AN: Inuyasha does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form.
~*~
"Ne...Inuyasha?" Sango asked quietly, sitting beside the hanyou.
Inuyasha glanced over to her, before looking ahead again, "What is it, Sango?"
The taijiya looked at her hands, "You know...I'm glad..." She paused, stealing a glace at Inuyasha, before looking down again and continuing quietly, "I'm glad that...you were sealed to that tree fifty years ago."
That certainly got Inuyasha's attention. He looked at Sango, raising an eyebrow questionably.
Sango laughed nervously, not looking up, "I bet that sounds really strange."
"Yeah, you're right, it does." Inuyasha replied, still looking at her.
Well...if you hadn't been sealed...then you wouldn't be here now" Sango said, her voice growing quiet again.
"So what?" He said, placing his hands behind his head and lying back on the grass. "I could've been happy then...if that bastard Naraku hadn't shown up."
Sango's hands clutched the fabric of her kimono as she allowed her bangs to fall down and cover her eyes, "What do you mean 'then'? Couldn't you...couldn't you be happy here? Now?"
Inuyasha closed his eyes, "Maybe..."
"Maybe?" Sango repeated. She looked up and moved over slightly so she could see Inuyasha's face, "Maybe? How maybe?"
He opened one eye and looked at her. He was surprised to see that she had moved so close to him, but he shrugged it off, "I'm on my way to becoming a full youkai, aren't I? That'll make me happy."
A long moment of silence passed before Sango looked away and spoke up again, "Oh..." She stood up, letting her arms fall back to her sides. "I'm sorry I bothered you, Inuyasha. But there's something you need to know." She looked back at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, "I won't let you use the jewel to become a youkai." Then without waiting for his response, she walked back to the campsite.
Inuyasha sat up, watching her leave. "Well what the hell is her problem?" He wondered aloud. Shaking his head, he laid back again and closed his eyes.
At the campsite, Kagome was rummaging through her backpack, looking for something that they could eat for dinner. Miroku was busy trying to get a fire started. Both of them looked up as Sango returned. "Ah, Sango-chan. Did you find Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.
"Inuyasha no baka!" Was the taijiya's response, as she sat down beside Kirara and wiped a few tears away from her eyes.
Miroku and Kagome exchanged a confused look, then looked at Sango again. "Should we take that as a yes?" Miroku asked.
Sango crossed her arms and leaned back against the base of a tree, "Hmph!"
"Sango-chan..." Kagome started, but stopped as Miroku placed his hand on her shoulder, silently telling her to give the taijiya some time.
*
That night, when Inuyasha returned, both Kagome and Miroku looked at him, wondering what he had done to upset Sango.
It didn't take long for Inuyasha to notice either, "Well, what the hell are you looking at?!"
Before either had a chance to say anything, Kirara stood up and growled. A few seconds later, a crashing sound could be heard not far away.
Inuyasha instantly put his hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt, ready to fight, "Youkai." he said simply.
"I got it." Sango said, standing up. "There's no reason we all have to go." And before waiting for a response, she ran into the dark forest, Kirara following close behind.
"Sango-chan..." Kagome said quietly, knowing that her friend only wanted to go so she could take out her frustrations on the youkai. But they didn't even know how strong it was.
Miroku looked into the forest, thinking for a moment before speaking up, "She'll be fine. Sango's been doing this her whole life, she shouldn't have any trouble with one youkai."
"That youkai might have a shard of the Shikon no Tama!" Inuyasha said, already disappearing into the darkness.
Kagome shook her head slightly. If there had been a shard of the Jewel, she could've sensed it, and she would've told the others. Inuyasha knew that, so why'd he run off saying that there might be a shard involved? Kagome pondered this for a moment, and then decided not to say anything about it. "Come on, Miroku-sama, let's finish cooking this food. Maybe Inuyasha and Sango-chan will be able to work out whatever problems they have..."
*
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango called, throwing her weapon at the giant, snake like youkai. The boomerang-type weapon flew through the air and cut the youkai's tail off, before returning to the taijiya's hand. "Damn it!" Sango yelled, angry with herself for missing her target; the youkai's head. "Kirara! Go towards its head."
Obediently, Kirara flew towards the youkai's head, being careful to dodge the venom that the youkai spat at them.
"Foolissshhh human!" The youkai hissed, twisting its body slightly and whipping its head around, successfully hitting both Sango and Kirara.
The taijiya and her feline companion both hit the ground. Kirara lay motionless, and for a moment, Sango thought she was dead. But she realized that Kirara was still breathing, thankfully.
Knowing her companion would live, Sango quickly looked back to the youkai. It was slithering its way towards her, hissing with venom dripping off its fangs. Sango tried to stand but fell right back down, discovering that her fall had injured one of her ankles. She tried moving back, pushing herself back with her arms and one good leg, but she couldn't move quickly like that. And every second the youkai drew closer and closer to her.
The snake youkai was soon only a few feet from her. It lunged, and then...
"Sankon Tetsusou!" Inuyasha called, leaping out from behind Sango and slicing through the youkai with his claws. Not even waiting to see the remains of the youkai fall around him, Inuyasha turned to Sango and kneeled down beside her, "Sango...are you ok?"
Sango looked around at the various parts of the youkai lying around, then to Inuyasha. Slowly, she nodded, "H...hai."
By that time, Kirara was waking up again. Her crimson colored eyes surveyed the battlefield, before gazing to Inuyasha and Sango. Seeing that the danger was passed, she returned to her normal form and bounded over to her mistress and nuzzled her hand, giving a curious "Mew" in the process.
Sango looked down to her companion and patted her head, "Its okay, Kirara...Everything's alright now. Go on back to Kagome-chan and Houshi-sama. Let them know everything's ok."
Kirara looked at Inuyasha briefly, before turning around and running into the forest, back towards the campsite.
Once she was gone, Sango once again tried to stand. This time, she succeeded, but only by using her katana as a crutch to lean on. "We should...get back too." She said to Inuyasha, glancing at him.
The hanyou nodded, then picked her up and started walking back, "You can barely stand. It'll take all night if you try walking back on your own."
"I'm perfectly capable of walking back on my own, Inuyasha." Sango said, struggling against him slightly, "Put me down!"
Inuyasha's response was to tighten his hold on her, until she finally stopped. Defeated, she crossed her arms and looked away from him, "Wouldn't we get there faster if you ran?"
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own, "What were you thinking? You nearly got yourself killed Sango. If I hadn't gotten there when I did..." he trailed off, but she knew what he was thinking.
"I exterminate youkai. Its nothing new to me." She replied, "I don't know what happened tonight...I guess my mind wasn't on my work."
After that, they were both silent for a while. Finally Inuyasha spoke up again, in a quiet voice, "You know...I've been thinking...about this afternoon."
Sango shrugged slightly and said nothing, so Inuyasha continued, "I'm...I'm kind of glad...that I was sealed to that tree."
She suddenly looked at him, surprised, "Eh?"
He was looking straight ahead, a sad, small smile on his face, "Its true, I could've been happy then. And...I guess I can be happy here too. But after tonight...I realized one thing..."
He trailed off again. But she had to know what he was going to say, "What...what did you realize?"
He looked down at her, his voice barely above a whisper, "I don't want to be here if you're not here with me."
Shocked, Sango was silent for a few seconds. But then she smiled, "Inuyasha..." For the second time that day, she felt like crying, though this time she wanted to cry out of happiness.
He smiled as well. And then, without another word from either of them, they returned to the campsite.
~*~
AN: ^-^ Another Inu/San fic. There needs to be more of these out there. *nods* Anyways, please review. Until next time! Ja ne!