To my fairly non-existent fans: Thanks for coming back. I'm pretty new at this, but I appreciate all your reviews and feedback! Ai shiteru to all of you.

Disclaimer – I think we've all noticed that I don't own Inuyasha by this point because, if I did, Kagome would fall in love with Miroku, Kikyou would die, and Inuyasha would live a long happy life with some other hanyou chick. Oh yeah, and Sango would be reunited with Kohaku. But, I don't so things will go on as Takahashi-san has decreed.

It was a Kodak sort of day in Sengoku Jidai. Blue skies and birds singing sweetly in the trees. A young girls voice could be heard on the breeze... "And just WHO do you think YOU are?" Kagome was fuming as she climbed out of the well. She was pissed. "You could have at least helped me out before you started throwing your little tantrum. Really Inuyasha sometimes you're worse than Shippou!" Inuyasha pouted. "Am not." Kagome sighed. Some things never change.

"Kaede, I'm back. I brought some salve for those villagers who were injured in the fire." Kagome walked into the hut and was surprised to find no one there. ' I wonder where everyone's gone?' She knew she had seen Inuyasha take off into the forest again after she climbed out of the well. "Might as well go and find him. Dinner will be soon, although he'd probably smell ramen from miles ago, anyways." She walked slowly, enjoying the scenery. 'No need to rush,' she thought. 'Hold on... what's that sound? Inuyasha? But who could he be talking to? I doubt it's Miroku or Sango and I KNOW it's not Shippou.' She crept up. He obviously didn't want anyone to know if he was this far into the forest. Finally, a voice reached her. "Come with me Inuyasha. Why do you continue to stay here? Come, so we can be together..." There was a pause and Kagome peered out of her hiding place. She gasped as her eyes filled with tears. Inuyasha was gathered in Kikyou's embrace with lips pressed firmly against his. She released him and he simply stood there. Kagome stood up and he turned around. "Kagome..." She looked at him for a moment, then turned and ran.

'How could he...how?' She didn't pay any attention to where she was going as she stumbled through the woods. She couldn't even see through the tears in her eyes. So she was rather surprised when she ran into something solid. At first she figures it must be a tree or something and the pain would come any second, until she felt a pair off strong arms wrap around her. She struggled. "Get off me Inuyasha! Get OFF or I'll purify you straight to hell so fast even Kikyou won't be able to keep up!" "Well, you know, that is a pretty scary prospect, but the worst part is that Kikyou would eventually show up, and then, I suppose, one would be sort of stuck with her. Kikyou, hell, and eternity don't exactly mix very well for me." Kagome looked up to find herself staring into a pair of violet eyes. "Miroku...I thought you were...someone else." Kagome's eyes shimmered with tears. Miroku didn't need more than one guess to know what she had seen. She had never cried for any other reason. He knew all he could do was comfort her. He only said one word. "Inuyasha." It wasn't a question, but Kagome nodded nonetheless. He held her tighter as she buried her face in his robes and cried freely. He could feel her shaking as she sobbed and wished there was something more he could do.

As her crying died down, he continued to hold her and she made no move to pull away. "Kagome-sama, will you come with me?" She looked confused for a moment the whispered "Yes." Miroku held her hand as they walked, and she was glad for the contact. She soon heard the sound of water. Kagome gasped as they came upon a waterfall more beautiful than any she had seen before. It wasn't very high, but that only added to its charm. It fell into a small pond that was surrounded by small green ferns and vines. "Its gorgeous." Kagome whispered, "But why did you bring me here though?" Miroku looked into her eyes as though he was searching for something. She couldn't help but look into his. She knew he worried about the kazaana, but for a moment she glimpsed the suffering he kept inside. It was so easy to forget that he might die soon if they didn't defeat Naraku. He always joked around and made everyone laugh, but the truth was he could be killed by the wind tunnel at any moment. He finally broke his gaze and shrugged at her question. "I thought it might help you find some peace. It has certainly done so before for me." He took her hand again. He hadn't even noticed he had dropped it when he looked at her. He had had no idea that he could become so lost in her so easily and find it so hard to simply look away. He reminded himself that he could not afford to have anything more than a friendship with her. The last thing he needed was to fall in love and then lose her. "There's more," he said and led her to the side of the pond. He looked around for a moment, and then stepped onto a small flat stone jutting out of the water. "Follow me," he said, "but be careful, they're very slippery." He led her to each one, all the time careful that she didn't fall. 'What is this abou...' Kagome didn't finish her thought, because she suddenly found herself in a small cave behind the waterfall. It was just big enough to seat two comfortably, and was surprisingly dry considering that it was behind a waterfall. Kagome also noticed that it was easy enough to see out of, but she knew no one could see in as she had not noticed it herself when standing outside. Miroku sat down, and motioned for her to do the same. They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the sound of the water falling. Kagome suddenly broke the silence. "Why? I just don't understand. Why does he always go back to her?" She could feel the tears burning in the back of her throat again.

He could tell she was on the verge of crying. He got up and sat behind her so that he could wrap his arms around her. He could feel her trembling as she fought back the tears, and knew that she was suffering inside. He whispered, "Let go, Kagome" and simply held her as she poured out her heart.