, "Father? What's wrong?" He placed his hand on her cheek and sat down on one knee, "Sango, dear, the village didn't assess the demon problem as well as they should have." Sango blinked and shrugged her shoulders, "Then send some more exterminators." He sighed and continued, "We have Sango, but your mother... She won't make it back home." Sango gasped, her eyes filled up with tears, she ran from her father and into the hut. He sighed again and let her go.
Kirara jumped down beside Sango and comfortingly nuzzled her cheek. Sango gave the neko-youkai a small smile and rubbed her fur. Miroku's words made their way back into her mind, "I'll always love you, but I'm begging you, forget about me!" A painful sob escaped her throat and she thought, 'I could never forget about you, Miroku!' Suddenly she missed his lecherous squeeze on her rear.
Inuyasha walked up to Kagome and engulfed her into a comforting embrace. She cried into his arms and began to incoherently mumble. Inuyasha buried his nose in her ebony hair, inhaling her scent; she smelled faintly of raspberries and vanilla. This moment made him realize how much he had been taking her for granted. He silently vowed to make it up to her, somehow. "Come on," He quietly said to Kagome, "Let's give Sango some time alone." She nodded in his haori, so he gathered her up in his arms and walked away from the scene.
It was more than she could take. Sango had lost her entire family, her brother was nothing but a minion, and now her fiancé was sucked into oblivion. All because of Naraku. She growled and forced herself to stand. Naraku had targeted her enough, she was sick of it. Kirara transformed and Sango hopped on top of her, there was only one way she could take care of her problem. Sango had Kirara land at camp and she grabbed her Hiraikotsu.
"Inuyasha, Kagome," Sango turned to them, her eyes were still filled with tears but she also had a frighteningly determined look in her eyes as well. "I'm going back to my village." She watched as Inuyasha cradled Kagome and was slightly jealous: The only thing in the world she really wanted right now was to be held by Miroku. "I'm afraid that I'll have to travel on my own for now."
Kagome gasped and ran from Inuyasha to Sango, sniffling she asked, "But why Sango? Please don't!"
"Kagome, I have to. I want to make sure the Hiraikotsu isn't damaged and I need to pay my respects to the graves of my people." Sango avoided Kagome's eyes and wiped her own tears from her cheeks.
"You know what I mean!" Kagome sobbed and wrapped her arms around Sango's neck. "What about defeating Naraku?!"
Sango sighed, "Kagome, you just don't understand how personal this is for me." Her voice became iced over with anger. "You haven't lost anyone at all to Naraku. I lost my entire family and now Miroku."
Kagome mentally slapped herself for what she had said. Of course Sango wouldn't forget about getting rid of Naraku, that was just stupid. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I'm leaving." Sango nodded to Inuyasha who had come up to retrieve Kagome She hugged Kagome back and turned to walk away.
"Be careful Sango." Was all Inuyasha could say. He considered his loss to Naraku and Sango's. Kikyo had been killed and he had been sealed to a tree for fifty years, but Kikyo was walking with the living again and the jewel had caused him to meet Kagome. He felt slightly like had he gained more than lost. Sango on the other hand had lost all of her friends and family, she now lost her fiancé, and gained nothing. Kohaku walked with the living too but he was under Naraku's control.
Kirara transformed and Sango climbed onto her back again. Once they were in the air, Sango buried her face in Kirara fur and began to cry again. It was all she could do to keep from crying in front of Inuyasha and Kagome even more. She felt like her heart had shattered into millions of pieces. Her very soul ached.
Inuyasha stroked Kagome's hair as she continued to cry. He sighed, this woman had all of him. He knew that Kikyo was still around, somewhere, but he had finally sorted out how he felt about the two of them. They were supposed to be basically the same people, but they were hardly alike. Of course, Inuyasha still loved Kikyo but not like a lover anymore, more like his desire to protect her was his biggest downfall. Kagome on the other hand, she had saved him in so many ways that he was no longer able to count them. She had turned his black and white world into one filled with color.
He sighed lightly and felt Kagome's fingers tangle themselves in his hitoe. He pulled her closer and tried to calm her, finally her sobbing decreased and her breathing returned to normal. He smiled very slightly, the girl had fallen asleep. She looked so fragile and he wanted this moment to never end. Inuyasha gently pulled her closer to him; more than anything he want to tell her how he felt but he couldn't with Naraku still on the loose. That would just put her in more danger than ever before. He sighed again a knew that this would be the closest that he could get without putting her life in even more danger.
The scent of Sango's and Kagome's tears was still floating in the air. Inuyasha wanted to cry himself, but he was afraid that Kagome would awaken and get worried. His only true adult male friend was now gone. Inuyasha clenched his teeth together in order to control his sudden urge to jump up and hunt down Naraku at that very moment. Naraku would pay, for everything.
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Author's Note: Okay now I know it sucks that Miroku is dead. I'm a fan of the San/Mir pairing but I wanted to take this story another way. Review please, but don't flame, make it constructive even if you don't like my first chapter. And I know, Shippo wasn't in this chapter at all… oh well, Rumiko forgets about him often as well. It actually made me laugh when I read back through the chapter and saw that I had left Shippo out completely. Don't worry, I have a plan and he'll be back for now… he's on vacation or something! Use your imagination. D