A/N: I'm reposting this story because the reviews weren't showing, just counting. If you had favorited or reviewed, I'm sorry :(
So, this fic was an experiment of sorts! It was written for the seventh day of the second Feudal Promps Week on tumblr, and the prompt was Kagsan: from friends to lovers. I wanted to follow canon and keep Kagome and Sango as in character as possible, so this will be a slow build (which means I didn't just strip them of their love for Inuyasha and Miroku).
"Papa," Mai called suddenly, tugging at her father's pants. "Who's that woman gathering flowers over there?"
Hajime stopped walking, creasing his brow. Upon seeing the woman his daughter spoke of, his expression softened—saddened. "She's a priestess, my love."
Mai frowned, tilting her head. "But she seems so sad!" The girl turned to look at her father. "Why? She's so pretty, and the day is nice… "
Hajime smiled at her words, his eyes warming. "You are right, but sometimes…" He sighed, observing the priestess as she stood up with a bouquet of blue forget-me-nots. "Sometimes, that's not enough."
The woman smiled briefly at them before walking away.
"The last one was a little sad, too," Mai remarked. "Are they always like this?"
Hajime blinked, taken aback by Mai's observant nature. His eyes roamed her face before turning to where the priestess had been. "We've had sad priestesses here, it's true," he conceded. "But not because they are priestesses." Hajime exhaled, feeling the years and the wisdom weighing on him. "It's because they are women who lost someone they loved."
Sango couldn't remember the day Miroku died very well. She could recall a few inconsequential things: it had been sunny outside, Inuyasha had been in a hurry when she passed him by on her way back from the river, her sixteen-year-old daughters were pestering her fourteen-year-old son… and she remembered hearing Miroku's coughing when she was five feet away from home.
Sango dropped her basket of washed laundry and hurried to his side, her chest heaving and her vision blurring.
"You know what is happening, my dear," he said, smiling up at her. "You've seen it before."
"I-It's too soon!" She argued—pleaded.
"I'm sorry." He was fighting to keep his smile on. "Our sixteen years of happiness will have to do."
Everything after that was a blur to her. Someone helped her stand (her son, maybe?) and screamed for help. Someone held her hands and made her step away from the futon. Kagome was suddenly inside her house, leaning over Miroku to make sure—make sure.
The next thing she knew, Inuyasha was carrying Miroku outside to bury him.
It occurred to Sango that they should have buried Miroku in Master Mushin's temple, near his father. Maybe she phrased it, because she distinctly remembered the village chief saying it wouldn't be wise to travel such a long distance with the body.
She was thirty-five.
Strangely, Sango remembered the day Inuyasha died with absolute clarity. It had been three years after Miroku passed away, which meant Kagome and Inuyasha had also been married for sixteen years.
At sunset, her twin daughters entered the village supporting the injured half-demon, one on each side of him, yelling and crying. This time, Sango dropped her basket of fruits.
The girls said they were ambushed by a swarm of scorpion demons. They had all gone immediately for Inuyasha, piercing his body. As expected of him, the half-demon killed them all, but not before a high dose of lethal poison was inside him.
Sango's years of demon slaying told her there was no hope. He should have taken an antidote immediately afterwards; there was only so much demon blood could do.
She waited outside Kagome's hut as they said their goodbyes, praying she was wrong about what she knew in her heart would happen soon—in half an hour, at most.
When Kagome reemerged from inside, she looked Sango straight in the eye. Tears were running down her cheeks and neck, wetting her miko robes. "He thanked me," she mumbled. "Can you believe it?"
Sango covered her mouth with her hand, feeling the cold grip of grief tighten around her throat. Why does it never stop?
Yasuko and Akio, Inuyasha and Kagome's children, passed by their mother to make sure—make sure.
They buried him beside Miroku under his favorite tree; the one which had a single branch, few leaves and no flowers.
No scorpion demons ever appeared after that day. Some said Inuyasha's strength scared them off; others said they saw a demon lord with long white hair striking their nest until there wasn't a single rock left.
Sango and Kagome spent their afternoons together, talking exasperatedly about the children, their chores and other mundane things. They laughed at each other as if they were still girls, the future were bright, and Kagome had just come back through the well. Sango helped her gathering herbs, welcoming the exertion as much as the conversation.
"Mana and Jun haven't shown up for three weeks," Sango complained. "I just want to know if they're alive! Really, Kagome-chan, is that so much to ask?"
"I'll say." Kagome sighed. "Akio is the same."
"At least you know he's with Lord Sesshomaru," Sango tried to console her.
"I guess you're right." Kagome smiled. "I miss him, is all. He reminds me of Inuyasha."
Sango thought Akio was a strange boy. He avoided gatherings and spent his days trying to master his father's sword—which barely managed to transform for him, seeing as he was only a quarter-demon.
I can see it, alright, she thought.
"Minus the brashness, that is," Sango remarked. "Akio was always a very polite boy." Then, she gave Kagome a sly smile, whispering, "Are you sure he's not Lord Sesshomaru's, Kagome-chan?"
Kagome cackled at that, blushing. "My God, Sango-chan!" She snorted. "As if!"
"I missed your laugh," Sango said, putting her hand on Kagome's shoulder and smiling tenderly. "It's been too long, Kagome-chan."
Kagome put her own hand over hers. "We'll still share a lot of laughs, Sango-chan." She sighed contentedly. "We're still here, after all."
They always ended their days in a hot spring nearby, soaking and relaxing in the water. Sango felt more like herself whenever she was with Kagome, and she could tell the priestess felt the same way.
When Kichiro got married and the twins left permanently to the old Slayers' Village, Sango's hut became depressingly empty. She wasn't accustomed to loneliness; even after she'd lost her family, she had been almost immediately welcomed into Inuyasha's group. She hadn't had the time to learn how to live alone, and she didn't think she ever would now.
Not at forty!
She tried asking Kagome a few times if they could live together, but always thought better of it. Yasuko still lived in Kagome and Inuyasha's hut, so Sango knew she would have to be the one moving over. Even though they had been best friends for most their lives, she felt like she would be intruding in Kagome's home.
Sango didn't expect Kagome to make the offer herself, during one of their afternoons.
"It must be awful lonely for you, Sango-chan! Yasuko wouldn't mind having you with us… She idolizes you." Kagome giggled.
Sango blushed at that, averting her eyes. "I guess living with me will kill her hero worship." Then, she touched Kagome's hand. "Really, Kagome-chan, I'm embarrassed at how transparent I must be. I don't want to be a bother!"
"Nonsense!" Kagome huffed. "It will be fun! I feel like I'll be living in a sorority house. Better late than never!"
Sango blinked at her. "What's that?"
Their days were happy and full of life. Sango and Yasuko got along pretty well, and she could tell it pleased Kagome. They took turns making lunch and dinner, cleaning the hut and working in the garden. During the first months, Sango went to her old hut every day just to sit there—and remember.
Rummaging through the things she'd left behind, she ended up finding the beads Miroku used to wear around his wrist to contain the Wind Tunnel.
I haven't seen these in years, she mused. How strange… They used to be so important.
Recalling how Kagome wore Inuyasha's subjugation beads around her neck, Sango decided to also put Miroku's on her wrist.
She didn't go back there on the next day.
The three women spent a year living together. After Yasuko got married to a village boy, she moved to the valley below, leaving Kagome and Sango alone on the Goshinboku hill.
Sango's feet were hurting after a long day of gathering herbs and accompanying Kagome as the priestess took care of the sick.
"I'm too old for this, Kagome-chan." She sighed, lying on her sleeping pallette near the firepit. "I won't go with you anymore."
"You always say that." Kagome snorted. "And since when is forty-two old, Sango-chan? Women in the Modern Era are still kicking when they're our age!"
"Kicking what, their shoes off?" Sango lifted one eyebrow at the ceiling. "I have slayed demons, helped bring Naraku down, collected endless jewel shards, married a virile man and had three kids." She huffed. "I think I'm good, Kagome-chan."
Kagome laughed at that, leaving their dinner in favor of retrieving one of her many pots of ointment. "I have just the thing you need!" She sat down at the foot of the bed. "Relax, Sango-chan, and enjoy it, because I won't be doing this every day!"
Kagome's calloused hands worked their magic on Sango's aching feet. The former demon slayer sighed contentedly, feeling warm and sleepy.
"Good?" Kagome asked. Sango nodded, not wanting to open her eyes just yet, and Kagome laughed. "Well, I could use some help with my neck, too… All the time I spend leaning over plants isn't doing it any favors!"
Sango propped herself on her elbows and blinked at the priestess. "Well, I could always try helping you." She gulped. "But I don't think I'll be delicate… " She sat up and patted the space in front of her.
Kagome went over and sat facing the fire. She opened her miko garb and let it fall to her waist, passing Sango the pot over her shoulder. The two of them stayed in silence as Sango worked, apologizing when Kagome occasionally stiffened.
Sango felt her face warming up by the second. There's nothing to be embarrassed about! She told herself. You've seen Kagome-chan naked countless times!
A voice in the back of her mind teased her: so why does this feel different?
She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Kagome's hand closing over one of hers. "You're kind of hurting me, Sango-chan," she said, sounding strained. "Is something the matter?"
There was a pregnant pause in which Sango retrieved her hands.
"I don't know," she murmured pensively. Kagome turned around at that, her brow creased. The light of the fire illuminated her hair like a halo. "I think I'm just lonely, Kagome-chan." Liar.
They gazed at each other for a long moment. Kagome's slight frown slowly vanished, giving way to a contemplative expression. She seemed to be carefully considering something.
To say Sango didn't have time to move away would be a lie. Kagome's approach was painfully slow; she hesitated until the very last moment. Sango was petrified; it felt as if she were seeing the situation from outside her body.
Soon enough, the small pressure of Kagome's parched lips on hers won her over.
That night, for the first time since they were girls, they slept together in the same pallette.
They dropped the 'chan' after that, and things progressed slowly.
Sleeping in Sango's pallette was the obvious choice for them; she could tell Kagome wouldn't be comfortable if they slept in the futon she used to share with Inuyasha, so they tucked it away to have more room for other things.
Although it was true that Kagome and Sango didn't owe anyone explanations, they also were well aware there would be hostility should people know they were together in such an unusual way. Kagome was still the village priestess; they couldn't throw caution to the wind.
"These things are complicated even in the Modern Era," Kagome said as they sat together eating lunch. "I don't feel like we have a right to make people uncomfortable. Change takes time, and I already know it won't happen now."
Sango swallowed her food. "I agree." She shrugged. "I was never very open with affection, anyway."
Kagome laughed at that. "Oh, I know!" She picked at her own food, sighing contentedly. "You kind of remind me of Inuyasha."
There was a brief silence after that.
Kagome fidgeted, seemingly embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered. "Did I stuff my foot in my mouth just now?" She looked at Sango with caution. "Did I creep you out?"
Sango blinked at her. "Not at all, Kagome." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I was just a little surprised—but it's true." Sango smiled, taking Kagome's hands in both of hers. "You can talk about Inuyasha anytime you want, just like before. You remain my friend above all things," she stated.
Kagome's eyes were filled with tears. Sango had to swallow past the sudden lump in her throat.
"Besides, I miss him too," she said. "He was very dear to me, and you know we were close." Sango paused, cupping Kagome's cheek. "We are allowed to miss them. We are allowed to love them still."
They cried and kissed after that, grieving for the ones who were gone even as they rejoiced in still being alive.
Whenever they fought, it was always because of something unimportant, which left Sango guilty for the longest time. She was a very organized person; to her, things should stay in one place only. Kagome, on the other hand, was a little absent-minded; she left buckets, baskets and pots wherever she saw fit. Needless to say, Sango was unimpressed.
She stepped over the line one night, tired from hours of walking in the sun. "Maybe Inuyasha managed to live with you like this," she snapped, "but I can't!"
Already regretting her words, she watched as Kagome stiffened like a bow string. When the priestess turned around, Sango was momentarily intimidated by the fury swimming in her eyes.
"Go back to your mausoleum, then!" Kagome taunted, her face getting red. "I'm sure everything's to your taste over there!"
She stormed out the door.
Sango cried alone in the hut, sure that Kagome was also crying in the hot spring. Gathering her courage (I'm a middle-aged woman, not a silly girl!), she picked up a set of clean clothes and marched after her.
They only came back when their differences were settled and the moon was high in the sky.
Since that day, Kagome tried to get better at organizing her things.
"Yasuko also used to complain about it." She sighed, smiling sheepishly. "Now that it's just the two of us, I need to pay more attention."
Eventually, the hut started looking like it belonged to both of them.
Shippo showed up for a visit after what felt like centuries, and he was the first to know about their secret. The young fox demon seemed at a loss for words, flushing and looking away, but Kagome managed to break the ice by the time he left.
"I-I'm happy if you're happy," Shippo told them, holding Kagome's hands. He smiled a little. "It's not unheard of between foxes." He paused. "I guess being practically raised by humans made me a little prejudiced, huh?"
Kagome waved it off. "Being surprised doesn't make you prejudiced, Shippo," she assured him. "It's a natural reaction to change."
He nodded, stepping outside to leave. "Well, Miroku would approve, I'm sure," he teased, his green eyes widening when he realized what he'd said.
There was a very brief silence, the kind that happens after someone makes a dark humor joke and people don't know whether they should laugh, until Sango broke it by chortling.
When Yasuko found out about them a few months later, she didn't seem really surprised, much to Sango's astonishment. They also told Mana and Jun when the girls eventually showed up; they didn't take it seriously at first, but seemed to understand it later on.
Even if they didn't, I guess I wouldn't know, Sango thought. I barely see them anymore.
Kichiro ended up knowing it through his sisters. He couldn't look Sango in the eye for a while, apparently embarrassed, but he loved her too much to dismiss her feelings—even if he didn't agree with them. The elusive Akio only discovered it after they'd been together for two years; that was how long he spent without showing his face in the village.
As Kagome prepared lunch, insisting she wanted to do it alone for her son, Sango pulled him outside. She stopped walking when they were under the Goshinboku, turning to face him.
"I know your training is the most important thing in your life, Akio," Sango said. She hardened her eyes. "But you can't spend so long without seeing your mother. She misses you—a lot."
Akio shifted, mumbling a half-hearted 'keh'. Then, he sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I just—I don't want to disappoint her."
Sango frowned, shaking her head a little. "I don't understand."
"The sword. I can't make it work as it should." He looked down, tightening his hands into fists. "I'm too weak."
Sango was at a loss for words; she couldn't believe Akio was telling her this. The last time the boy had had an actual conversation with her, he'd been no more than six.
She lifted his chin with one finger, brushing his black bangs away from his face. To her surprise, his golden eyes were filled with unshed tears. He twisted his mouth, clearly making an effort not to let them fall.
"I wanted her to see me using it," he said. "I wanted to come back only when I succeeded, but-but it won't happen."
"Akio…" Sango shook her head. "It's not as important as you think. She already sees your father in you." His eyes widened at that, and Sango smiled at the boyish look on his face. "She told me so herself, a long time ago." Sango released his chin, roaming his face with a bittersweet pain in her chest—the same she felt when she looked at Kichiro. "I agree with her, by the way."
Akio left the sword with Kagome before leaving, saying he would have Totosai make him a new one.
"Uncle Sesshomaru offered it many times," he said, giving Sango a brief look. "I've decided I want it now."
The Tetsusaiga now rested with Hiraikotsu at one corner of the room, and Akio started coming home once a month.
Kohaku was the last one they cared about to know. For once, Sango was the one to speak, holding Kagome's hand for support as the three of them ate breakfast together. Kirara was curled up on her lap for old time's sake, and it also gave her strength.
"This will sound very strange to you, Kohaku," she started, swallowing hard. "But try to understand it, please."
The young man in front of her stopped eating his fish, puzzled. Kagome's hold on her hand tightened.
"You know I've been living with Kagome for some time now," Sango said. "Well—what you don't know is that we've been cooking each other's meals, doing each other's laundry and sleeping in the same pallette."
She gave him a meaningful look, willing him to see it. Saying that is as good as saying we're married.
Kohaku blinked several times; then, he blushed to the roots of his hair.
"Um…" He cleared his throat. "Huh."
There was a very long, very awkward silence. Kagome fidgeted a little, apparently thinking of something to say, but Sango wanted to be the one to lead this conversation.
"Say something," she pleaded, dread pooling in her gut.
Kohaku creased his brow, scratching the back of his neck. "You… Big sister, you deserve to be happy—more than anyone I know." He gave her a small smile that lifted her spirits like nothing else could. "I guess we're quite the strange siblings, huh? I-I mean, I'm not interested in getting married, and you pulled it off twice."
They all chuckled at that.
"There are more people like us than you think," Kagome interjected, winking at him. "They just hide well."
They lived happily for eight years before Kagome died of pneumonia.
It was different from chronic cold, which Sango learned was what killed Miroku—not that that mattered in the end. She woke up to find Kagome lying cold in her arms, a peaceful expression on her face.
"Oh, God!"
Sango lay her head on Kagome's chest and cried. She had known it was coming, but hope was a hard thing to die—years of losses hadn't taught her how to kill it. "Why don't you ever say goodbye, Kagome?" She gripped the fabric beneath her cheek.
It took a while before she was able to move and seek Yasuko on the valley.
Kagome was buried with Miroku and Inuyasha under the one-branch tree. The village chief thought they should burn her body and put her to rest in Kikyo's shrine, just like they'd done with Kaede's, but Sango adamantly refused it. Though there had been no hard feelings between the two priestesses, neither would appreciate being treated as the same person, and Sango wasn't about to disrespect that.
Kagome belongs where Inuyasha is.
Like when the men died, many people came over to pay their respects, but no one stayed too long. Sango lost track of how long she stood there, her hands clasped on the subjugation beads she'd taken from Kagome's neck.
It wasn't just out of loneliness, Kagome, she thought. I truly loved you. Please, please, know that I truly loved you.
Sango laughed between sobs, remembering how she'd blamed Inuyasha for loving two people. She had thought that was impossible; love was supposed to happen only once, wasn't it? How wrong, how naive she'd been—how young.
Forgive me, Inuyasha. It was insulting to you.
Miroku… Miroku had been the love of her life, her battle companion, the father of her children. She would miss him until she died, but Kagome… Kagome had been her safe port after a long storm, a strange mix between fraternal and romantic love.
She felt crippled without them both.
"How fitting," Sango murmured. "The last one to join the group will be the last one to leave, huh?"
The former slayer eventually accepted the chief's suggestion that she should be the new priestess. When she argued that she didn't have any spiritual powers, he replied that at least she knew about healing from accompanying Lady Kagome.
I guess I'm better than nothing.
She occasionally wore the miko robes, feeling like a fraud at first, but coming to like it later. Now she had Miroku's beads on her wrist, Inuyasha's on her neck, and Kagome's clothes on her body. Bound to all of them; bound to waiting to see them again.
It won't be long. I can feel it.
She put the forget-me-nots on their graves, smiling at the feel of the warm sun in her face.
"And she's been alone since then, Papa?" Mai asked at the brink of tears.
Hajime was already regretting telling her the story of Priestess Sango, former demon slayer and legendary hero from the quest for the Shikon no Tama. He had tried to tell it in a way a child would understand, and apparently he'd succeeded.
"She's alone now, yes, but she had years of happiness with Master Miroku and Lady Kagome," he tried to argue, kneeling to talk to his daughter face to face. "It only hurts because she loved them." He wiped the tears from her chubby cheeks.
Mai frowned. "I-Is she like you and Fumio, Papa?" She asked tentatively.
He stood up straight at that, surprised by his daughter's question. He looked around at the empty clearing, searching for anyone that might have overheard her.
From the mouth of a child.
"Yes, Mai." He sighed, looking down at her. "Lady Sango loved Lady Kagome just as I love Fumio."
She threw herself at him, holding him tight. "You won't die, Daddy. I won't let you!"
He smiled, putting his arms around her shoulders. "Everyone dies one day, my love."
"Keh!" She looked up at him with a fierce scowl on her face. "I'll grow up and be strong, Papa, you'll see. I'll protect you—and Fumio, too!" She stepped away, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the valley. "Let's go home."
Hajime shook his head in exasperation, but he let her believe it—only for today.
After all, she's so pretty, and the day is nice, he recalled her words, smiling. This village's had enough of sad women.
The wind picked up, ruffling the Goshinboku's leaves and the blue flowers. The man gazed at the god tree, offering it a silent prayer, and quickened his pace.
A/N: I don't really know if I can write two middle-aged women in love, but I tried lol.
The amazing sunrise-inc made such a beautiful art of Kagome and Sango for this fic! You can see it at sunrise-inc. tumblr post/ 150845742060 (erase the spaces). I'm still crying over it.